following the healers’ custom to gather certain herbs only during greatest potency at full moon. Airmid met Ardal in clearings, and rejoined Boann before dawn to return together to their village. If Oghma worried when Boann slept late into the mornings, he said nothing to her.
She continued working with her father at the mounds, going to her lessons with the Dagda, and attending the starwatching and discussions. The apprentices including Boann regularly checked the path of the sun’s light along the inner walls of the starchambers. They carefully recorded the stars’ nighttime positions, using the mound kerbstones and standing stones, to be sure that the carved symbols functioned as intended. Maintaining their vigil at the three major mounds gave them much to accomplish during the long days and short nights while the sun lazed as it neared summer solstice. She slept late after these nights as well.
High in the sky, a haze swirled. The astronomers waited for it to dissipate. On some nights the lingering dust made starwatching impossible. Nevertheless, the Dagda called for the summer retreat at Carrowkeel. Boann eagerly attended with novices from across the island, who walked to the ancient mounds at Carrowkeel. There lived Tethra and the respected tribe that descended from Griane, the Starwatchers’ first astronomer.
“We want you to focus on the erratic celestial beings whose cycles elude us,” Tethra reminded them.
That first evening proved frustrating. They attempted to track a bright object rising far from where they expected, then it crossed low in the night sky and disappeared. As dawn approached, the students assembled with the elders, who waited for questions from them. Signal fires glowed from one, and then another, of the mounds atop distant heights from where they sat.
“Dagda, why are some of the night beings never following paths?” asked an adolescent, a muscular, brown-haired fellow named Daire.
The Dagda waited several moments for someone to offer a reply. At last Tethra the elder spoke. “Perhaps they do follow paths but we have not yet determined what those paths are, my brother?” The youth brightened and nodded.
The Dagda addressed young Daire and the assembly. He spoke slowly and seriously. “It is your job to observe. You must avoid making assumptions. Only after many generations of observations have been confirmed and reconfirmed, can we describe the motions in the skies, day and night. Our ancestors have given us this precious knowledge in stories and stone carvings left to us, and we hold the privilege of adding to it.”
As the Dagda finished speaking, first light illuminated the east. Below stood the stone dwellings of Doonaveragh, almost a hundred of them perched on a plateau. A gauzy smoke rose gently from hearth fires rekindled for the morning meal. Far below the village plateau, the dense forest and patches of cleared plains stretched to the horizon where light tinted the sky. The Starwatchers’ imposing mounds punctuated the high places, visible to them now across the landscape’s deep green expanse. The long arrow-shaped lake below them glistened with the sun’s early rays. They listened, enthralled by the beauty of their island and the deep cadences of the Dagda.
“Some day your task might be completed, but that would occur many generations into the future.” He described a number so large that it defied their comprehension.
Daire spoke up again. “Our people would have to live forever!”
The Dagda smiled. “If we keep the star knowledge alive, that will be true.” He raised his shining red mace to the north. “The celestial cycles comprise decades, or even hundreds, of suns. Some cycles number in the thousands, reaching back beyond the memory of our people and forward to unknown generations. We needed a way to record this knowledge for everyone to see and use over time. We have chosen the most durable medium: stone. The stones of our mounds contain our past,
She continued working with her father at the mounds, going to her lessons with the Dagda, and attending the starwatching and discussions. The apprentices including Boann regularly checked the path of the sun’s light along the inner walls of the starchambers. They carefully recorded the stars’ nighttime positions, using the mound kerbstones and standing stones, to be sure that the carved symbols functioned as intended. Maintaining their vigil at the three major mounds gave them much to accomplish during the long days and short nights while the sun lazed as it neared summer solstice. She slept late after these nights as well.
High in the sky, a haze swirled. The astronomers waited for it to dissipate. On some nights the lingering dust made starwatching impossible. Nevertheless, the Dagda called for the summer retreat at Carrowkeel. Boann eagerly attended with novices from across the island, who walked to the ancient mounds at Carrowkeel. There lived Tethra and the respected tribe that descended from Griane, the Starwatchers’ first astronomer.
“We want you to focus on the erratic celestial beings whose cycles elude us,” Tethra reminded them.
That first evening proved frustrating. They attempted to track a bright object rising far from where they expected, then it crossed low in the night sky and disappeared. As dawn approached, the students assembled with the elders, who waited for questions from them. Signal fires glowed from one, and then another, of the mounds atop distant heights from where they sat.
“Dagda, why are some of the night beings never following paths?” asked an adolescent, a muscular, brown-haired fellow named Daire.
The Dagda waited several moments for someone to offer a reply. At last Tethra the elder spoke. “Perhaps they do follow paths but we have not yet determined what those paths are, my brother?” The youth brightened and nodded.
The Dagda addressed young Daire and the assembly. He spoke slowly and seriously. “It is your job to observe. You must avoid making assumptions. Only after many generations of observations have been confirmed and reconfirmed, can we describe the motions in the skies, day and night. Our ancestors have given us this precious knowledge in stories and stone carvings left to us, and we hold the privilege of adding to it.”
As the Dagda finished speaking, first light illuminated the east. Below stood the stone dwellings of Doonaveragh, almost a hundred of them perched on a plateau. A gauzy smoke rose gently from hearth fires rekindled for the morning meal. Far below the village plateau, the dense forest and patches of cleared plains stretched to the horizon where light tinted the sky. The Starwatchers’ imposing mounds punctuated the high places, visible to them now across the landscape’s deep green expanse. The long arrow-shaped lake below them glistened with the sun’s early rays. They listened, enthralled by the beauty of their island and the deep cadences of the Dagda.
“Some day your task might be completed, but that would occur many generations into the future.” He described a number so large that it defied their comprehension.
Daire spoke up again. “Our people would have to live forever!”
The Dagda smiled. “If we keep the star knowledge alive, that will be true.” He raised his shining red mace to the north. “The celestial cycles comprise decades, or even hundreds, of suns. Some cycles number in the thousands, reaching back beyond the memory of our people and forward to unknown generations. We needed a way to record this knowledge for everyone to see and use over time. We have chosen the most durable medium: stone. The stones of our mounds contain our past,
Similar Books
