The Tain by Ciaran Carson (Translator)

From the Publisher

A stunning new translation brings Ireland's greatest epic tale alive for a new generation

Dating from the eighth century, Táin Bó Cúailnge is the oldest Irish epic, a heroic mythic tale on par with Beowulf and The Aeneid. The sprawling, dramatic tale of the legendary warrior Cú Chulainn and his battle against the invading army of Connacht over the fabled Brown Bull of Cooley, The Táin is an enthralling epic of heroism, magic, bloodshed, and betrayal. The wellspring of Irish literature from Yeats to Joyce, The Táin is the story of the emergence of a hero with superhuman strength and supernatural powers. It is a paean to the Irish landscape and a bawdy and contentious marital farce. Filled with phenomenal battle scenes of hand-to-hand combat and clashes between massive armies, Cú Chulainn's heroic exploits contain the historical seeds of the struggle for Irish nationalism as well as the mythic roots of the traditional Irish love of nature. Carson's lively, conversational rendition of The Táin will bring the adventures of the legendary Irish hero to a new generation of readers interested in epic poetry and Irish history. In the first translation in forty years, Carson brings this seminal work of literature fully to life, capturing all the visceral power of the ancient epic. It is truly a classic for our time.

Publishers Weekly

Loosely translated as "The Cattle Raid of Cooley," the Táin Bó Cúailngeis part of the 80-story, multiauthor Ulster Cycle, an Irish epic that dates to the eighth century. Rendered in laconic vernacular prose by veteran poet and translator Carson, The Táin(pronounced "toyne") opens on the "pillow talk" of King Ailill of Connacht and his boastful wife, Queen Mebd. Reckoning that her husband has one greater asset than she, namely, the prize white-horned bull, Finnbennach, the queen enlists the entire army of Connacht to wage war against Cúailnge, a province of Ulster, in order to secure its fine brown bull. As the army moves into Ulster, it is led by Fergus, a former king of Ulster now in exile who remains sympathetic to the Ulster side and to his 17-year-old foster son, Cú Chulainn, whose youthful exploits Fergus recounts. Three-day hand-to-hand combat pits Cú Chulainn against his beloved foster-brother, Fer Diad Mac Damáin; at the climax, the white and brown bulls come face to face. The narrative revels in place names and their etymologies, telling story upon story. Carson's version is a lively and vivid journey through a mythic landscape. (Feb.)

Kirkus Reviews

The Irish poet and author best known in the United States for his wonderful autobiography The Star Factory (1998) offers a new translation of his country's ebullient epic tale, also known as "The Cattle Raid of Cooley."It's actually one segment of the larger Tain B- Cuailnge, itself part of the 8th-century Ulster Cycle, which celebrates the deeds of the prehistoric inhabitants of Northern Ireland. In an introductory section, Carson mostly suggests that his Tain be viewed as "commentary" on and "tribute" to Thomas Kinsella's near-legendary 1969 translation. Yet the elegant introductory section bespeaks his authority as much as do the vigorous rhythms of the agreeably blood-drenched narrative he translates: a combination of prose and verse, as it happens, with roots in and debts to the epics of Homer and Virgil and the stories of the Christian Bible. The story begins when Queen Medb of Connacht, jealous of her husband King Ailill's possession of a fertile white bull, negotiates the loan of a great brown bull owned by the king of Ulster. When it is learned the men of Connacht were prepared to use force, agreements are voided and a catastrophic "raid" ensues-in which Ulster's stalwart teenaged hero Cu Chulainn prevails in single combat against successive Connacht challengers (including those who shape-shift into fearsome nonhuman creatures). Hyperbole attends both the combatants' frequently exchanged boasts and the core narrative (e.g., "In that great massacre . . . Cu Chullain slew seven score and ten kings as well as innumerable dogs and horses, women and children, not to mention underlings and rabble"). Ominous visions attend the climactic three-day battle between Cu Chullain andConnacht's champion Fer Diad (the former's foster brother and friend)-which is succeeded by the clashing of the great bulls themselves, then the arrangement of a peace between Ulster and Connacht. A great story, too little known in this country, and an invaluable treasure for both its suggestive contemporary relevance and its elemental beauty and power.

Product Details

• ISBN: 0670018686
  
• ISBN-13: 9780670018680
• Format: Hardcover, 256pp
• Publisher: Viking Penguin
• Pub. Date: February 2008
• Sales Rank: 103,291