View source for Míl Espáine

{{short description|Mythical ancestor of the final inhabitants of Ireland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Milesius by Hermann tom Ring.png|thumb|''Milesius'', 16th century [[Renaissance]] artistic rendering by [[Hermann tom Ring ]] held in the [[Bavarian State Painting Collections]].]]
In Irish [[origin myths]], '''Míl Espáine''' or '''Míl Espáne''' (later [[Latinization of names|Latinized]] as '''Milesius''') is the mythical ancestor of the final inhabitants of [[Ireland]], the "sons of Míl" or [[Milesians (Irish)|Milesians]], who represent the vast majority of the Irish [[Gaels]]. His father was [[Bile (Irish legend)|Bile]], son of [[Breogan]]. Modern historians believe he is a creation of medieval Irish Christian writers.<ref name="ohogain">{{cite book |last=Ó hÓgáin |first=Dáithí |title=Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopaedia of the Irish folk tradition |publisher=Prentice Hall Press |year=1991 |pages=296–297}}</ref>

==Name and origin==
Mark Williams characterises the name ''Míl Espáine'' as an "etymological figment"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Mark |title=Ireland's Immortals: A History of the Gods of Irish Myth |date=2018 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-18304-6 |page=139 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=C3SYDwAAQBAJ&q=M%C3%ADl+Esp%C3%A1ine&pg=PA139 |access-date= 2 July 2020 |language= en | quote = Even Míl Espáine, the ancestor of the invading Gaels and thus putative forefather of all the ethnic Irish, was an etymological figment. Transparently not originally a name, it is rather a translation of the Latin phrase for 'a soldier of Spain' (miles Hispaniae) [...].}}</ref> translated from the [[Latin]] ''mīles Hispaniae'', meaning "soldier of [[Hispania]]", attested in a passage (§ 13) in the 9th-century work ''[[Historia Brittonum]]'' (''"The History of the Britons"'') by [[Nennius]].<ref name="Lennon">
{{cite book |last1= Lennon |first1= Joseph |title= Irish Orientalism: A Literary and Intellectual History |date=2008 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=978-0-8156-3164-4 |pages=24, 35 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nnbRKOsmyJIC&q=M%C3%ADl+Esp%C3%A1ine&pg=PA35 |access-date=2 July 2020 |language= en}}</ref>

As [[A.G. van Hamel]] has suggested, the status of Iberia as the land of origin can be traced back to [[Isidore of Seville]], who in the introduction to his [[Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum|history of the Goths, Vandals and Suebi]] had elevated Iberia/Hispania to the "mother of all races".<ref>Van Hamel, "On ''Lebor Gábala''", p. 173.</ref> Another likely reason the Irish were said to come from Iberia was the mistaken belief that ''[[Hibernia]]'', the Latin name of Ireland, came from ''Iberia''/''Hiberia''.<ref name="ohogain"/> A further explanation may lie in the mistake made by some classical geographers in locating Ireland closely opposite Iberia. For instance, the ''Lebar Gabála'' (§ 100) recounts that from Bregon's Tower, the Milesian [[Íth]] was able to see right across the sea to Ireland. In Galician history, that tower is the [[Torre de Hercules|Tower of Hercules]] in [[A Coruña]], [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]].<ref name=Hellmuth>Hellmuth, "Míl Espáine"</ref>

==Legend==
===''Historia Brittonum''===
The earliest surviving mention of the character is from the 9th century ''[[Historia Brittonum]]'' (History of the Britons). It says that Ireland was settled by three groups of people from the [[Iberian Peninsula]]. The first group are the people of [[Partholón]], who all die of plague. The second group are the people of [[Nemed]], who eventually return to Iberia. The third group are led by three sons of a warrior of Hispania (''tres filii militis Hispaniae''), who sail to Ireland with thirty ships, each carrying thirty wives. They see a glass tower in the middle of the sea with men on top of it, but the men do not answer their calls. The Milesians set out to take the tower, but when they reach it, all but one of their ships are sunk by a great wave. Only one ship is saved, and its passengers are the ancestors of all the Irish.<ref name="Brady">{{cite book |last1=Brady |first1=Lindy |title=The Origin Legends of Early Medieval Britain and Ireland |date=2022 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=46–50}}</ref> In the ''Lebor Gabála'', it is the people of Nemed who are drowned while trying to capture a tower by the sea.<ref>Carey, ''The Irish National Origin-Legend: Synthetic Pseudohistory'', pp.5–6</ref>

===''Lebor Gabála Érenn''===
The earliest version of the Irish ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'' (Book of the Taking of Ireland) was compiled in the 11th century. It says that Ireland was settled by six groups of people: the people of [[Cessair]], the people of Partholón, the people of Nemed, the [[Fir Bolg]], the supernatural [[Tuatha Dé Danann]], and lastly the sons of Míl Espáine, an Irish borrowing of the Latin ''mīles Hispaniae''.<ref name="Brady"/> 
<ref name="ohogain"/>

The ''Lebor Gabála'' traces the Irish back to the [[Scythians]] and further back to [[Japheth]], one of the [[sons of Noah]]. It says that Míl was born in Iberia and was the son of [[Bile (Irish legend)|Bilé]], son of [[Breogán]].<ref name="ohogain"/> Some versions say Míl's birth name was Golam.<ref name="ohogain"/>

