Tales of Cu Chulaind: Irish Heroic Myths

by Anonymous, Jeffrey Gantz (Translator)

Genres: Ireland, Classics, Mythology, Fiction, Fantasy

96 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1996

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Daren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of excerpts from Early Irish Myths and Sagas, all featuring Cu Chulaind, published as a Penguin 60s Classic.

It is unclear from reading this whether the excerpts were edited for this publication, or whether each excerpt formed a short story in the full collection.

The stories are fantasy / mythology, and appear to be parts of sagas (they didn't survive intact apparently) dating from around the 7th Century BC, (but written down in the 8th Century).

Tales of heroism, battles, tests of strength, double dealing and tricky wordsmithery, as well as the recurring courtesy / prize of being offered 50 women to keep each of the great warriors company for an evening. Chariots, wrestling, feasting, archery, hacking off heads with axes, even some hurling (the sport).

Readable, but a bit disjointed.

Only just three stars.

[Jocelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

These were interesting and entertaining ancient stories. The first one, The Birth of Cu Chulaind, was particularly odd, and I think would have been better with more discriminating selection of the parts of the story. It seemed like the historian's desire to include everything was stronger than the story-teller's desire to shape a satisfying narrative. Parts were very interesting, intriguing or funny. I had a pleasant conversation with another reader speculating on the reasons for the repeated phrase "I swear by the god my people swear by"

[Robert Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with the others in this series, the books are tiny, the sort of thing you can easily carry in your pocket. Very convenient - but only extracts from the whole heroic cycle and I continue to wonder if that is the best way to read such classical works.

[50andsomething · Rating 3 out of 5]

Irish tales have their own style of exaggeration and imagination.

[Marta Ch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have just finished reading this book which concerning Irish heroic myths. A boy fears everything becomes a terrible warrior. Interesting because it is a legend of one country that believes in magic, supernatural and spiritual being.
It is worth to read who likes this kind of literature.

[A.Leto · Rating 4 out of 5]

The testosterone is hitting my blood stream