Editing Fianna (section)

==Historicity==
The historical institution of the ''fían'' is known from references in [[Brehon Laws|early medieval Irish law tracts]]. A ''fían'' (plural ''fíana'' or ''fianna'') was a small band of roving hunter-warriors.<ref name="Nagy">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Fían |encyclopedia=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |year=2006 |last=Nagy |first=Joseph |editor=John T. Koch |publisher=ABC-CLIO |pages=743–744}}</ref> It was made up of landless young men of free birth, often young [[Aristocracy (class)|aristocrat]]s,<ref>, similar to the original three motto's of the Fianna. Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, ''Early Medieval Ireland'', Longman, 1995, p. 88</ref> "who had left [[fosterage]] but had not yet inherited the property needed to settle down as full landowning members of the ''[[túath]]''".<ref name="McCone 1990">McCone, Kim. ''Pagan Past and Christian Present in Early Irish Literature''. 1990. p205.</ref> A member of a ''fían'' was called a ''fénnid''; the leader of a ''fían'' was a ''rígfénnid'' (literally "king-''fénnid''").<ref>''[[Dictionary of the Irish Language]]'', Compact Edition, [[Royal Irish Academy]], 1990, pp. 299, 507</ref> The ''fían'' way of life was called ''fíanaigecht'' and involved living in the wild, hunting, raiding, martial and athletic training, and even training in poetry.<ref name="Nagy"/> They also served as mercenaries.<ref name="Nagy"/> Wild animals, particularly the wolf and the deer, seem to have been ''fían'' mascots.<ref name="Nagy"/> Some sources associate ''fianna'' with the outdoor cooking pits known as ''[[fulacht fiadh]]''.<ref name="Nagy"/>

Many of the first mentions of ''fianna'' are connected with ''[[Scoti]]'' raids in [[End of Roman rule in Britain|Britain during the end of the Roman rule]].<ref name="Acallam">Harry Roe, Ann Dooley (editors). ''[[Acallam na Senórach|Tales of the Elders of Ireland]]''. Oxford University Press, 1999. pp.xi - xiii</ref>

[[Geoffrey Keating]], in his 17th-century ''[[Foras Feasa ar Éirinn|History of Ireland]]'', says that during the winter the ''fianna'' were quartered and fed by the nobility, during which time they would keep order on their behalf, but during the summer/autumn, from [[Beltaine]] to [[Samhain]], they were obliged to live by hunting for food and for pelts to sell.<ref>[[Geoffrey Keating]], ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/text055.html 2.45]</ref> Keating's ''History'' is more a compilation of traditions than a reliable history, but in this case scholars point to references in early Irish literature and the existence of a closed hunting season for deer and wild boar between Samhain and Beltaine in medieval [[Scotland]] as corroboration.<ref>Nerys Patterson, ''Cattle Lords and Clansmen: the Social Structure of Early Ireland'', University of Notre Dame Press, 1994, p. 122-123</ref> [[Hubert Thomas Knox]] (1908) likened the ''fianna'' to "bodies of [[Gallowglass]]es such as appeared in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but then under command of adventurers who were not inhabitants of the province, Free Companies who sold their services to any one who could raise their wages".<ref>Hubert Thomas Knox, 'The history of the county of Mayo to the close of the sixteenth century', 1908, p. 13</ref>

Joseph Nagy writes that the ''fían'' seemingly "served a vital function in siphoning off undesirable elements [...] providing an outlet for rambunctious behaviour", and was a [[rite of passage]] that prepared young men for adult life.<ref name="Nagy"/> Katharine Simms writes that "While most members eventually inherited land, married and settled down, some passed their lives as professional champions, employed by the rest of the population to avenge their wrongs, collect debts, enforce order at feasts and so forth".<ref name="Simms">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Gaelic warfare in the middle ages |encyclopedia=A Military History of Ireland |year=1997 |last=Simms |first=Katharine |editor=Thomas Bartlett |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=101–102}}</ref>

The ''fían'' was a tolerated institution in early Irish secular society, and secular literature continued to endorse it down to the 12th century. However, the institution was not favoured by the church, and it is likely the church was key in the demise of the ''fían''.<ref name="Acallam"/> Churchmen sometimes referred to them as ''díberga'' (which came to mean 'marauders') and ''maicc báis'' ('sons of death'),<ref name="Nagy"/><ref name="Simms"/> and several [[hagiographies]] tell of saints converting them from their "non-Christian and destructive ways".<ref name="Nagy"/>

They are described as having a ''cúlán'' hairstyle: long at the back, with the scalp partly shaved.<ref name="Simms"/> Some are also described as having strange or 'devilish' marks on their head; this has been taken to mean [[tattoo]]s.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Insular Celtic tattooing |encyclopedia=Written on the Body: The Tattoo in European and American History |year=2000 |last=MacQuarrie |first=Charles |editor=Jane Caplan |publisher=Princeton University Press |pages=42–44}}</ref>

===Origins===
Scholars have linked the ''fianna'' with similar young warrior bands in other early European cultures, and suggest they all derive from the *''[[kóryos]]'' which is thought to have existed in [[Proto-Indo-European society]].<ref name="McCone 1990"/>

Linguist [[Ranko Matasović]], author of the ''Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic'', derives the name ''fíana'' from reconstructed [[Proto-Celtic language|Proto-Celtic]] ''*wēnā'' (a [[troop]]), from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] ''*weyh'' (to chase, pursue), and says the Irish ethnic name ''[[Gaels#Ethnonyms|Féni]]'' is probably related.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=wēnā |encyclopedia=Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic |year=2009 |last=Matasović |first=Ranko |author-link=Ranko Matasović |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |page=412}}</ref> Kim McCone derives it from Proto-Celtic ''*wēnnā'' < ''*wēd-nā'' (wild ones).<ref>McCone, Kim (2013). "The Celts: questions of nomenclature and identity", in ''Ireland and its Contacts''. [[University of Lausanne]]. p.26</ref>

[[Heinrich Zimmer (Celticist)|Heinrich Zimmer]] (1891), however, suggested that the ''fianna'' tales come from the heritage of the [[Norse-Gaels]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Zimmer |first=Heinrich |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M6tJAAAAYAAJ&dq=fianna+zimmer+fiandr&pg=PA15 |title=Keltische Beiträge III, in: Zeitschrift für deutsches Alterthum und deutsche Litteratur |date=1891 |publisher=Weidmannsche Buchhandlung |pages=15ff |language=de}}</ref> He derived the name ''fianna'' from an Irish rendering of Old Norse ''fiandr'' "enemies" > "brave enemies" > "brave warriors".<ref name=":0" /> He also noted Fionn's [[Fionn mac Cumhaill#Thumb of Knowledge|Thumb of Knowledge]] is similar to the Norse tale of [[Sigurðr]] tasting [[Fáfnir]]'s heart.<ref>{{citation|last=Scowcroft |first=Richard Mark |title=Abstract Narrative in Ireland |journal=Ériu |volume=46 |year=1995 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8mspAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Finn%22 |pages=121–158 |jstor=30007878}}{{rp|155}}</ref><ref>Scott, Robert D. (1930), ''{{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=-WDYAAAAMAAJ&q=Sigurd|2=The thumb of knowledge in legends of Finn, Sigurd, and Taliesin}}'', New York: Institute of French Studies</ref>