Early Irish Literature

220 Pages·1967·11.601 MB·English

by  Eleanor Knott, Gerard Murphy

E A R L Y IR IS H L I T E R A T U R E

EARLY IRISH
LITERATURE
ELEAN O R KNOTT
GERARD M U RPH Y
Introduction by
JA M ES CARNEY
LONDON
R O U T L E D G E & K E G A N P A U L
Published ig66
by Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited
Broadway Housey 68-J 4 Carter Lane
London, E.C.4
Printed in Great Britain by
Western Printing Services Limited
Bristol
© Government of Ireland
2nd impression ig6y
Contents
Abbreviations page vii
Introduction by James Carney i
IRISH CLASSICAL PO ETRY
I. EARLY POETRY
Bard and fili 21
Metrical form 23
Subjects and authors 28
Literary style 3°
Anonymity 37
Early religious poetry 38
Love poems 45
Ossianic poems 54
II. THE COURT POET AND HIS WORK
Dd mbdidhti an dan 60
Composing a poem 63
Recitation 64
Language 65
Style 68
Poems of praise, protest, etc. 71
Satire 77
Personal poems 82
The religious verse of the court poets 85
The ‘Contention of the Bards’ 88
Conclusion 92
V
CONTENTS
SAGA AND M YTH IN AN CIEN T
IRELAND
Storytelling in ancient Ireland page 97
Mythological tales 104
Tales of the heroic age 114
King tales 131
Later development 142
TH E OSSIANIC LORE AND RO M ANTIC
TA LES OF M ED IEVAL IRELAND
The Fionn cycle 145
Early Fionn tales 148
Early Fionn ballads and Acallam na Senórach 154
New trends in Irish storytelling as a result of
the Anglo-Norman invasion 166
Translations and adaptations 170
Irish Arthurian tales 172
Irish romantic tales 174
Later Fionn tales 182
Later Fionn ballads 187
Manuscript tradition and oral tradition 191
Books for further reading 194
Index of Names, Terms, Authorities, etc 195
Index of Tales, etc 201
vi