Cúchulainn & The Crow Queen

by Bernard Kelly, June Peters (Illustrations)

These stories have been told for 2,000 years. At their heart stands the great Ulster hero, Cúchulainn and on his shoulder sits a dark goddess in the form of a crow. She is the mistress of chaos, surveying the slaughter as he whirls in fury through an ancient yet still familiar world. Their dynamic force has helped shape the history of Ireland – its tribes, its warrior queens, its dispossessed kings. Harnessing the imagination of a modern storyteller, using often overlooked material, this work is an exhilarating retelling of an epic journey – following our champion from a disputed birth through to the battle of the bulls and beyond. - See more at: http://www.easons.com/p-1491432-cuchu...

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2014

Reviews

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

The life of a warrior is often short, but a hero will live forever. From his childhood, Setanta was fierce and clever but as a man, when he guarded Ulster from the pillaging hoardes of Connacht, he became a war machine.

The myths of Cuchulainn are well known in Ireland and, in this retelling, the timeline has been tidied up to make some modicum of sense.

Kelly and Peters present the tale with a sparsity of language, but a good sense of story and character. This could provide a good skeleton for oral storytelling, with embellishments without hurting the central narrative.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly?

I'm not really sure how this fits into the categories I have set up on my Goodreads account.

This is a re-telling of the stories of 'The Hound of Ulster', of Cuchulainn, from his birth through to the cattle raid of Ulster and his final death at the hands of the Morrigu, the Crow Queen.

It's also a straight re-telling, which is both its strong point (there's no trying to fit modern sensibilities / political statements into it) and it's weak point (these stories were originally intended to be told orally).

I have to say, I did find that most of the chapters didn't really 'flow' into each other; that there was no connection to the stories other than (occasionally) having Setanta (Cuchulainn's real name) himself appear in them every so often: for my money, Neil Gaiman's Norse Myths is a better retelling of stories that have helped shape modern society.

(Oh, and in the end, I opted for shelving this as Educational)

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A modern version of Irish mythology that focuses specifically on Cuchulain and the Morrighan. I like this version the best because it's just the story. No commentary from racist scholars or Pagans. This book focuses on the relationship between the two main characters. I will say Cuchulain is more tolerable in this version. He is more of an ignorant boy than an arrogant man who learns his lesson. The Morrighan is still as majestic and terrifying as ever. It makes plenty of sense why this Queen continues to be studied or worshiped.