Let The Countdown Begin!

[Breandan]

It can get expensive when she likes guns too...

We have his-and-hers matching Springfield XDs (hers is a .40, mine's a 9mm, and before the 1911 crowd jump in, I load hotloaded Gold Dots), she has a Rock River M4, a Sig 556 for me, matching Mossberg 500SP tactical model shotguns, an M1-based DMR, and a few other weapons as well. Its disgustingly cute that we have matching weapons instead of matching outfits. And, as soon as I get settled in, it shall continue with matching CQB weapons (Carbon 15 pistol lowers with Mk 107 Diablo 7" uppers), DMRs tailored to each of us (Barrett .50 for me, modded-out LWRC or POF 7.62 NATO for her), and some form of PDW, though we haven't decided which ones yet. So, yes, we probably spend more on firearms and ammunition than most people do on cars.

And for those reading all of this and glazing over, we also have matching (sorta) Celtic anthropomorphic swords on order- this one for her, and this one for me- for our pseudo-Celtic barbarian outfits for next year

[Rani Zemirah]

So, do you read ogham runes?  I've never studies that particular style, but I'd be interested to know what that blade says...

[Merlin the Elder]

Springfields are my babies. I love my XD's, 1911 and M1A AA9126. 

My `03A3 is the one I like to shoot most. My son laughs at me because I'll come home from the range a bit bruised, but love every minute of it.

[Drudonn]

So, do you read ogham runes?  I've never studies that particular style, but I'd be interested to know what that blade says...

I don't believe that's Ogham. The lines would have to cross at some point. I think that's just decoration to make it look battle-used...

[Rani Zemirah]

Some ogham lines cross, and some don't... it all depends on the character.  But it does mostly look a lot more random than ogham, except for a couple of areas. 

Example:  Ogham stone from the Isle of Man




There were a great many different forms of ogham, though... but it's always fun to wonder and speculate. 



I'm just glad I can read English, though!  Well... and bits of Latin, Spanish, Italian, French, Slavic, German and a few Greek and Turkish words thrown in for variety.   

[Drudonn]

Learn something new every day!  

It's been a while since I've looked at it, but that does look a little too random to be Ogham.

[crashbot]

There are stones with runic carvings on them close to where I grew up back in Ireland. My Mo used to always say "boy, dont play around over near them stones or that old circle, you'll catch the cold"

Whatever "the cold" is, lol.

[Breandan]

We are blessed to have grave markers in Ogham that predate Christianity marking members of our family. Since the Ó Ciarraí family founded and pretty much camped out in Ciarraí for the past, oh, two thousand years or so, we're pretty much all related there, but its still a rather interesting quirk

[Rani Zemirah]

Hopefully not "all related" the way they are in the hill country...  Do you have an Uncle Grandpa?     

Sorry... couldn't resist.  LOL


That actually sounds pretty fascinating, Breandan.  I would love to see some of those stones...

[crashbot]

Everyone of Irish heritage needs to see them home country once before they die.

My fathers family is from Wexford, pre-norse founding, as far as we can trace to about +- early 2nd century. My mothers side is from Armagh, but I think they actually came back to Ireland during the plantation era mid 16th century, still running the same farm. I was born in Wexford, but we moved to Belfast for a while, then to Crossmaglen, before moving to the US of A.

[Breandan]

I would love to see some of those stones...

Here ya go-


The stone of Mac Ríthe (lit. "Son of Kings")

The stone of Coílub

[Rani Zemirah]

That's really interesting!  Makes me wonder what sort of tools were used to shape the stones, themselves, and what sort of person used the tools.  Cool... thanks for sharing! 

[Breandan]

iron chisels and mallets. These are about 2000 years old, height of the Iron Age, so they're not paleolithic or anything. At that time, our ancestors had iron, steel (earlier form of it, anyway), fortified farmsteads built on artificial islands, maille armour, iron plows and advanced agricultural techniques not re-discovered for over a millennium, a very advanced cosmological understanding that included the earth being round (when so-called "civilized" societies still thought it was flat) and the existence of greater things in the cosmos, surprisingly adept engineering techniques that allowed for massive stones to be moved quickly, artificial islands and hills to be created in months instead of years, etc. Carving out a few three meter tall stones and chiseling some hash marks into them was child's play

[Rani Zemirah]

Ahhh... but those hash marks were actually WORDS... and not everyone could read them!  There might have been a few symbols that were recognizable to most, but to understand the entire concept of reading was something very special, indeed... and to know how to put those marks together to create the words was originally to be able to create SPELLS that could affect the world around us!  They didn't start out as symbols representing sounds, either... they represented entire CONCEPTS... such as home, family, wealth, change, war, luck and death, amongst many others, and to be able to put them together in ways that would make them powerful was to be able to have your influence felt on the very fabric of the Universe!!! 

This is where the concept of "spell-ing" first came into being... and humanity has all but forgotten the power of words to affect change in our world, in it's drive to rid the world of magic. 


And so I wonder about the mind behind the hands that could shape these stones...

[crashbot]

They tended to be quite a bit more literate than we give them credit for. Certain histories would have one believe iron age Irish where mud covered savages running around in loin cloths bonking each other on the head with clubs. Thankfully more recent archaeological  discovery has shown this to be quite untrue.


I would like to build a crannóg, I enjoyed visiting the reconstructed ones in the various places around the country. Think it would be a neat vacation home