The Tain (from the Irish epic Táin Bó Cuailnge)
The Táin Bó Cuailnge, centre-piece of the eighth-century Ulster cycle of heroic tales, is Ireland's nearest approach to a great epic. It tells the story of a giant cattle-raid, the invasion of Ulster by the armies of Medb and Ailill, queen and king of Connacht, and their allies, seeking to carry...
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The Táin Bó Cuailnge, centre-piece of the eighth-century Ulster cycle of heroic tales, is Ireland's nearest approach to a great epic. It tells the story of a giant cattle-raid, the invasion of Ulster by the armies of Medb and Ailill, queen and king of Connacht, and their allies, seeking to carry off the great Brown Bull of Cuailnge. The hero of the tale is Cúchulainn, the Hound of Ulster, who single-handedly resists the invasion, whils Ulster's warriors lie sick. Thomas Kinsella's translation is the first attempt to present a `living version' of the story, complete and unbowdlerized. It is based on the partial texts in two medieval manuscripts, and includes a group of related stories which prepare for the action of the Táin. Illustrated with 31 brush drawings by Louis le Brocquy and three maps, this edition combines medieval epic with modern art.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780192810908 (0192810901)
Publish date: January 1st 1975
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Pages no: 282
Edition language: English
Category:
Fantasy,
Classics,
Literature,
European Literature,
Cultural,
Historical Fiction,
Irish Literature,
Medieval,
Ireland,
Poetry,
Mythology,
Folklore
The Tain, sortof a bizarro Irish epic - like all the other Irish epics - was one of my favorite works in college. The definitive translation is by Kinsella (1969), but there's this newish one by Ciaran Carson (2007), which I've finally gotten around to judging.Here's the spoiler-free gist of the Ta...
Note: I compared this translation to Ciaran Carson's here. Tl;dr Kinsella wins.
The Tain is epic. In fact it is Epic - at least as Epic as more famous Epics, such as the Iliad. In fact, the number of correspondences between the Cattle Raid of Cooley and the story of Achilles' rage is remarkable. (It must be - I just remarked it.) Wanna know what they are (at least some of them,...
There are now two other non-dual language modern versions of The Táin in English, but for my money, this is the one to read. Kinsella manages to capture the colloquial, almost conversational tone of the Irish, as well as the nuances of the intertwingled relationships between the tales before and aft...
As this is the only translation I've read of this tale, I may not be best placed to write a review. I found this book fairly easy to read, especially in comparison to the texts that are available online. The endnotes were especially helpful, though I am not sure if some matters were left out as t...
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 by Anonymous, Louis Le Brocquy, Thomas Kinsella, now listed on BookLikes)