- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks; annotated edition edition (2 Sep 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0192839187
- ISBN-13: 978-0192839183
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13 x 2.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 619,534 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
"One of the masterpieces of the second millennium" Paul Muldoon, TLS December, 1999
Product Description
"'Dear holy cleric,' they said, 'these old warriors tell you no more than a third of their stories, because their memories are faulty. Have these stories written down on poets' tablets in refined language, so that the hearing of them will provide entertainment for the lords and commons of later times.' The angels then left them." Tales of the Elders of Ireland is the first complete translation of the late Middle Irish Acallam na Senórach, the largest literary text surviving from twelfth-century Ireland. It contains the earliest and most comprehensive collection of Fenian stories and poetry, intermingling the contemporary Christian world of Saint Patrick, with his scribes, clerics, occasional angels and souls rescued from Hell, the earlier pagan world of the ancient, giant Fenians and Irish kings, and the parallel, timeless Otherworld, peopled by ever-young, shape-shifting fairies. It also provides the most extensive account available of the inhabitants of the Irish Otherworld - their music and magic, their internecine wars and their malice toward, and infatuation with, humankind - themes still featured in the story-telling of present-day Ireland. This readable and flowing new translation is based on existing manuscript sources and is richly annotated, complete with an Introduction discussing the place of the Acallam in Irish tradition and the impact of the Fenian or Ossianic tradition on English and European literature.
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4 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
A good reference
25 Sep 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a translation of 12th century Irish manuscripts, Acallam na Senorach. I purchased it while looking for Acallam Bec, a variant of the same story (although I am beginning to doubt it exists in English).
I recommend Tales of the Elders for scholars or serious celtophiles. I found the footnotes and references very helpful. It is a translation, not a dramatization, so if you are looking for entertainment this is probably not what you want.
I recommend Tales of the Elders for scholars or serious celtophiles. I found the footnotes and references very helpful. It is a translation, not a dramatization, so if you are looking for entertainment this is probably not what you want.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
excellent for research and enjoyment
1 Feb 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
great little book filled with wonderful stories, a must read for any one studying Celtic folklore or history.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Important source of Fenian stories
31 May 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a translation of important sources on the Fenians from the 12th Century. It adopts a format of dialog and story telling between the survivors of the Fenians and St. Patrick.
I found the translation a bit plodding but translating Middle Irish into Modern English is a very difficult task and therefore I have chosen not to deduct stars for that. I do not believe that it is possible to retain a lexically correct translation which also preserves the mood of the original due in part to syntactic differences between the languages.
At the same time, this is a great collection of stories which can be mined deeply for insights into Celtic social order, ideology, culture, etc. It's an incredibly important work and the translation is adequate for most purposes.
I'd highly recommend it.
I found the translation a bit plodding but translating Middle Irish into Modern English is a very difficult task and therefore I have chosen not to deduct stars for that. I do not believe that it is possible to retain a lexically correct translation which also preserves the mood of the original due in part to syntactic differences between the languages.
At the same time, this is a great collection of stories which can be mined deeply for insights into Celtic social order, ideology, culture, etc. It's an incredibly important work and the translation is adequate for most purposes.
I'd highly recommend it.
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