288 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



before us. and its presence here seems to show that it existed as a folk-lore 

 element independently of the use made of it in explaining the name of the 

 Ultonian palace. 1 This illustrates the contention here made, that the 

 Dind-sheiuhas tales existed in folk-legend independently of the etymologies 

 founded upon them. We may throw overboard the philological fatras of 

 D ■'- '■ and similar works, hut we cannot thereby evade the duty 



of trying to make what we can of the stories on which it is based. 



In these legends of the origin >■!' Temair, analysis shows seven elements 

 that call for consideration, which we now proceed to examine. These are as 

 follows : — 



A. Th Tephi Legend. 



(i) The personality of Tephi. 



iiii Ib-i father Porann. 

 (iii) Bachtir and Cams6n. 

 (iv) Ti . Etherun. 



I'.. Thi '/'■> /."/.,!</ 



I Tin' personality 1 



ivit The attribution of tin- foundati I Temair to Tea. 



(vii) W'Ih' was the husband "i Tea I 



A. Thiii. 

 rhe attentive reader of the Tephi stanzas in \'I> ii cannot tail to be 

 • k by the insistence which they display on the word run. The writer's 

 mind is perhaps unconsciously, with the idea of a " mystery " while 



he is dealing with this lady; and finally he Leila us that the grave of the dead 

 princess was called "Tephi-run," which means, if it means anything, 

 " the Tephi mystery. \ . ■ dark and mysterious place; 



. name fi ve, and the author's 



torily explain the word. Nor could anyone, even 

 _ content with " Tephi-run " as an interpreta- 



tion id not had before him the evidently much betl 



lology Tea .'/«<•. Surely tbi> implies that the word Tephi-run, whatevei 

 me form inyone thought of extorting the 



deri the name of Temair out of it. It reminds us not a little of the 



q sofia iarlv, with which tl Apocalypse introduces 



\ ■ tmple of ti peal myth will be found in the story called 



7 a mh&th - .mil Laoide S r/ '. p. 138). 



1 TK iontlv ca>t into this fnnn l>y the poet to pve n rhyme f'-r 



■ I> n 60 « ill i-h'iH . 



