n a word of doubtful meaning, expressing
woe, calamity,
ill omen
.
(a) acc. to Cormac's glossary the name given
to a rod of yew, kept in pagan graveyards and used for
measuring corpses and graves: ocus ba huath fri cāch a
gabāil inda lāim, ┐ cach rēt ba adētchidhe la cāch dobentai
frie nō dobertis trie ogham indti, unde in proverbium
uenit "fé fris," amail is n-adētc[h]ide in flesc cui nomen fē,
sic et alia res cui comparatur
and everyone feared to handle
it, and anything that was hateful to anyone used to be compared to it or they would write it on it in ogham, unde
, etc.
Corm. Y 606
. He quotes in illustration: ... ō rotoimsed fē
fri Fland (= since F. died) ib.
toirsech bass de, rothoimsech
[ = —d] fé fri cnes rígḟer,
Metr. Dinds. iii 186z
(
v 253
s.v. fé).
Quoted
H 4.22, 37a
:
ro toimsed fe (.i. in tslat tomuis) fri
cnes rigfer,
O'Curry 2018
. Hence, probably, fé .i. slat thomhais
úaighe a rod for measuring a grave O'Cl. Cf.
fae crand o
tomaister uag. ut Senchan dixit crand frisinapar fae,
LL
161a
marg. sup.
erchra fer fe fe flesg,
Auraic. 4299
.
(b)
grief, lamentation (?):
fe .i. fearg,
Lec. Gl. 153
. co tur-gabsat [Laigin] múr dergi fri Ulto. ór ba gess do Ultaib
dul dar múr nderg. Ba fe ille ┐ ba fe innund immorro in
comrac the conflict was disastrous on both sides (?)
LL 115b40
(
RC viii 56.13
).
ba fe ille ┐ inund in comrucsin,
LL 407b37
.
die mbia fe innund fe ille in luan os Martartaig,
ZCP xii
236 § 1
.
atragat na sluaig. Robái fe [in]nund ┐ fe anall in
dú sin, essgal ┐ tessgal,
LL 111a42
(
RC xiv 426.16
).
ba fe
ille ┐ innund in comracsin,
TTr.² 1314
. ba fae do cechtar de
comriachtain and acht ba messu dona gallaib it was ill for
both sides
Cog. 46.11
(fi v.l.).
ba fae do cechta[r]de a comriachtain,
58.20
.
(c) as interj.: fé frisin fiacail `woe for the
tooth!' (see supra, a)
Fianaig. 36.14
.
fae riit .i. cafned,
LL
161a
marg. sup. fē scēl `wehe über die Neuigkeit!'
Ält. Ir. Dicht. ii 17
.
fé mo es[s]e ol atú (.i. truagh mo bheith mar
ataim),
ZCP v 485 § 1
(B. na f.). Oft. with amae: fe amae
RC iii 185.4
.
LU 3279
(
SCC 7
).
fe fe amái,
Ériu iii 141.197
.
fé (trúagh) .i. ue armai .i. lim amin .i. ué,
ZCP viii 107.5
.
By glossators derived from Lat. vae:
fe ab eo quod est
ue
,
Corm. Y 606
.
Cf. next.