According to some versions, Míl returns to [[Scythia]], the land of his forebears, where he becomes an army commander. He then spends some time in [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], where he marries [[Scota]], a daughter of the [[Cingris|pharaoh]]. Míl eventually returns to Iberia, where he wins several great battles before dying there.<ref name="ohogain"/>

One of Míl's relatives, Íth, visits Ireland but is killed there by the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]]. Míl's eight sons—[[Éber Finn]], [[Éber Donn]], [[Érimón]], Ír, Érannan, [[Amergin Glúingel|Amergin]], Colptha and Airech—sail to Ireland and take possession of it from the Tuatha Dé Danann.<ref name="ohogain"/>

==Offspring==
Among the sons of Míl in Ireland were Éber Finn, Érimón, Ír and Amergin. The traditional genealogies of [[Gaelic Ireland]] and [[Gaelic Scotland]] trace the ancestors of the Gaels back to one of the first three sons. Typically, the descendants of Éber Finn were prominent in [[Munster]] (including the [[Eóganachta]], [[Uí Fidgenti]] and [[Uí Liatháin]]), the progeny of Ír, through his son Éber formed the bulk of [[Ulster]] (including the [[Ulaid]]h; [[Dál nAraidi]], [[Conmhaícne]], [[Ciarraige]] and [[Corco Mruad]]) and then offspring of Érimón were most powerful in [[Connacht]], [[Leinster]] and parts of Ulster (including the [[Connachta]], [[Uí Néill]], [[Osraige]], [[Clan Colla]], [[Uí Maine]], [[Laighin]], [[Dalcassians]] and the [[Érainn]]).<Ref name="hart">[https://www.libraryireland.com/Pedigrees1/Stem.php#anchor7 The Stem of the Irish Nation – Irish Pedigrees]</ref>

According to [[John O'Hart]] in ''Irish Pedigrees'' (1876), in his younger days, Milesius, while travelling through Africa, is said to have killed three lions and subsequently bore three lions as his symbol. Each of the lions were borne by his progeny: Heber Fionn and Heremon (as well as their descendants) bore the gold and red lions respectively, while his grandson Heber mac Ír bore the blue lion.<Ref name="hart"/>
<gallery class="center">
File:Arms of Milesius.png|Lions of Milesius.
File:Lion of Heber Donn.png|Lion of Heber mac Ír.
File:Lion of Heber Fionn.png|Lion of Heber Fionn.
File:Lion of Heremon.png|Lion of Heremon.
</gallery>

==See also==
*''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]''
*''[[Mesca Ulad]]''
*[[Milesians (Irish)|Milesians]]
*[[Scota]]

==References==
===Footnotes===
{{reflist}}
===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|2}}
*{{Cite book|first=Desmond|last=O'Neill|year=1996|title=The Ancient and Royal Family of O'Neill|publisher=Meath|isbn=0-9524484-1-6|url=http://www.oneill.ie/html/history1.htm}}
*{{Cite LGE}}
*{{Cite book |last=Carey |first=John |author-link=John Carey (Celticist) |title=The Irish National Origin-Legend: Synthetic Pseudohistory |series=Quiggin Pamphlets on the Sources of Mediaeval Gaelic History 1 |year=1994 |place=Cambridge |url=https://sulis.ucc.ie/cdi/wp-content/uploads/textarchive/Carey_QuigginPamphletsI.pdf |access-date=19 February 2020 |archive-date=26 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426123429/https://sulis.ucc.ie/cdi/wp-content/uploads/textarchive/Carey_QuigginPamphletsI.pdf |url-status=dead }}
*{{Cite journal |last=Hamel |first=A.G. van |author-link=A.G. van Hamel |title=On Lebor Gabála |journal=[[Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie]] |volume=10 |year=1914–1915 |pages=97–197}}
*{{Cite Celtic Culture |author=Hellmuth, Petra S. |title=Míl Espáine and the Milesians |pages=1298 }}
*''Tochomlod mac Miledh a hEspain i nErind'' ("The Progress of the Sons of Míl from Spain to Ireland"), ed. and tr. {{Cite journal |author=M.E. Dobbs |title=Tochomlad mac Miledh a hEspain i nErind: no Cath Tailten? |journal=[[Études Celtiques]] |volume=2 |year=1937 |issue=3 |pages=50–91|doi=10.3406/ecelt.1937.1133 }}
*''The Milesian Invasion of Ireland'', ed. and tr. {{Cite journal |title=The Milesian Invasion of Ireland |author=Hull, Vernam |journal=[[ZCP]] |volume=19 |year=1931–1933 |pages=155–60}} 
*{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Carey |first=John |title=Native Elements in Irish Pseudo-History |encyclopedia=Cultural Identity and Cultural Integration: Ireland and Europe in the Early Middle Ages |editor=Doris Edel |place=Dublin |publisher=Four Courts |year=1995 |pages=45–60}}
{{refend|2}}
{{Gaels}}
{{Celtic mythology (Mythological)}}
{{Legendary progenitors}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mil Espaine}}
[[Category:Gaels]]
[[Category:Gaelic culture]]
[[Category:Galician mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological Cycle]]
[[Category:Legendary progenitors]]