Irish Translation Forum

Greetings! I would like to know what the basic differences are between archaic and modern Irish. In a nutshell: can the texts of the dark and middle ages be read and understood by a modern speaker? This sort of brings me around to my translation request, because the phrase its self
is taken from the text known as Immacallam in da Thuarad - the Colloquy
of the Two Sages. This is an exchange between the young poet Nede and
the Ollave of Emain Macha, Ferchertne. To put it into context, Nede questions Ferchertne: "And you, O my elder, what art do you practice?"
Ferchertne answered:"Hunting for the treasure of knowledge,
Establishing peace,
Arranging words in ranks...
A share of wisdom from the stream of science,
Fury of Inspiration...."
It is the phrase "Fury of Inspiration" that I request a translation of, in modern and, if at all possible, in its archaic mode as well.
Thank you for all the excellent information, past & present.
JJ[/i]

not sure about the grammar:

fury of inspiration
báinidhe nan inspioráide
bawn-ee-ye nan in-speer-adshe

But that looks like Scots Gaelic. Irish translation:

fearg na h-inspioráide = fury of inspiration
farg na hin-spir-oid-a

As for an archaic version, I've never studied it. You might have trouble finding someone who could give a translation for it. Old Irish is quite different, many words would now be totally out of use. That would make it difficult for a modern speaker to understand it.