Irish Sagas and Folk Tales

Oxford Myths and Legends

by Eileen O'Faoláin

Twenty-one stories from Ireland, including heroic sagas, ancestral tales of men and gods, stories about the Fianna, a band of warrior-athletes, and tales of fairies and leprechauns.

Genres: Mythology, Fantasy, Ireland, Short Stories, Folklore, Fiction, Childrens

246 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

Reviews

[Verity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst not a student of Irish literature nor growing up with these stories, I found the book to be pleasant albeit expectantly predictable. As is often found in tales of old, all the protagonists are brave and valiant men, stronger than the strongest and able to take down giants. The women are almost always beautiful, if not enchanted, and in some kind of distress - straight from a gothic romance. Those women who are not are either hags, witches or power hungry. If you were seeking heroic stories akin to St. Bridget, you had best look else where.

As to Eileen O'Faolain's writing, her sentences have a tendency to run long and do not make for an easy scan/read. They are better read aloud, especially by a theatrical voice and an ear for a story's cadence - not unlike that possessed by Jeremy Irons. However, one quickly becomes so accustom to O'Faolain's style and breath that the last section, Tales for the Chimney-Corner, has a brevity and swiftness which come as a surprising relief.

For the stories themselves, I cannot comment on how close they conform to the original nor the stories read or heard by Irish school children. I have yet to read A Celtic Miscellany: Translations from the Celtic Literatures, which seems to contain similar stories on Cuchullin/Cu Chulainn, but as they stand, Irish Sagas & Folktales are well worth the read.

[Jess Penhallow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice nostalgic read for me. Many stories I remembered from childhood and there were other nice new stories to discover.

What I found so interesting was how much crossover there was between Irish mythology and mythology from other cultures such as Northern European, Greek, even Asian. It's fascinating that these same themes seem to transcend Geography and travel across the world at a time when travel was so limited. I also liked seeing how mythology developed through history.

However, some of the stories were a bit simplistic and boring especially the war-based sections that seemed to go on forever! It was a nice way to close off the Irish readathon.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are cute stories full of daring feats and beautiful maidens. And I mean beautiful maidens. Every story contained "the most beautiful maiden that he had ever seen". I was worried if these ladies got together what would happen. Would Ireland explode in some sort of "too much beauty" kind of way?

The only drawback is that a lot of the stories were familiar to me. I've read a lot of fairy tales in my time and there were definitely some in here that I recognized. That made me wonder - chicken or the egg? Were there only so many stories that when people heard them, they returned to their country and just changed it around to fit their land? Or were there only so many themes that every country just coincidentally came up with very similar stories? (I'm leaning towards the former.)

[Douglas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best part of reading this book is peering into the mindset of the Irish.

[Greg Kerestan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across this book in my elementary-middle school library and never actually made much headway into reading it. The poem which begins the book, on the Three Sorrows of Storytelling, captivated me with its Tolkein-ish mythmaking. Unfortunately, it's not until the halfway point when the stories really take on the uniquely Irish charm one would expect; the earliest sets of sagas are indistinguishable from the Greek or Norse style, sometimes seeming almost Old Testament in their simplicity and tropes. By the halfway point, the mix of Celtic lore, fairy-tale audacity and Irish roughhewn humor starts to emerge, and the book picks up some energy. It's just funny that the epic tales of drama and tragedy that I was so looking forward to as a kid wound up being the part I enjoyed the least when I finally read it as an adult.

[Kelly Wickham · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are the myths, legends, and fairytales of Ireland. Just like other cultures, the Irish also have their creation stories, myth, and folklore. These are much like stories that we all know but from the perspective of a different culture. Instead of Tom Thumb, we have the Leprechauns and instead of Zeus and Athena, we have Finn & Maeve. Analiz pointed out that the Irish tales seemed to be more focused on shaming their Gods and heroes for bad decisions they make than other cultures. I felt like many of the stories in this book were repetitive but that is to be expected with any folktale book. Most definitely worth reading if you want to know more about Irish culture.

[Mariana Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the stories were absolutely brilliant! Though I’m not sure the writing did them justice, would be curious to read these tales te-told by different writers in order to make a better judgement. Still, a very enjoyable read!

[Noah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fairly consistent with the other Irish mythologies that I’ve read. The language was geared more towards children, but the stories were still good.

[Patrick Gibson]

Iontach Fantastic

[Aengus Schulte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well presented with a wide variety of folktales.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Human nature' is a controversial concept. Suggesting something mystical, beyond quantification and comprehension, social scientists of almost all stripes steer clear of it now. The result is that they see nothing immutable in the nature of men and women; nothing, in other words, that cannot be changed. In the last century or so this desire to create a 'new' person or humanity has been the cause of some of the most woeful episodes in the history of our species.

Stories such as these should be an antidote to the idea that we can forge people as we please with an anvil and hammer. From as far back as human memory goes we see recognisable people pushed by forces we can comprehend pursuing goals we can identify and experiencing emotions we share. The story of Oisín's desire to visit his friends after a long time away only to find that life has moved on and left him without a place is a story, beautifully told by Eileen O'Faolain, we could tell today.

So I don't know what human nature is. But I'm pretty sure it is.

[Una · Rating 3 out of 5]

DAUDZ šaha (nu labi, noslēpumainas seno ķeltu galda spēles fidchell, kas tiek tulkota kā šahs). Kareivīgas (un skaistas) sievietes. Skaisti (un kareivīgi) vīrieši. Paviršas atsauces uz Dūkņu zemi. Un A. Brigaderes "Princeses Gundegas un karaļa Brusubārdas" sižets gandrīz līdz pēdējai ainai (pasakas ir starptautiskas). Sakarīgs S. Ankravas pēcvārds.

[Kathleen Moss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. I've read this book every year since 1961 or 1962 and will never tire of it :)

[Mise · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick easy basic childhood favourite that has grown into an adult comfort