The Red Branch Tales

Rating:
Summary: AT LAST!!!!
Review: Finally, translations of the corpus of medieval Irish literature are available!!!I have hunted for years to find little bits and pieces of the texts that Eichoff has so brilliantly brought together. I can't wait to get the rest of the series. Good job!

Rating:
Summary: Giving the swords & balls back to the Irish warrior
Review: THE RED BRANCH TALES are stories of the Ulster Irishmen. The Medieval Christianized tales have their basis in the oral traditions of the Pagan Irish Celts. Basically, they cover the building of Emain Macha, the main city and the rise of Conchobar Mac Nessa until just after his death. Conchobar is kind of like an Irish King Arthur (Arthur was a Romanized British Celt Warlord if he was anything but a legend. Forgive my doubt.) but without the genteel chivarly put on the Arthurian legends by later generations. Conchobar was the king that Deirdre of the Sorrows was meant to marry before she set her sights on Naisi, but her story is not in here as the Eickhoff has set it apart in another book THE SORROWS. However, he does give us another version of the pivotal The Cattle Raid of Cooley, which he covers in THE RAID from a different source. Among the other characters you will encounter are Queen Maeve (Mabh), Cuchulain, & Fergus Mac Roich. Although these read like fairy tales and have supernatural elements in them, they are earthy and violent. Think Conan the Barbarian, not Disney's Snow White. This along with their lists of names make it unsuitable for anyone under a mature 12. The Fragments were intiguing, hinting at things that we have lost. I especially enjoyed the small tidbit called On Werewolves. Eickhoff also has a large section of notes that explain details and ideas to the reader. If you are interested in entering the mind of the ancient Irish, these are the stories for you. I have read various versions of these tales and never quite got the stories, never quite understood the mindset of these people, my ancestors. Here the translator has done an excellent job of giving the ancient Irish warrior back his swords and balls in a context that makes sense.

Rating:
Summary: beautiful lyrical translation
Review: The thirty stories that make up THE RED BRANCH TALES come from twelfth century Ireland translated into modern English with the beautiful lyrical prose that Dr. Randy Lee Eickhoff has brought to all his previous translations. The tales provide common themes of life among the various clans with the title providing an obvious clue as to what to expect. The stories vary in content with many dealing with heroism, war, and romance.

The anthology is entertaining though like much of medieval literature, formal language is sprinkled with baroque eloquence and comically lewd capers. Also included are "Fragments" of incomplete tales and proverbs. As usual Dr. Eickhoff provides a marvelous collection, that will be of interest to English majors and those readers who recently savored The Canterbury Tales or Beowulf.

Harriet Klausner