What's Inside
This collection gathers ten Irish legends, ranging from the shifting memories of Tuan mac Cairill to the kingly trials of Conn the Hundred Fighter. It tracks the training of Fionn mac Uail among women druids, the strange origin of his hound Bran, and the border-crossings between the High Kings of Tara and the entities of the Many-Coloured Land. The narratives move from the physical brawls of the Fianna to the fire-guarded supernatural realms. Rather than a singular plot, the book assembles episodes of magic, courtship, and ancestral feud. Readers may begin with the account of Tuan, who has survived through history as a hawk and a boar, or jump into the frantic dog-hating habits of Fergus Fionnliath.
Works & figures
- Tuan mac Cairill
A man who survived centuries by reincarnating as different animals. (in “THE STORY OF TUAN MAC CAIRILL”)
- Fionn mac Uail
The prudent yet adventure-prone leader of the Fianna of Ireland. (in “THE BOYHOOD OF FIONN”)
- Fergus Fionnliath
A Galway lord who violently dislikes dogs until being outmaneuvered. (in “THE BIRTH OF BRAN”)
- Becuma
A woman banished from the Many-Coloured Land to the world of men. (in “BECUMA OF THE WHITE SKIN”)
- Bovmall
One of the women druids who raised Fionn in the wild. (in “THE BOYHOOD OF FIONN”)
- Conn the Hundred Fighter
The High King and arch-magician who encounters the Shi'. (in “BECUMA OF THE WHITE SKIN”)
What it's really about
- Metamorphosis
- Characters frequently transform into animals to survive or serve sentences.
- The Otherworld
- Specific geographical boundaries separate Earth, Faery, and the Land of Wonder.
Why it's memorable
- A man who throws every object he owns out the window whenever a dog barks.
- A fawn that leads Fionn on a chase through a landscape of billowy grass.
Where to start
Start with The Boyhood of Fionn to see how the legendary hero survived his earliest years in the woods.
For your book club
- The friction between early Christian monks and the ancient, shapeshifting magicians of Ireland's past.
- The recurring idea that time in Faery functions as a single, wide-spun heartbeat.