The High Deeds of Finn and Other Bardic Romances of Ancient Ireland

Thomas William Hazen RollestonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.0
Word count
381K words
Chapters
39

Tags

English Originals Folk Literature Legendary LivesHeroismTraditional AestheticsAncient StyleExotic CultureCultural ChangeFolk Customs

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The High Deeds of Finn and other Bardic Romances of Ancient Ireland by RollestonAuthor: Rolleston, T. W. (Thomas William), 1857-1920,Language: English, Class: PB: Language and Literatures: General works, Release Date: Jan 21, 2005

Editor's review

Compiled by Thomas William Rolleston, a key scholar of the Irish literary revival, this book gathers ancient Irish bardic legends, including those of Finn, and is a classic presentation of the Gaelic tradition to English-language readers. The stories revolve around heroic adventure, tribal bonds, and supernatural elements, with a brisk pace and the rhythm of oral literature. Rolleston's retelling balances readability with fidelity to the legends, making it a good introduction to Irish mythology and a useful companion to tales of Cú Chulainn and related cycles. For readers studying Irish literature, folklore, or the reception of Celtic tradition in the English-speaking world, it offers a valuable textual sample. The Project Gutenberg edition is easy to search and cite, but it is an English translation, so readers should note differences between its names and established Chinese renderings. Overall, it is a book both story-rich and culturally significant.

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Reading tips

  1. Begin with the introduction or preface to understand Rolleston's editorial principles and sources.
  2. Read one story unit at a time and review the character relationships after each.
  3. Keep a glossary mapping the English name forms to established Chinese renderings to reduce confusion.
  4. Read alongside a Chinese translation of the same material to compare names and narration.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39

FAQ

What is the connection between this book and the Cú Chulainn legends? This book centers on Finn and his followers, part of the Fenian cycle of Irish myth, which is a different branch from the Ulster cycle centered on Cú Chulainn. Together they form the main strands of early Irish legend, and readers can extend their reading from here.
Can the English renderings of names create reading difficulties? To some extent. Rolleston's English spellings often differ from established Chinese renderings, and the same character may vary across translations. It helps to keep your own glossary of names or consult Chinese-language books on Irish myth for identification.
Is this book suitable for children? The stories themselves have adventure and fantasy elements, and some are suitable for young readers, but the original legends include violence and adult content, and the English is fairly literary. For younger children, parents may wish to preselect stories or choose adapted versions.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Thomas William Hazen Rolleston Author · Irish · 1857–1920

Thomas William Hazen Rolleston (1857–1920) was an Irish writer, poet and translator, born in County Offaly and died at Hampstead, London. He took part in the Irish Literary Revival and the Gaelic League, and founded The Dublin University Review. His work spans retellings of myth, poetry and comparative cultural essays. His representative books, Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race and The High Deeds of Finn and Other Bardic Romances of Ancient Ireland, retell ancient Irish legends and bardic tales in fluent English, making him an important figure in bringing Celtic mythology to the English-speaking world. He also wrote Sea Spray: Verses and Translations, Ireland and Poland: A Comparison, and Parallel Paths: A Study in Biology, Ethics, and Art, showing an interest in cross-disciplinary reflection. Overall, his writings combine literary quality with learning, and have had a lasting influence on the popular understanding of Celtic culture.