Rating: 
Summary: The Best of the Cúchulain-Ulster Cycle Irish Epics
Review: Around the time Jesus walked the Earth, a child-warrior from Ulster, named Setanta, went to a feast. King Conchubar forgot to inform his host, Cullen, that the boy was coming.
The host had set his dog, the biggest and meanest in all
Ireland out to protect his holdings. The dog had set upon Setanta. The child made short work of the vicious beast. When
the party's host complained of the loss of his watchdog, Setanta
said that he would be Cullen's hound. That became his name. A
name revered in Irish Legend to this day - Cuchulain (Cullen's Hound)
This translation of the Epic, by Thomas Kinsella, is the one I would say makes the most enjoyable reading. I would place the Irish Epics against Edith Hamilton's Greek Myths any day. There are other versions of this story. Plus many other heroic
tales of ancient Ireland. But I think Mr. Kinsella's is the best
that I've read so far.
Rating:
Summary: The Best of the Cúchulain-Ulster Cycle Irish Epics
Review: Around the time Jesus walked the Earth, a child-warrior from Ulster, named Setanta, went to a feast. King Conchubar forgot to inform his host, Cullen, that the boy was coming. The host had set his dog, the biggest and meanest in all Ireland out to protect his holdings. The dog had set upon Setanta. The child made short work of the vicious beast. When the party's host complained of the loss of his watchdog, Setanta said that he would be Cullen's hound. That became his name. A name revered in Irish Legend to this day - Cuchulain (Cullen's Hound) This translation of the Epic, by Thomas Kinsella, is the one I would say makes the most enjoyable reading. I would place the Irish Epics against Edith Hamilton's Greek Myths any day. There are other versions of this story. Plus many other heroic tales of ancient Ireland. But I think Mr. Kinsella's is the best that I've read so far.
Rating: 
Summary: This is GOOD!
Review: Having heard it referenced so many times (and finally figuring out how to pronounce it!)I finally bought The Tain. I'm glad it did; it is certainly of great historical value and (more importantly) an exciting tale. It will give you a frame of reference for all those fragments of old stories you hear about Deirdre and Cuchulainn and dozen others; it brings them altogether in order and in relation to each other, and it's fun to read. It rambles at times, it exaggerates unapologetically, and sometimes it's confusing, but that's all in the nature of Celtic storytelling. Enjoy it!
Rating:
Summary: This is GOOD!
Review: Having heard it referenced so many times (and finally figuring out how to pronounce it!)I finally bought The Tain. I'm glad it did; it is certainly of great historical value and (more importantly) an exciting tale. It will give you a frame of reference for all those fragments of old stories you hear about Deirdre and Cuchulainn and dozen others; it brings them altogether in order and in relation to each other, and it's fun to read. It rambles at times, it exaggerates unapologetically, and sometimes it's confusing, but that's all in the nature of Celtic storytelling. Enjoy it!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I've read a dozen different versions of the Tain, mostly fiction but I've also seen some almost indecipherable translations out there. This book isn't as exciting as "Tain" by Gregory Frost, but that is because this is a translation instead of a retelling. This book is how the Cattle Raid of Cooley was probably told by the bards 2000 years ago.Essential for anyone trying to understand the ancient Celts and as good a story as anything the Greek/Romans/Norse had. Interesting insights into the minds of the Celts and a darn exciting tale!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent job Mr. Kinsella
Review: Kinsella does an excellent job of bringing the ancient epic to life. You can almost imagine an old Irish bard reciting the tale in front of a peat fire. Kinsella includes not only the Tain, but stories leading up to the Tain and a brief story about how the Tain was once again learned:
"If this your royal rock
were your own self mac Roich
halted here with sages
searching for a roof
Cuailnge we'd recover
plain and perfect Fergus."
The above was spoken by the poet Muirgen at Fergus's grave, and summoned the spirit of Fergus to... Oh, just buy it and read it.
The epic of the Tain is starting to creep back into our lives. Only recently a software company calle Bungie included many Irish myths as a foundation for one of their most popular games to date. The Tain is also once again being performed by storytellers and it's an excellent tale either oral or written. On a side note, the pronunciation guide is a bit lacking, you'll have to do some leg work to get the proper pronuciation of some Irish words and names.
