The Salmon of Knowledge
the wisdom carried in flesh — nine hazelnuts of Segais, eaten and passed on
Memories from the shared culture · the well of Segais
wisdom carried in flesh.
the nine hazelnuts
The salmon ate the hazelnuts of the nine trees that drop into the well of Segais, and carried all wisdom in its flesh. The knowledge passed to the cook, not the poet — burnt thumb, sucked, and known. Every wisdom in this garden is downstream of that fish.
The salmon ate the hazelnuts of the nine trees that drop into the well of Segais, and carried all wisdom in its flesh. Fionn cooked it for the poet Finegas, burnt his thumb on its skin, put the thumb in his mouth — and the knowledge came to him instead: teinn délaig dodáin, the thumb of knowledge. Every wisdom in this garden is downstream of that fish: chew the thumb, and you know what to do.