Mythology Closer to Home?

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I've had an interest in mythology since I was very young. That's probably what first sparked my interest in fantasy as a literary genre. 

To begin with, I was fascinated by Greek and Roman mythology and to a lesser extent, that of the early Scandinavian races. This was probably due to the diet of Greek and Roman stories (more often than not, the boundaries were blurred) and also Norse tales, all served up to my generation mainly by Hollywood.

There are other mythologies that originate from throughout the world though: Arabic, Persian, Chinese, Indian, and I've briefly dallied with all of them with varying levels of interest....

It seems strange though that in the UK, we seem to be almost ignorant of the various Gallic/Gaelic  mythologies, strange because they were once well known throughout much of the British Isles, in the form of Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Cornish tales, etc.

My interest in Irish mythology was first aroused when I was 15, in 1973 when I first heard The Tain by the Irish band Horslips. Horslips were a Folk-Rock band; unlike many bands of that type, they didn't just play traditional folk music in the style of rock, with modern instruments: their music was more a fusion between Irish folk and rock.

The Tain was a concept album, which took as its theme, the tale of Tain Bo Cuailgne or 'The Cattle Raid of Cooley', which is part of the heroic and epic Ulster Cycle of stories. Horslips interpreted the tale in their own way, to say the least, but at the time, I wasn't aware of that, and the intrigue of the mythology added something to my enjoyment of the music.

What follows are the sleeve notes from the album, (acknowledgement to Outlet Recording Co. Ltd, the copyright holder.) They give a brief overview of the story and should give you just a taste of the depth and complexity of Irish mythology, but it goes much, much deeper than could be illustrated here. (Note: the italic portions in speech marks within the text are references to lines from the songs on the album)

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Concerning the Tain

Ireland's most exciting saga is, undoubtedly, Tain Bo Cuailgne (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), the centrepiece of the Ulster cycle of Heroic Tales.

Normally referred to as "The Tain", it deals with the conflict between the forces of Connacht and Ulster for the possession of a prize bull.

The events of the Tain are estimated to have taken place in Ireland approximately 500 B.C. The earliest written version of the Tain known to us is contained in the Book of the Dun Cow, which dates from the 12th century. Before this the story was kept alive by storytellers.

Two other manuscript versions are also available, the 12th century Book of Leinster and the 14th century Yellow Book of Lecan. The Tain, as Ireland's equivalent of the Aeneid, has long intrigued historians, academics and writers.

The Story

One night in bed, the promiscuous Connacht Queen, Maeve, quarrels with her husband Ailill. They argue over who has the most wealth. Ailill doesn't like the suggestion that he's a kept man. "Her words were sharp, they cut him deep, in a war between the sheets". Ailill's magnificent White Bull is the deciding factor in their subsequent measuring of possessions. Maeve's a bad loser. Macroth, her messenger, goes to Cooley to rent the famed Brown Bull for a year, thus giving Maeve the decider. "I once told her where she could find her dream". The bull's owner is agreeable until MacRoth and his party get very drunk and reveal that had they not been allowed to borrow the bull they would have taken it by force. The deal breaks down. They go home empty handed. Maeve decides on war

Having marshalled all her warriors and allies from Munster and Tara, and with Ailill's six brothers and their armies standing by, Maeve receives favourable omens from her Druids. The long march to Cooley begins. "The Champions and the Seven Sons are come to take away the Donn". However, a sorceress appears and warns Maeve of impending defeat at the hands of Dearg Doom, Cu Chulainn. "Saw the host stained red in war, saw the hero-light around the head of a dragon-boy".

The warning is ignored.

Meanwhile, the men of Ulster are ill with labour pains - the legacy of a curse put on them for their inhuman treatment of a pregnant woman. The one man exempt from this curse is Cu Chulainn, whose very birth is shrouded in mystery. Single-handedly he takes on the defence of Ulster, harassing Maeve's soldiers, "And like a hawk I'll swoop and swoop again", beheading those who stray from the main force. "You can hear me shout, 'two heads are better than none. One hundred heads are so much better than one'". Cu Chulainn is a hard man. Originally called Setanta, he became known as Cu Chulainnn, the Hound of Culann, because of his savagery. As the Connacht losses grow greater, the deposed King of Ulster, Fergus MacRoich, who is having a secret affair with Maeve, meets Cu Chulainn and arranges a treaty. Cu Chulainn agrees to single handed combat with any Connacht champion provided Maeve's army does not advance. One by one, day after day he defeats each warrior until eventually he faces his old foster-brother and close friend Ferdia. Cu Chulainn pleads with Ferdia to leave. "But Ferdia just laughed and shook his golden head and then they fell to battle again". For three days they fight at a ford and appear evenly matched until on the third day Cu Chulainn flies into a rage and lets loose his supernatural javelin, the terrible Gae Bolga, which destroys his friend. As Ferdia falls Cu Chulainn catches him and carries him to the riverbank, lamenting. "Life was a game, Now I miss your name, your golden hair". Then overcome by despair Cu Chulainn abandons the fight.

Maeve's army moves south with the stolen bull. The Ulster men rally and with Cu Chulainn back in their ranks they give chase. "But before you hit off, let me say that you bit off more than you can chew". The Morrigan, Queen of Demons, who has been encouraging slaughter all along, prophesies the outcome, In the battle which follows the Connacht army is routed. "It seems our fortunes lied despite our gain. Our tears fall like our pride". Maeve's life is spared by Cu Chulainn, As the Ulstermen are taking the Brown Bull home they meet Ailill's Bull, the White Horned One. The Donn immediately attacks the White. "You can fool them alright but can you fool the beast?" All day and night they are locked in combat. Morning sees the the Donn victorious. The armies consider destroying him, the cause of all their suffering, but leave him as, dying, he staggers homewards.

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If you can find the album, buy it. 

After becoming familiar with The Tain, as limited as that was, my interest in Irish folk mythology was sparked again in the early days of computer games, when titles like Tir na Nog and Dun Darach appeared, which featured many of the heroes I'd heard of before. But these titles were very much based around contemporary works of fantasy that merely borrowed characters and some locations from the original mythology.

Lately I've rediscovered the original album of The Tain and have played it frequently over the last couple of years. As a result I've delved into Irish mythology in more detail by means of online research and discovered that there is so much more depth to it than I knew. I hadn't even scratched the surface. The Ulster Cycle is only a part of the wealth of stories there are, and the complexity is on a par with that of Greek mythology.

I intend to delve a lot further, though must admit at the moment to being overwhelmed by how complicated the whole area is.

I'd encourage any of you out there who've ever had an interest in other forms of mythology, to look into Irish and other Gaelic forms. You won't be sorry.

I fully intend to post more. As I sift through the various forms of each story and discover more about the detail of each, I'll try to post simplified versions of the more interesting ones here on this blog.