Full title: Cath Maige Mucrama – The Battle of Mag Mucrama (Volume # 50)
Edited by: Máirín O Daly
Publisher: Irish Text Society
Published: First published in 1975, Reprinted 1997
ISBN: 1 870 16650 7
Pages: 157 pages, includes Introduction, Appendix, Notes, Index to Notes, Names of Persons, Names of Peoples, and Names of Places.
REVIEW: As usual with these books I’m not going to review the content of the myth rather I’m going to comment on the Introduction and the way the book is put together.
The Introduction starts by telling the reader that none of the texts that will appear in the book is appearing for the first time.
The editor then goes on to tell the reader about the texts used and when they were edited and by who. The editor then tells us why the order of the texts in the book were put in that way.
The Introduction also introduces the names and personalities of the characters in the myths. I found this section interesting but be warned Irish is used so if you don’t have Irish this section will be a bit difficult.
Another thing discussed in the Introduction are the motifs found in the stories, there are 6 of them.
Next the language of the texts is discussed along with the Archaisms preserved in the texts. Again, no Irish is going to hinder your understanding of the analysis of the language of the texts.
Finally, the editorial method is discussed briefly.
The Cath Maige Mucrama starts on page 38 and ends on page 63. Scéla Éogain begins on page 64 and ends on page 73. Scéla Mosaulum begins on page 74 and ends on page 87. Cath Cinn Abrad begins on page 88 and ends on page 93. All the stories have one page in Irish (on the left) and its translation in English (on the right). The Appendix is in Irish and the notes on the stories stat on page 102. Names of Persons starts on page 152, Names of People on page 155, and finally Names of Places on page 156.
As usual the book was a joy to read. I got to review my Irish (even though I had to break out the dictionary a lot) and enjoy some good myths along the way.
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