The Gaelic Finn Tradition

Sharon J. Arbuthnot, Geraldine Parsons

• Publisher: Four Courts Press
• Year: 2020
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781846829185
• Subtopic: Irish History
• Index: History

Stories of Finn Mac Cumaill and his fian (warband) constitute the most enduringly popular branch of Gaelic literature. The essays in this book - the first English-language collection on the subject to be published in over 20 years - offer new insights into diverse aspects of the tradition. They are essential reading for anyone with an interest in early Irish literature, folklore, and legends. Contents include: the Celtic and Indo-European origins of the fian * problems with dating the early fianaigecht corpus * Finn, Ferchess and the rincne * Finn and the Man in the Tree as verbal icon * accounts of the death of Finn * some hagiographical sources in Acallam na Senorach * deeping the Acallam together * Duncan Kennedy and his heroic ballads * Tadhg O Cianain: spaghetti fiannaigheacht.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• List of abbreviations
• Terminology and orthography
• Introduction
• 1. The Celtic and Indo-European origins of the fian
• 2. Interpreting the evidence: problems with dating the early fianaigecht corpus
• 3. ‘Finn and the man in the tree’ as verbal icon
• 4. Finn, ferchess and the rincne: versions compared
• 5. Breaking the cycle? Accounts of the death of Finn
• 6. The deployment of some hagiographical sources in Acallam na senórach
• 7. Keeping the Acallam together
• 8. Some observations on the Acallam bec
• 9. The transmission and text of Tóruigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne: a re-appraisal
• 10. Fiannaigheacht, family, faith and fatherland
• 11. Tadgh Ó Cianáin: spaghetti fiannaigheacht
• 12. Duncan Kennedy and his heroic ballads
• 13. Agallamh Oisín agus Phádraig: composition and transmission
• Bibliography
• List of contributors
• Index of first lines
• General index