Product Description

The Tain Bo Cuailnge, center-piece of the eighth-century Ulster cycle of heroic tales, is Ireland's greatest epic. Thomas Kinsella's lively translation is based on the partial texts in two medieval manuscripts, with elements from other versions. This edition includes a group of related stories which prepare for the action of the Tain along with brush drawings by Louis le Brocquy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53518 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780192803733
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
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About the Author

Thomas Kinsella is a poet and translator. Among his publications are Blood and Family and From Centre City.

Customer Reviews

A Faithful Translation by an Irish Poet
The Ulster Cycle is a group of tales associated with the northeast of Ireland and the Ta/in Bo/ Cuailgne is the core of the cycle. The tales are preserved in manuscripts of the twelfth-century and later, but they look back to a pre-Christian culture dominated by warriors who counted their wealth in cows. Raiding your neighbors was one way to acquire more cows. In the Ta/in Bo/ Cuailgne, one group, the Connachta, tries to obtain a very special bull, a transformed human, by raiding another group, the Ulaid. In the process, gods, goddesses, kings, queens, seers, and heroes of every description become involved, and a raid turns into a monumental battle.

This is not a retelling or a novelized version of the Ulster cycle tales. Rather this is a translation of an ancient saga equivalent to the Odyssey, Iliad, or Mahabarata. Years ago, not long after this book was first printed, I had the good fortune to hear Thomas Kinsella, an eminent modern Irish poet, describe how in translating the Ta/in, he combined his own vision with expert input from scholars of the ancient language. The voice in this translation is that of Kinsella, but it echoes the voices of all those who came before him. Having studied the ancient language and texts myself, I feel that Kinsella has produced a work of poetic art that is nevertheless faithful to the meaning and spirit of the stories. The beautiful semi-abstract images by Le Brocquy are not really illustrations but accompanying art, demonstrating how the cycle of Ulster tales, which has inspired Irish artists through various eras, continues to kindle the creative fire in those who read and hear them.

If you are interested in learning about pre-Christian Irish--or Celtic--tradition, the Ta/in is indispensable reading. If you are seeking a novelized version (at one extreme) or a literal translation (at the other), you may want to look elsewhere. If you are new to Celtica, you may want to pick up some additional reading to better appreciate the text. For commentary on the mythology behind the story, see _Celtic Heritage_ by Alwyn and Brinley Rees. For more information about the culture of medieval Ireland, see Nery's Patterson's _Cattle Lords and Clansmen_. To keep all the names straight (and the Ta/in has a cast of hundreds!), get James Mac Killop's _Dictionary of Celtic Mythology_. If you are interested in modern Irish literature rather than medieval, you will still want to read the Ta/in: this saga inspired modern Irish writers from Yeats to Heaney. Even Joyce drew heavily from the Ulster cycle (see Maria Tymoczko's _The Irish Ulysses_ for details).

Finally, a Definitive Version of the Tale
The Tain is probably beyond dispute the most important piece of Old Irish literature, perhaps even of all literature in the Irish language. It has waited a long time to have a really definitive English translation; previous versions are either paraphrases or are so bowdlerized as to be almost unreadable. Kinsella is never turgid or sentimental in the nineteenth century sense, which is so true of many of the older reworkings of Irish literature.

As one other reviewer noted, it used to be that if you wanted a good rendering of Old Irish you almost had to turn to German translations. The tide is turning, and much good material is now available in English. My only complaint about this version is that I would have liked to see more notes. But then admittedly Mr. Kinsella was seeking to provide a version that was literary but not recondite. If you're interested in Irish literature this book belongs in your library.

Excellent job Mr. Kinsella
Kinsella does an excellent job of bringing the ancient epic to life. You can almost imagine an old Irish bard reciting the tale in front of a peat fire. Kinsella includes not only the Tain, but stories leading up to the Tain and a brief story about how the Tain was once again learned:
"If this your royal rock
were your own self mac Roich
halted here with sages
searching for a roof
Cuailnge we'd recover
plain and perfect Fergus."

The above was spoken by the poet Muirgen at Fergus's grave, and summoned the spirit of Fergus to... Oh, just buy it and read it.

The epic of the Tain is starting to creep back into our lives. Only recently a software company calle Bungie included many Irish myths as a foundation for one of their most popular games to date. The Tain is also once again being performed by storytellers and it's an excellent tale either oral or written. On a side note, the pronunciation guide is a bit lacking, you'll have to do some leg work to get the proper pronuciation of some Irish words and names.