Tain | 
“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.”
Being a Satirist was apparently a dangerous job in ancient Ireland!
pickThe 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.
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!”
They bare their breasts at little Cú Chulainn and he‘s so embarrassed he can‘t fight. ?
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.
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
pan|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...
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
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
#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!
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.
