神奇的爱尔兰裸女神

On forgotten walls of country churches or crumbling castles throughout Ireland, the tiny figures squat unseen.

在爱尔兰各地被人遗忘的乡村教堂墙壁上,或摇摇晃晃的城堡上,这些微小的身影蹲在那里很不起眼。

Lost in gray brickwork, obscured by ivy or moss, Sheela-na-gig stone carvings can be hard to spot in the wild -- but these medieval creations are in no way coy.

隐藏在灰色砖墙中,被常春藤或苔藓遮盖,希拉·娜·盖格石雕在野外很难被发现,但这些中世纪的创作是相当大胆的。

Typically bald-headed naked females, with hanging breasts and legs spread wide to display exaggerated vulvas, Sheela-na-gigs at first seem peculiarly out of place in the prim surroundings of a Christian church.

典型的是光头裸女,胸部下垂,双腿伸展,夸张的外阴,希拉·娜·盖格一开始似乎与基督教教堂一本正经的环境格格不入。

However, these envoys from an ancient past have a lot to teach us about Irish and northern European history, and about the pagan roots of the global festival now known as St. Patrick's Day.

然而,这些来自远古时代的使节可以让我们了解爱尔兰和北欧的历史,以及如今被称为圣帕特里克节的全球节日的最初起源。

While in modern times it's a one-day celebration, it was once a three-day carnival that finished on March 18 -- Sheelah's Day.

在现代,这是一个为期一天的庆祝活动,但它曾经是一个为期三天的狂欢节,在3月18日——希拉日结束。

This is the story of Sheelah -- who she was, why she was forgotten when St. Patrick was not, and what traces of her are left behind.

这就是希拉的故事——她是谁,为何被遗忘,而圣帕特里克却留下来了,她又留下了什么其他的影响呢?

Irish mythology is peopled with many female figures.

爱尔兰神话中有许多女性形象。

Tales of warrior queens, deities, kingmakers and sacred hags have been passed down from generation to generation.

关于勇士女王、神灵、造王者和神圣母夜女的传说代代相传。

However, an oral folk tradition means that names, characters and meanings morph over time -- and are subject to the interpretative whims of changing societies.

然而,口述的民间传统意味着,名字、文字和含义会随着时间的推移而变化,并受社会变迁的影响。

"Sheelah is one folk manifestation of what we call female cosmic agency," says Shane Lehane, an archaeologist, folklorist and historian at Cork's CSN College of Further Education who has been instrumental in reviving interest in Sheelah in recent years.

“希拉是我们所说的女性宇宙中介的一种民间表现,”科克CSN继续教育学院的考古学家、民俗学家和历史学家谢恩·勒汉说,近年来,他在恢复人们对Sheelah的兴趣方面发挥了重要作用。

"Think of her as the consort of the male, that great mythological tradition of the king and the goddess. She represents the land."

“把她想象成男性的配偶,伟大的神话传说中国王和女神的结合。她代表着这块土地。”

While Sheela-na-gigs are medieval, and the figure of Sheelah first appears in newspaper and documentary accounts around the 17th century, tracing her history back to what is believed to be her ancient Celtic beginnings is a near-impossible task.

虽然希拉·娜·盖格是中世纪的,希拉的形象最早出现在17世纪左右的报纸和文献报道中,但将她的历史追溯到她被认为是古老的凯尔特血统几乎是不可能的任务。

"There is a body of belief amongst people who study mythology that every female figure in some shape or form represents this entity," says Lehane.

勒汉说:“在研究神话的人当中,有一种信念,认为每个女性都以某种形状或形式代表这个实体。”

"The very fact she survives is interesting. She's always there."

“她能一直流传下来的事实本身就很有趣。她一直都在那里。”

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