Rating:
Summary: Useful and nicely written
Review: The Tain is an important resource for anyone interested in ancient Ireland, offering tantalizing insights into a history and culture that will forever remain mysterious. This translation is readable and accessible. I didn't find that the illustrations added much - as a history geek, I would have preferred more technical illustrations that showed me what these people wore, how their houses looked, etc. Still, this should be part of any Celtophile's library.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, a Definitive Version of the Tale
Review: The Tain is probably beyond dispute the most important piece of Old Irish literature, perhaps even of all literature in the Irish language. It has waited a long time to have a really definitive English translation; previous versions are either paraphrases or are so bowdlerized as to be almost unreadable. Kinsella is never turgid or sentimental in the nineteenth century sense, which is so true of many of the older reworkings of Irish literature. As one other reviewer noted, it used to be that if you wanted a good rendering of Old Irish you almost had to turn to German translations. The tide is turning, and much good material is now available in English. My only complaint about this version is that I would have liked to see more notes. But then admittedly Mr. Kinsella was seeking to provide a version that was literary but not recondite. If you're interested in Irish literature this book belongs in your library.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, a Definitive Version of the Tale
Review: The Tain is probably beyond dispute the most important piece of Old Irish literature, perhaps even of all literature in the Irish language. It has waited a long time to have a really definitive English translation; previous versions are either paraphrases or are so bowdlerized as to be almost unreadable. Kinsella is never turgid or sentimental in the nineteenth century sense, which is so true of many of the older reworkings of Irish literature. As one other reviewer noted, it used to be that if you wanted a good rendering of Old Irish you almost had to turn to German translations. The tide is turning, and much good material is now available in English. My only complaint about this version is that I would have liked to see more notes. But then admittedly Mr. Kinsella was seeking to provide a version that was literary but not recondite. If you're interested in Irish literature this book belongs in your library.
Rating:
Summary: A Faithful Translation by an Irish Poet
Review: The Ulster Cycle is a group of tales associated with the northeast of Ireland and the Ta/in Bo/ Cuailgne is the core of the cycle. The tales are preserved in manuscripts of the twelfth-century and later, but they look back to a pre-Christian culture dominated by warriors who counted their wealth in cows. Raiding your neighbors was one way to acquire more cows. In the Ta/in Bo/ Cuailgne, one group, the Connachta, tries to obtain a very special bull, a transformed human, by raiding another group, the Ulaid. In the process, gods, goddesses, kings, queens, seers, and heroes of every description become involved, and a raid turns into a monumental battle. This is not a retelling or a novelized version of the Ulster cycle tales. Rather this is a translation of an ancient saga equivalent to the Odyssey, Iliad, or Mahabarata. Years ago, not long after this book was first printed, I had the good fortune to hear Thomas Kinsella, an eminent modern Irish poet, describe how in translating the Ta/in, he combined his own vision with expert input from scholars of the ancient language. The voice in this translation is that of Kinsella, but it echoes the voices of all those who came before him. Having studied the ancient language and texts myself, I feel that Kinsella has produced a work of poetic art that is nevertheless faithful to the meaning and spirit of the stories. The beautiful semi-abstract images by Le Brocquy are not really illustrations but accompanying art, demonstrating how the cycle of Ulster tales, which has inspired Irish artists through various eras, continues to kindle the creative fire in those who read and hear them. If you are interested in learning about pre-Christian Irish--or Celtic--tradition, the Ta/in is indispensable reading. If you are seeking a novelized version (at one extreme) or a literal translation (at the other), you may want to look elsewhere. If you are new to Celtica, you may want to pick up some additional reading to better appreciate the text. For commentary on the mythology behind the story, see _Celtic Heritage_ by Alwyn and Brinley Rees. For more information about the culture of medieval Ireland, see Nery's Patterson's _Cattle Lords and Clansmen_. To keep all the names straight (and the Ta/in has a cast of hundreds!), get James Mac Killop's _Dictionary of Celtic Mythology_. If you are interested in modern Irish literature rather than medieval, you will still want to read the Ta/in: this saga inspired modern Irish writers from Yeats to Heaney. Even Joyce drew heavily from the Ulster cycle (see Maria Tymoczko's _The Irish Ulysses_ for details).
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