Reading practice 57
Ireland has the oldest vernacular literature in Europe. Where other early European authors wrote their literary works in Latin, the Irish began writing down their stories in their own language starting at least as early as the 6th century A.D. and continuing to the modern day. While much of the earliest Irish writing has been lost or destroyed, several manuscripts survive from the late medieval period (12th through 16th centuries). These books usually contain collections of stories, many of which are much older than the books themselves.
One of the most famous of these collections is the epic cycle, The Táin Bó Culainge, which in translation means "The Cattle Raid of Cooley." It's often abbreviated to simply The Táin. In its narrowest sense, the raid refers to a series of battles fought by the northern Irish province of Connacht to steal a magic bull from the neighboring province of Ulster. However, the cycle includes many other legends that together tell the national story of the people of Ulster, especially during the reign of the great Ulster king, Conchobor mac Nessa.1
According to The Táin, Queen Medb of Connacht orders the raid because there are only two magic bulls in all of Ireland, and, as her husband, Aillil, has the first, she determines to acquire the second. Her determination makes more sense when one considers the laws of the time2. Wives were considered legal equals to men if they came into their marriage with as much or more property than their husbands. If she had less, the wife would be a legal dependent of her husband and, like a child, would have limited rights of her own. Irish queens were used to having their own political autonomy and making their own political deals. Medb's insistence on equaling the property of her husband was for reasons far more serious than vanity3.
During the cattle raid, Medb's forces are joined by Fergus, the former king of Ulster, and his men4. The bull is defended by the current king, Conchobor, and the young warrior, Cú Chulainn. The middle of the story tells of how Cú Chulainn single-handedly fends off Medb's army while Conchobor's men struggle against an ancient curse. In the end, many warriors die, both bulls are killed, and peace is re-established between Connacht and Ulster.
Of course, this is merely plot. Thematically, the work explores several great issues that would occupy medieval authors for over six hundred years. One of the most important was the lovers triangle between the king, the queen, and the warrior hero5. Think of the romances of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and Sir Lancelot, or those of Tristram, Isolde, and her husband, King Mark. In The Táin, Queen Medb takes up with the warrior Fergus, with the approval of her husband, in order to guarantee Fergus' allegiance during the war. Of course, in the early Irish versions, the message is far more subtle than an extramarital affair. According to Irish mythology, Medb was a demigoddess—the personification of power itself. As she herself notes, power never goes long without a suitor. Still, even Medb's daughter, Finnabair, is tied linguistically to the Arthurian legend: Finnabair and Guinevere are different spellings of the same name6.
At least as interesting as the raid itself are the remscéla (literally, the "before stories") that tell how the situation for the raid came to be. The remscéla tell how the bulls were originally two pig-keepers who knew magic; the stories explain how the Ulstermen came to be cursed with debilitating pain whenever their country was in danger. They explain who Cú Chulainn was and how he got his name. And, most poignantly, the remscéla tell how Fergus lost his crown and why he agreed to fight against his countrymen7. This last story, told in the tragic legend of Deirdre and the Sons of Usnech, is one of the most striking of all the Irish myths.
Over twelve hundred years old, The Táin is certainly an epic work—but epic doesn't necessarily mean "dead." If the images meet a cultural need, they can come back to life as living artistic works. During the English occupation of Ireland and continuing through the Irish Revolution, many artists plumbed the depths of Irish mythology to create what they saw as an image of Ireland free of English cultural repression8. Writers still call on The Táin for inspiration, just as ancient Irish bards once called on the ghost of Fergus to tell them the true story of the Cattle Raid of Cooley.910
