Edited by Matthieu Boyd.
"Coire Sois. The Cauldron of Knowledge: A Companion to Early Irish Saga" offers thirty-one previously published essays by Tomás Ó Cathasaigh, which together constitute a magisterial survey of early Irish narrative literature in the vernacular.
Ó Cathasaigh has been called “the father of early Irish literary criticism,” with writings among the most influential in the field. He pioneered the analysis of the classic early Irish tales as literary texts, a breakthrough at a time when they were valued mainly as repositories of grammatical forms, historical data, and mythological debris. All four of the Mythological, Ulster, King, and Finn Cycles are represented here in readings of richness, complexity, and sophistication, supported by absolute philological rigour and yet easy for the non-specialist to follow. The book covers key terms, important characters, recurring themes, rhetorical strategies, and the narrative logic of this literature. It also surveys the work of the many others whose explorations were launched by Ó Cathasaigh’s first encounters with the literature.
As the most authoritative single volume on the essential texts and themes of early Irish saga, this collection will be an indispensable resource for established scholars, and an ideal introduction for newcomers to one of the richest and most under-studied literatures of medieval Europe.
Author(s): Tomás Ó Cathasaigh
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
Year: 2014
Language: English
Pages: XXX+618
City: Notre Dame, Indiana
Foreword by Declan Kiberd ix
Preface by Matthieu Boyd xv
Acknowledgments xxi
Abbreviations xxv
Maps xxviii
1. Introduction: Irish Myths and Legends (2005) 1
PART 1. THEMES
2. The Semantics of 'síd' (1977–79) 19
3. Pagan Survivals: The Evidence of Early Irish Narrative (1984) 35
4. The Concept of the Hero in Irish Mythology (1985) 51
5. The Sister's Son in Early Irish Literature (1986) 65
6. Curse and Satire (1986) 95
7. The Threefold Death in Early Irish Sources (1994) 101
8. Early Irish Literature and Law (2006–7) 121
PART 2. TEXTS
The Cycles of the Gods and Goddesses
9. 'Cath Maige Tuired' as Exemplary Myth (1983) 135
10. The Eponym of Cnogba (1989) 155
11. Knowledge and Power in 'Aislinge Óenguso' (1997) 165
12. 'The Wooing of Étaín' (2008) 173
The Ulster Cycle
13. 'Táin Bó Cúailnge' (2002) 187
14. Mythology in 'Táin Bó Cúailnge' (1993) 201
15. 'Táin Bó Cúailnge' and Early Irish Law (2005) 219
16. 'Sírrabad Súaltaim' and the Order of Speaking among the Ulaid (2005) 238
17. Ailill and Medb: A Marriage of Equals (2009) 249
18. Cú Chulainn, the Poets, and Giolla Brighde Mac Con Midhe (2005) 259
19. Reflections on 'Compert Conchobuir' and 'Serglige Con Culainn' (1994) 271
The Cycles of the Kings
20. 'The Expulsion of the Déisi' (2005) 283
21. On the LU Version of 'The Expulsion of the Déisi' (1976) 293
22. The Déisi and Dyfed (1984) 301
23. The Theme of 'lommrad' in 'Cath Maige Mucrama' (1980–81) 330
24. The Theme of 'ainmne' in 'Scéla Cano meic Gartnáin' (1983) 342
25. The Rhetoric of 'Scéla Cano meic Gartnáin' (1989) 352
26. The Rhetoric of 'Fingal Rónáin' (1985) 376
27. On the 'Cín Dromma Snechta' Version of 'Togail Brudne Uí Dergae' (1990) 399
28. 'Gat' and 'díberg' in 'Togail Bruidne Da Derga' (1996) 412
29. The Oldest Story of the Laigin: Observations on 'Orgain Denna Ríg' (2002) 422
30. Sound and Sense in 'Cath Almaine' (2004) 439
The Fenian Cycle
31. 'Tóraíocht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne' (1995) 449
'The Pursuit of Diarmaid and Gráinne' (translated by the author, 2011) 466
Further Reading (compiled by Matthieu Boyd) 484
Notes 501
Bibliography of Tomás Ó Cathasaigh 551
Works Cited 555
Index 589
