OSCARIUS

I. Name

Oscar's name is ancient, but it is unknown when it first appeared truly, as many of the Irish mythologies have always been orally transmitted. The first manuscript of the story involving him is from the twelfth century in the Book of Leinster.¹ In Middle Irish, his name is represented as Osgur or Oscur. Traditionally the Irish myth cycle stories are held to have occurred from 200 to 400CE.² It is known the Leinster manuscript is a copy which would date it before 1150 in any case.¹

The name is held to be from "oss" and "cara", meaning lover of deer. In Germanic languages the name has a separate meaning. The Old English variation is derived from the elements "os" meaning "god" and "gar" meaning "spear," meaning “Gods Spear” thus combining into a powerful image of divine strength. Similarly, in Old Norse, which was a mutually intelligible language to Old English, Oscar is believed to translate to "spear of the gods."³ This intersection of meaning in both the Celtic and Germanic contexts in both relating to solid attributes of the character (descendant of deer through Oisín + spear of the gods) is probably divinely-rooted.

Sources: O’Kearney, The Battle of Gabhra (1854); Gwynn, The Metrical Dindshenchas (1991).^1,3

II. The Hero Oscar

Oscar is a mysterious divine force associated with certain aspects of victory itself, most notably being one of the heroes of the Fianna in Irish mythology. In this context where he passed down into being a hero of men, he is the vanquisher of corrupt kings and invaders of Ireland who severs their heads in dramatic battles such as the Battle of Ventry and the Battle of Gabhra.^5,6,7 Irish mythological works reference his bravery and valor:⁸

“Rise up, Oscar, show them who you are,
Though heroes stand before you, a hundred keep at bay,
Charge back and forth, till their necks be headless,
Seize your fine green shield, grasp your sharpened sword,
Take shield and javelins from the warrior you have slain,
Take a cuirass to shield you, that your onset may not fail,
A great event for me, with witnesses at hand.
The giving of my child, at the age of nine.
One shall never come, better of hand or oath.
No spearshaft that further shall penetrate a man.
Woe to the man to whom he bears his sharpened sword,
When angrily his arm strikes in fierce attack.
Oscar's first victories, Ulster's haughty ruler,
Then the King of Leinster, and Connaught's valiant lord.
Áed, son of Fidach, son of Finnta, came next to the attack.
Oscar left him headless, after a lengthy struggle.
Áed Donn, King of Ulster, fierce son of Fergus Finn,
With shield and cruel sword, likewise by Oscar slain.
Brave Baetán, son of Fer Narb, Leinster's mighty king,
Despite his ample valour, quickly met his death.
The wise and dear companion of Oscar, royal and fair,
Bold Linne, Ligne's son, Oscar, in error slew.
Brightly attired Niam came to view the strife,
The fierce battle's tide turned on the radiant queen.
I shall tell you of her champion, her hero of swift blows.
No more generous hero bestrode a horse.
I shall tell you of him, dear Patrick, a true account,
Great was his royal fury, his early deeds not small.”
Acallam na Senórach (Tales of the Elders of Ireland), translated by Ann Dooley and Harry Roe

Oscar, as the son of Oisín, is relayed down through Fenian tradition as one of the foremost warriors of the Fianna, especially prominent in single-combat and battle episodes. He is invariably represented as the strongest man in Ireland who never fails to obtain victory in battle but excels specifically in duels with another adversary.⁹ In one battle of the Bruidhean Chaorthainn, he battles with the King of the World named Sinsar and beheads him, representing the victory of the eternal soul and the Light of Phosphoros over the forces of the world, or the 'labyrinth' of ignorance, and the forces of time.¹⁰ Oscarius also represents victory in legal and mercantile matters as well as the principle of being rewarded handsomely for effort in these matters. In the myths, Oscar travels to new lands to bring endless commerce to the far-flung island of Eire.

He is invincible, resolute, powerful even in his death at Gabhra. His lineage was great, as Oscar was the son of Oisin and grandson of Sadhbh, the deer-maiden.¹¹ His mother in some stories was Niamh, a fairy who enticed his father, Oisin, to stay in the Land of the Everlasting Youth, representing the realm of the Gods separated from the mortal realm, but in others it was a wife taken by Oisín from among the Corcorthrí of Corann.¹² His name means "deer-lover" or "friend of the deer," from oss, meaning deer, and cara, meaning love. The symbolism of the stag belongs to Oscar as a token of new life regenerating itself: the stag can be likened to the runes Ansuz and Fehu, which can overcome any obstacles. For the Celts, deer were also associated with the underworld and the ability to communicate with spirits,¹³ alongside the destruction of tyrannical forces and bindings through escape.

In the Enchanted Cave of Cesh Corran, Fionn, Oisín, Oscar, Conán, and the Fianna are trapped by enchantment and later released.¹⁴ The Acallam na Senórach says that no two warriors were better than Oscar and Diarmuid for sustaining the Fianna in arms.¹⁰ The symbolism here relates to the penultimate 'sweating out' phase of the Magnum Opus, which is fiery and destructive. The connection of Oisin and Oscar represents the concept of being 'father and son unified,' the final stage of the Magnum Opus where the individual is reborn in the light. Oscarius therefore serves as the dispositor of the light of Phosphoros and of final victory, as this final step of the Great Work leads to invincibility as a soul.

