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Battle of Ventry (Read 10305 times)
slingbadger
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Battle of Ventry
Oct 11th, 2007 at 12:58pm
 
This is a passage from the Cath Finntraga, or the Battle of Ventry. Part of the Fenian cycle of Ireland

"And 2 foreigners were set against them that day. And Conncrither seized his long sided sling ( an tabhaill) and put a straight even stone in it, and gave it a straight well directed cast, so that it went into the forehead of his adversary, and took the brain as a lump of blood out the back of the head."
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Steven
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Re: Battle of Ventry
Reply #1 - Oct 11th, 2007 at 1:39pm
 
eww... Tongue...yuck .... nasty ..... nice cite. Good literary find.
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« Last Edit: Oct 11th, 2007 at 10:45pm by Steven »  

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slingbadger
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Re: Battle of Ventry
Reply #2 - Oct 12th, 2007 at 11:24am
 
Interestingly enough, this fits in with something. Seems the Museum of Ireland has leather pieces. They are diamond shaped, but the long ends are stretched out. (Long sided sling). Other than that, they are exactly the same as a regular pouch.
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The greatest of all the accomplishments of 20th cent. science has been the discovery of human ignorance  The main difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits.-Einstein   I'm getting psychic as I get older. Or is that psychotic?
 
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Curious Aardvark
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Re: Battle of Ventry
Reply #3 - Oct 16th, 2007 at 11:59am
 
good throw :-)
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Africa_Slinger
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Re: Battle of Ventry
Reply #4 - Oct 17th, 2007 at 9:50am
 
Nice!!!

Quote:
Posted by: curious_aardvark Posted on: Yesterday at 11:59am
good throw Smiley 


Yes, and then possibly followed by a great chuck  Embarrassed
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Re: Battle of Ventry
Reply #5 - Oct 18th, 2007 at 4:27pm
 
Is it realistic that a shot goes streight through the head or is it just "splatter poetry"?

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Re: Battle of Ventry
Reply #6 - Oct 19th, 2007 at 4:38am
 
When you shoot at something that is filled with water the water will transfer the impact in all directions as water cannot compress. So I guess his head could have exploded if the stone managed to crack through the skull and hit the brain with enough speed. But I doubt that the shot would go through the back.
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Re: Battle of Ventry
Reply #7 - Oct 19th, 2007 at 11:38am
 
If it did leave holes on both sides of the target, wouldn't that let air in, which would make them...

...Ventrylation holes?

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Re: Battle of Ventry
Reply #8 - Oct 19th, 2007 at 9:06pm
 
Tongue
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slingbadger
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Re: Battle of Ventry
Reply #9 - Oct 20th, 2007 at 10:41am
 
Like most heroic sagas, there is exaggeration to make the hero look good. It,s the same in the aenied, where thehero launches a glande so fast that it melts in mid air.
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The greatest of all the accomplishments of 20th cent. science has been the discovery of human ignorance  The main difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits.-Einstein   I'm getting psychic as I get older. Or is that psychotic?
 
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Re: Battle of Ventry
Reply #10 - Oct 20th, 2007 at 6:00pm
 
depending on range, slinger power and stone shape - yes it could happen.
Mostly you would expect the stone to lodge in the head - but there is no reason a sufficiently powerful throw could not penetrate with a through and through.

If I can throw a golf ball through half an inch of plywood then a professional career slinger can certainly put a hole in a skull. bear in mind that lead bullets tend to deform on impact and a stone would not, thus retaining a lot more energy than a lead bullet. So yep, it's doable :-)

And no I am not standing still while larry bray tries it on me (just thought I'd get that in ;-)
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Re: Battle of Ventry
Reply #11 - Oct 20th, 2007 at 10:22pm
 
We've had folks here who could put a stone through a cinderblock, so a skull shouldn't be much of a problem. Plus , with the hydrostatic shock of the strike you could get a lot of brain matter out of the exit wound.
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Re: Battle of Ventry
Reply #12 - Oct 21st, 2007 at 10:12pm
 
Hey Badger, Sorry so late on this reply. This seems to be a semi-running thread inIrish folklore.

In the article "Magic Weapons of Celtic Legends" the author quotes

While most sling-balls were naturally shaped stones, some of them
were artificially made and even composed of weird material. Cuchulain
overcomes Foil1 by hurling an iron ball in Foill's " foreheads midst ".4
The blood of toads, hears, and viper.; was mixed with sea-sand and hardened.
j
A ball formed of lime and the brain of the dead champion Mes Gegra,
was kept among the trophies in Emain Macha. One day Cet carries this
ball off ; later he adjusts it in the sling and throws it so that it hit the
crown of Conchobar's head, causing after long illness the death of the
king.6

Magic Weapons in Celtic Legends
E. Ettlinger
Folklore, Vol. 56, No. 3. (Sep., 1945), pp. 295-307.

Marc Adkins
slingbadger wrote on Oct 11th, 2007 at 12:58pm:
This is a passage from the Cath Finntraga, or the Battle of Ventry. Part of the Fenian cycle of Ireland

"And 2 foreigners were set against them that day. And Conncrither seized his long sided sling ( an tabhaill) and put a straight even stone in it, and gave it a straight well directed cast, so that it went into the forehead of his adversary, and took the brain as a lump of blood out the back of the head."

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slingbadger
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Re: Battle of Ventry
Reply #13 - Oct 22nd, 2007 at 10:59am
 
Right Winklereid. Supposedly the Celts would soak the brains of the enemy in lime to shrink and harden it. They called it a tathlum.
  This also shows up in another story, where Cochober gets one stuck in his head. It cannot be removed without killing him. For the rest of his life he cannot be angry, lest it pop out and kill him.
P.S. If anyone is willing, I would really like to see if is possible to make a tathlum.
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The greatest of all the accomplishments of 20th cent. science has been the discovery of human ignorance  The main difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits.-Einstein   I'm getting psychic as I get older. Or is that psychotic?
 
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Curious Aardvark
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Re: Battle of Ventry
Reply #14 - Oct 22nd, 2007 at 11:05am
 
hmm, well you could try it with a sheeps brain and bottle of lime juice from wallmart :-)
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Do All things with Honour and Generosity: Regret Nothing, Envy None, Apologise Seldom and Bow your head to No One  - works for me Smiley
 
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