Aisling (Vision)

Aisling , from Old Irish aislinge “vision, dream” is a category within the taxonomy of medieval Gaelic literature. It denotes an encounter with the supernatural that is initiated when a protagonist, invariably male, is dreaming or in a comparable state of altered consciousness. The supernatural element takes the form of a beautiful woman or an angel or resides merely in the fact that the protagonist accesses knowledge that would normally be unavailable to him, such as glimpses of future events. The vision motif aside, the aisling narratives are diverse in terms of date of composition, setting, theme, and tone. The medieval aisling is not to be confused with the modern Irish aisling , a type of political poem. Examples of aisling narratives include Aislinge Óengusso (The vision of Óengus), Aislinge Meic Con Glinne (The vision of Mac Con Glinne), and Aisling Tundail (The vision of Tundal).