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Tain
Tain | Ciaran Carson
11 posts | 15 read | 19 to read
'[A] brilliant and altogether engaging new translation' (Los Angeles Times) of the greatest epic in Irish literature "The Tain Bo Cualinge," centrepiece of the eighth-century Ulster cycle of heroic tales, is Ireland's great epic, on par with "Beowulf" and "The Aeneid." The story of the emergence of a hero, a paean to the Irish landscape, and a bawdy and contentious marital farce, "The Tain"tells 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 Cualige. The hero of the tale is Cuchulainn, the Hound of Ulster, who resists the invaders single-handed while Ulster's warriors lie sick. In its first translation in forty years, Ciaran Carson brings this seminal work of Irish literature fully to life, capturing all of its visceral power in what acclaimed poets Seamus Heaney and Paul Muldoon individually called one of the best books of the year. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators."
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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.”

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

Laura317 Harsh, huh? 4y
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. 4y
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. 4y
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!”

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! 4y
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deirdrebeecher
The Tin: From the Irish Epic Tin B 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.

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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! 😊 6y
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 Tin: From the Irish Epic Tin B 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 7y
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SophfroniaScott
The Tin: From the Irish Epic Tin B 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 😍 7y
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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 Tin: From the Irish Epic Tin B 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 7y
I-read-and-eat @Balibee146 They are! The Irish stories are strange but very captivating. 7y
31 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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JohnnySandman
Tain | Ciaran Carson
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One of my all time #favclassics and a few others for kicks