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Cyril-Helnwein — Giants Causeway
Published: 2006-11-28 18:46:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 1330; Favourites: 32; Downloads: 54
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Description
Giants Causeway is a natural volcanic rock formation at the very northern tip of Ireland that juts out into the sea and is millions of years old. Each hexagonal rock is actually quite big (diameter of about 1 foot I'd say). The legend goes that an Irish giant built it as a bridge to Scotland (it doesn't actually connect the two though). A Scottish giant came over to fight the Irish giant, so the Irish giant dressed himself up as a baby and pretended to be asleep. When the Scottish giant came over and saw this giant sleeping baby, he had second thoughts about fighting it's father and fled back to Scotland.Related content
Comments: 16
One of the best moments I had in N. Ireland was visiting the Giants causeway- awesome shot!
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Thanks! Yes, it's a great spot, I wish there were less tourists though, would make it a bit more magical I think.
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Was Fionn Mac Cumhail a giant? I'd never heard it that way.
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I guess so... per wiklpedia: Legend has it that the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart Benandonner. One version of the legend tells that Fionn fell asleep before he got to Scotland. When he did not arrive, the much larger Benandonner crossed the bridge looking for him. To protect Fionn, his wife Oonagh laid a blanket over him so he could pretend that he was actually their baby son. In a variation, Fionn fled after seeing Benandonner's great bulk, and asked his wife to disguise him as the baby. In both versions, when Benandonner saw the size of the 'infant', he assumed the alleged father, Fionn, must be gigantic indeed. Therefore, Benandonner fled home in terror, ripping up the Causeway in case he was followed by Fionn.
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Version I grew up with was that he fled home where his wife (Blaithin)had him whip up a giant crib. She baked ten oatcakes and hid stones in all but one, which she marked with a thumbprint. The giant arrived, and Blaithin tried to get rid of him by asking him to do 'little chores' Fionn had supposedly for gotten to do before he left -dig out a well, flip the house facing south, move a mountain over. The giant did it all, so she offered him some food, gave him oatcakes with stones and broke his teeth out. When he complained, she told him not to be silly, the baby ate them easily. To demonstrate, she fed Fionn the stoneless cake. Fionn started crying and Blaithin told the giant to let him suck his finger, which Fionn promptly bit off. That particular finger happened to be the repository of all the giant's strength and magic, so he fled, wounded and dreading the the strength and size of the father of such an infant.
Anyway, the thing I'm stuck on is that I don't think he was actually a giant.
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That's a good story too... I guess there are a few different versions! Similar to some old traditional Irish songs, the same song is performed differently in different parts of the country.
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It's better that way. You can hear the same story six times and it's always new!
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ooh I remember this from a chapter in my english- schoolbook. what a shame, actually, I will always associate the Giants Causeway with my poor, old, long- gone textbook.
though it has to be very beautiful in real life.
I like the contrast and the fog in the background.
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Then there's the legend bout The Irish giant stealing his bride from Scotland and there's another one too, I forget. Lovely photo, I loved The Giant's Causeway. What did you think of those small pink flowers growing among the rocks?
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Yes, that's part of the legend too, I think that's why they were fighting in the first place. There weren't any small flowers there when I was up there...
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Hmmm, that's weird, they must be seasonal. I have some pictures of them that I took in May when I was in Ireland... Oh well
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