The Tain
From the Irish epic Táin Bó Cuailnge
Translated by
Thomas Kinsella
Brush drawings by Louis le Brocquy
Published by Oxford University Press, 1970
The Táin Bó Cuailnge, centre-piece of the eighth-century
Ulster cycle of heroic tales, is Ireland's nearest approach to a great epic.
It tells the story of a giant cattle-raid, the invasion of Ulster by the armies
of Medb and Ailill, queen and king of Connacht, and their allies, seeking to carry off
the great Brown Bull of Cuailnge.
Thomas Kinsella's translation is the first attempt to
present a 'living version' of the story, complete and
unbowdlerized. It is based on the partial texts in two
medieval manuscripts, and includes a group of related
stories which prepare for the action of the Táin.
There are 31 brush drawings by Louis le Brocquy, and three maps.
From the reviews of the limited edition:
'This magnificent version of the early epic... deserves
to be as widely read for its literary significance as it is
already widely coveted for its beauty as a book.'
- Listener
'Kinsella has given us something both old and new...
a most distinguished book'
- Irish Times
(The text above comes from the back of the book)