Welcome to 'THE WORD', a fortnightly newsletter celebrating the very essence of a writer's toolkit: words.
Today's word is...
'Seanachie'
Irish-Gaelic (noun):
a traditional storyteller of folklore, old tales or legends; an historian
Alternate spellings of the word appear in both Scots and English: seanchaí, shanachie, seanchaidhe & seanchaithe/seanachies (plural)
Seanachie is such an interesting word to share because its meaning is rooted in what we all do as writers - tell stories. We invent or embroider history, predict the future, adopt and create legends; pillaging real life for snippets of inspiration to weave into our narratives. And seanachies have been doing it for centuries.
This quote from Irish Central explains the history of the seanachie:
"The Irish hold a great appreciation for the 'spoken word' and in ancient Celtic society bards held a position of esteem, second only to kings. Bards memorised vast amounts of poetry which they performed live, and their poems and songs were often the only historical record available. Bards evolved into storytellers called 'seanachies' who wandered from town to town. In this informal way, an ancient oral literary tradition continued into modern times."
Seanachies were the spoken-word poets of history too. So much of what we know and see today has been informed by the past - good job we have the seanachies to remind us of that.
And in case you're wondering about pronunciation: shah-nack-ee is your best bet - you're welcome!
Meanwhile, I decided I *would* attempt NaNoWriMo again this year. The first week was easier but this week I've had a lot less time for writing.
I've tried to write on trains and in cafés but find I'm so used to the solitude of my writing desk at home, it's hard to focus when people are talking or music is playing. Or both. Christmas music is especially...jingly.
It's not just the noise though. My hands have got used to a large keyboard so the more compact placement of the keys on a laptop makes for lots of mistakes and pressing the '=' key not the 'backspace' when I try to correct them. (I touch-type, not noticing that half the letters on keyboard have worn away...)
The backspace and delete keys are the enemy of NaNoWriMo of course - read my thoughts on the process, including the tips I wrote to myself back in 2013.
Are you a 'seanachie'?
Which stories are important to you to preserve and pass on?
How often do you listen to the stories of older family members?
'Seanchaí'can also be used to describe the stories themselves, not just the storyteller. I like the idea of the story and its author becoming one, interchangeable and indistinguishable from each other.
Thank you for reading. Remember to spread 'THE WORD' if you enjoyed this newsletter.
