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The Táin
The Táin: From the Irish Epic Táin Bó Cualinge | Thomas Kinsella, Louis Le Brocquy
11 posts | 15 read | 19 to read
The Tain Bo Cuailnge, centre-piece of the eighth-century Ulster cycle of heroic tales, is Ireland's greatest epic. It tells the story of a great 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 Cuchulainn, the Hound of Ulster, who resists the invaders single-handed while Ulster's warriors lie sick. Thomas Kinsella presents a complete and living version of the story. His translation is based on the partial texts in two medieval manuscripts, with elements from other versions, and adds a group of related stories which prepare for the action of the Tain. Illustrated with brush drawings by Louis le Brocquy, this edition provides a combination of medieval epic and modern art.
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Libby1
Tain | Ciaran Carson
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“Redg threatened him with satire if he didn‘t give him the javelin. Cú Chulainn fired the javelin clean through his head.

‘That was a dear and speedy gift,‘ said the satirist.â€

Being a Satirist was apparently a dangerous job in ancient Ireland!

Laura317 Harsh, huh? 5y
deirdrebeecher Boring answer: it's not meant to be read literally. That passage is a joke about a poet who manages to get a good line out even fatally injured. 5y
34 likes2 comments
review
Libby1
Tain | Ciaran Carson
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Pickpick

The Táin is based on a series of centuries old manuscripts which tell a series of tales called The Ulster Cycle. As I now live in what constitutes most of Ulster ( #NorthernIreland ) I wanted to know more.

I enjoyed this more than most mythology I‘ve read. As I was finishing the book my husband, based on my frequent laughter, asked if it was MEANT to be funny.

Yes, I think it is. This new translation was poetic and amusing. I enjoyed this.

deirdrebeecher Ack, ignore my comment on the other post, just saw this one. 5y
55 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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Libby1
Tain | Ciaran Carson
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The Táin can be considered to be Ireland‘s own Iliad. In this passage, 7 year-old Cú Chulainn, already a fierce warrior, demands to fight the warriors of Emain Macha (now Armagh in Northern Ireland). He‘s carrying the heads of three men he‘s recently slain.

The response of the leader of Emain Macha:

“Bring on the naked women!â€

They bare their breasts at little Cú Chulainn and he‘s so embarrassed he can‘t fight. ?

Libby1 Did you have to study this in school, @Cathythoughts ? This translation is really amusing. I wish I didn‘t have to think so hard about the pronunciations of the names, though! 5y
43 likes1 stack add1 comment
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deirdrebeecher
The Táin: From the Irish Epic Táin Bó Cualinge | Thomas Kinsella, Louis Le Brocquy
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Antique fair find. Always wanted a copy of this book because I love the brush drawings by Louis le broquey. The font is georgous too.

blurb
PirateJenny
Tain | Ciaran Carson
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Just a bit of my Celtic (mostly Irish) #fablesandfolklore collection. Other cultures and generic folklore are on another bookcase (with Robin Hood and King Arthur). I have so much in the way of books history, archaeology, etc of the Celts that the Celts get their own bookcase. #uncannyOctober @RealLifeReading

MayJasper That's a lot! 😊 7y
15 likes1 comment
review
BethanyAlys
Tain | Ciaran Carson
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Panpan

|had to read for uni|
Personally, I just couldn't get into this book at all. All the names of people and places just get confusing and I feel like there are better novels from the Irish culture than this one...

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BarbaraJean
The Táin: From the Irish Epic Táin Bó Cualinge | Thomas Kinsella, Louis Le Brocquy
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One of my favorite classes in college was an interterm class on Celtic Myths & Legends. These were a few of the texts... my first intro to fascinating Irish and Welsh legends like the Tain and the Mabinogion. Chuchullain, (anti-?) hero of the Tain, is pictured in the frame on the right. #mythology #aprilbookshowers

JazzFeathers I love lrish mythology. There's a special feel to it. But then, all mythologies have their special feel to them 8y
40 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
SophfroniaScott
The Táin: From the Irish Epic Táin Bó Cualinge | Thomas Kinsella, Louis Le Brocquy
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I knew I wanted my son to have an Irish name to represent my family's Scotch-Irish ancestry. But there were so many Ryans and Aidans and Connors! One day my husband, a musician, told me about a jazz drummer, Jeff "Tain" Watts and said Tain was a cool name. Then a friend said, "Tain is an Irish name!" and referenced this story of a cattle raid. Tain means cattle or bull. My strong and beautiful son, age 12, is Tain. #marchintoreading #irishauthors

KarenUK What a lovely name 😠8y
31 likes1 stack add2 comments
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I-read-and-eat
Tain | Ciaran Carson
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#magicalmonday #magicalcharacter I have chosen Badb one of the ancient Irish war godesses. Little is known about the celtic pantheon but there seems to have been a tripple war deity the Morrigan, three sisters of which Badb is one. They can take the share of crows and their screeching induces terror when they fly over battlefield. They also have proohetic qualities. Badb is my favourite as her name translates to 'crow' and I love crows!

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I-read-and-eat
The Táin: From the Irish Epic Táin Bó Cualinge | Thomas Kinsella, Louis Le Brocquy
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It's time for #historymonth again! This time we're off to early medieval Ireland. Edel Bhreatnach has written an amazing book on this period of Irish history The Táin is the big Irish epic. About a Queen waging war on the neighbouring province to get a bull. Her husband had one more bull and she was just not having that. It's a weird but wonderful story full of battles, friendship and feasting. Early Irish Myths is exactly what it says.

Balibee146 These sound fabulous 8y
I-read-and-eat @Balibee146 They are! The Irish stories are strange but very captivating. 8y
31 likes3 stack adds2 comments
blurb
JohnnySandman
Tain | Ciaran Carson
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One of my all time #favclassics and a few others for kicks