III. Sagas

Acallam na Senórach

Oscar is remembered as one of the elite champions of the Fianna. Cáilte names him Oscar mac Oisín and describes him as the best young royal warrior in Ireland for agility, unlimited skill in weaponry and sheer undiluted power. In one episode, Oscar helps subdue Artúr mac Benne Brit. The Fianna kill Artúr’s followers, while Oscar seizes Artúr with both hands and spares him rather than simply killing him.

Cath Finntrágha

He appears as one of the central battle-champions of Clann Baoiscne.¹⁵ In the thick of the battle, he fights alongside Oisín and the nobles of the Fianna. Hundreds of enemies strike the shields of Oisín, Oscar, and Cáilte, and Fergus is sent to praise them so that their courage is strengthened.

Cath Gabhra

The death saga remembered as the tragic gotterdammerung in Irish myth.⁷ Oscar is the greatest warrior whose death marks the collapse of the Fianna. The battle as the fatal conflict involving Cairbre Lifechair and the Fianna. In the broader tradition, Oscar and Cairbre are mutually fatal opponents: he kills or mortally wounds Cairbre, but then he dies from wounds received in the same combat.

Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne

Oscar is an important loyalist to Diarmuid on account of his valor rather than to Fionn’s vengeance. When Fionn is closing in on Diarmuid and Gráinne, Oisín tells him to send Bran with a warning; Oscar gives Bran the message, and Bran warns Diarmuid.¹⁶ The latter himself later says that Oisín and Oscar counselled him in the course he took.

Tóraigheacht in Ghilla Dhecair ocus a chapaill

The youthful warrior is part of Fionn’s leading company at the beginning of the adventure, named beside Oisín, Goll, Cáilte, Diarmuid, and others. Later, in the overseas war episode, he acts as Fionn’s champion: when Goll offers to fight,¹⁷ Oscar asks to take the day’s combat instead, fights the son of the high king of France, beheads him, and displays the head before the fleet of the high king of Greece.

Bruiden Bheg na hAlmaine

Oscar appears as one of the honourable nobles of the Fianna at Fionn’s feast in Allen, named with Goll, Oisín, Mac Luga, Diarmuid, and Cáilte.¹⁸ He belongs to the highest-ranked fighting circle around Fionn.

Bruidhean Chaorthainn

This story has a lot of variations. Oscar belongs to the rescue-and-combat pattern of the bruiden tale. In modern printed versions, the plot centres on Fionn and companions being trapped by enchantment while the free Fianna fight to release them. One accessible Donegal version names Oscar among the hunting company with Goll, Oisín, Diarmaid, and others; P.W. Joyce’s translation presents the tale as one of the most popular Gaelic romances and says he translated it from Royal Irish Academy manuscripts.¹⁹

Metrical Dindshenchas, “Glaisse Bulga” romances

Beyond the mythology proper, Oscar appears in a place-name legend. The tale is given as Glass, daughter of Derg mac Dedad, reared Oscar; after Cairbre killed Oscar in the battle of Gabhair, Glass came to keen over her fosterling and died from grief, giving the place-name Glaisse Bulga its story.²⁰ The Chase of Slieve Fuad in Joyce’s Old Celtic Romance, Oscar functions as a rescuer, aduel-champion. He is moved by pity at a woman’s distress, challenges the giant-druid Dryantore to single combat, intervenes when Conan is threatened, and kills Dryantore with his spear.²¹

IV. Occult meaning

Note Ansuz's similarity to a single stag's horn.

Oscarius is connected to Sowilo, Kenaz, and Raidho, represented in his Shenu Ring. Sowilo relates to total invincibility, triumph, and masculine command; Kenaz concerns the light of the soul, and Raidho represents changes in life states and consciousness.

IV. Aquila

In Rome, Oscar's divine force of eternal victory was symbolized by the military eagle known as the Aquila, a symbol of the eagle. This standard was not ordinary and had a deeply occult significance related to both total victory in battle and, in an occult context, the elevation of the soul. The use of Jupiter's eagle alone originated with Gaius Marius' use of legions according to Pliny the Elder, as the Romans had before used various animal symbols like the boar, wolf, minotaur and horse.²²

Several episodes in Roman history show the Roman state treating lost aquilae and standards as objects of urgent recovery, such as the recovery of five Roman eagles and twenty-six standards after Crassus’ defeat of Spartacus,²³ the Augustan recovery of the standards lost to the Parthians after Carrhae and later Roman-Parthian disasters,²⁴ and Germanicus’ recovery of the eagle of the Nineteenth Legion, lost with Varus in the Teutoburg disaster.²⁵ The Res Gestae Divi Augusti inscriptions also boast that Augustus recovered many standards from Spain, Gaul, and Dalmatia, and compelled the Parthians to restore the standards and spoils of three Roman armies.²⁶ This symbol is related to Zeus and Apollo in rendering victory and favor.