Safia Abidi
Modern Irish Literature
Mr. Casey
Due: Monday 14 April 1997

REPORT ON RELATED READING 2
Title: The Tain
Translated from the Irish Epic Tain Bo Cuailnge by: Thomas Kinsella
Date of Publication: 1990
Quantity Read: All

ORIGINAL REASON FOR SELECTING THIS READING

I have always had a fascination with fantasy with fantasy novels, especially the works of Steven Brust (the Vlad Taltos series). Along with this fondness, I also like to read the works of various non-fictional cultures (although I hardly do this anymore due to lack of time). The more familiar being Greek, Roman, Norse, and Egyptian (although I do find myself rather bored when reading Norse mythology --they aren't very amusing). I thought it would be interesting to read Irish mythology. In fourth grade we had to read Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. Since then, I have often found myself interested in the ancient cultures of the British Isles. In addition to this, I wanted to see if the modern-day Irish psyche was in some way directly related to the works presented in ancient Irish literature. In other words, I wanted to see if all the stuff we are learning in class is reflected in the Irish mythology, thus leaning to a seemingly obvious origin. This, however, contradicts the idea that the present Irish beliefs (Love of Death, Human Need to Hate, et cetera) were actually developed during the past two centuries, influenced by oppression and all that bad stuff.

SUMMARIZE THIS READING. INCLUDE SOME DETAILS THAT PARTICULARIZE THE CONTENT.

It all started when Medb of Cruachan and her husband Ailill were talking in bed about their respective gains in livelihood due to their marriage to each other. As a direct effect of this conversation, they spent the next however many days gathering their possessions and comparing them to the other's. The fundamental difference between their materialistic possessions turned out to be a large bull. Here's how it goes: because the bull refused to be led by a female, the great Finnbennach (who was actually a calf of one of Medb's cows) moved to Ailill's herd. Medb, unfortunately did not have another bull like Finnbennach in her possession. So it seemed like Medb was going to lose her bet. However, Mac Roth suggested that she "borrow" Daire's even greater bull, Donn Cuailgne.

So it seemed like Medb would have, in all her mischievous ways, outsmarted her husband. Unfortunately, because of Mac Roth's drunken pestering, Daire changed his mind and decided not to let Medb borrow his beloved bull. Medb and Ailill were enraged and decided to play a little game called War.

Medb and Ailill's allies got their armies together: men numbering in the hundreds of thousands! Despite Fedelm's warnings concerning the great Cuchulainn, Medb decided to continue on with patching up her hurt pride (remember, she was out for revenge). Thus the Tain Bo Cuailigne begins.

The armies soon encountered Cuchulainn, whose feats did not cease to amaze them. He killed a lot of them and finally just plain wore out. While Cuchulainn was waiting from troops from Ulster (who all this time were suffering from the Pangs), he was forced to fight against his brother, who was tricked into treachery. Cuchulainn, against, his will, killed his brother (Ferdia), and in the process underwent a transformation into a hideous, powerful, beast-like thing.

In the end, after all the fighting, Ailill finally got the bull. But Donn Cuailgne killed Finnbennach. All was restored.

THIS READING'S CONTRIBUTION TO MY UNDERSTANDING OF MODERN IRISH LITERATURE

I did not really see any examples of the concept questions in The Tain. There were no gods, and the characters did not act particularly god-like (except maybe Cochobor and Cuchulainn). There was a lot of killing, but it didn't seem like the current concepts of death were prevalent in the story. Really, The Tain was more of an adventure book.

The process of death, as in what happens when you die. was never brought up. People just sort of ceased to exist. The process of birth, though, is another story. A good example of the difficulty of life is illustrated by the pains of Ulster: Macha is forced to race her chariot against the king while very pregnant. These pangs continued to be felt by all men every year afterward.

The one question that does seem to apply is: "What would you die for?" This might be changed to ask: "What would you kill for?" The Tain, as mentioned before, is actually the story of a fight over a bull. It really did seem like the characters were fighting over petty issues of hardly any significance. And why did Cuchulainn pester Medb and Ailill's armies? He wasn't intimately linked with Daire. (Speaking of Cuchulainn, maybe the respect that the characters had for him can be compared to the respect that the village people had for Christy). Everything was perhaps a fight for the preservation of honor and pride, and perhaps for the preservation of order.

I don't think I gained much insight about modern Ireland and the possible influences on the Irish psyche (I suppose my initial hunches were right, in that case I would have to read more recent books). This experience can be compared to other epics. I mean, I didn't learn much about the Grecians of today by reading Homer's Odessy. However, I did get a taste of the spontaneity of the characters intrinsic to The Tain. I was also surprised by the lack of trust and loyalty that they have for one another. I could not undertand why Ferdia didn't believe Cuchulainn. I was surprised by how easily one could be swayed by promising, say, your daughter to them. Could this zeal for fight, though, have been passed down to the Irish peoples of today? I would like to think so.

SHOULD THIS READING (OR ANY PART OF IT) BE REQUIRED READING IN FUTURE COURSES?

I think The Tain should be included in the curriculum. Not only is it interesting and fun to read, it provides an insight into ancient Irish culture, and it gives the reader a chance to compare it with the more prevalent, popular cultures that we often study/know more about.

Irish epic is truly unique. Not telling the story of gods or other divine creatures, it rather focuses on characters with extraordinary talents. But notice that they all develop when they are fairly young--which I found interesting. Reading this epic also brings up the question "What would you kill for?" This question is inherent to modern Irish literature. Take Call or Playboy of the Western World. The Tain is surely and enjoyable and unforgettable epic.

This is a typo-for-typo HTMLization of Afie's original PostScript file