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The Táin Bó Cúailnge has survived in two distinct recensions. The first consists of a partial text in the Lebor na hUidre, a late eleventh/early twelfth century manuscript compiled in the monastery at Clonmacnoise and another partial text of the same version in the fourteenth century manuscript called the Yellow Book of Lecan. These two sources overlap in places. Parts of this recension, especially the verse, can be dated from linguistic evidence to the eight century, and there is reason to suspect that the Táin had a considerable oral history before any of it was committed to writing.
The second recension is found in the twelfth century manuscript known as The Book of Leinster. This appears to have been a syncretic exercise by a scribe who brought together the Lebor na hUidre materials and unknown sources for the Yellow Book of Lecan materials to create a coherent version of the epic. While the result is a satisfactory narrative whole, the language has been modernised into a much more florid style, with all of the spareness of expression of the earlier recension lost in the process.
After a number of pre-tales that relate the early lives of Conchobor , king of Ulster, and Cúchulainn and explain the presence of some of the leading men of Ulster in the Connaught camp, the curse that causes the temporary inability of the remaining Ulstermen to fight and the magic origins of the White Bull of Connaught and the Brown Bull of Ulster, the story begins with a conversation between Ailill and Medb, king and queen of Connaught. The couple are comparing their respective wealths and find that the only thing that distinguishes them is Ailill's possession of the White Bull, which had been born into Medb's herd but scorned being owned by a woman so decided to transfer itself to Ailill's.
Medb determines to get the Brown Bull to balance the books with her husband. After unsuccessfully attempting to borrow the Brown Bull, she raises the army of Connaught and the Ulster exiles and sets out to capture it. There follow a series of single combats between Cúchulainn, the only Ulster hero not affected by the curse, and Medb's champions including a three-day duel between the hero and his foster-brother, Ferdia . Medb takes advantage of the fighting to capture the Brown Bull and sets off to return to Connaught with it. Finally, the men of Ulster are roused, fall on Medb's army and rout them. The Brown Bull escapes, kills the White Bull, and generally wreaks havoc until it dies of exhaustion.
The world portrayed in the Táin is an essentially pre- Christian heroic age. War is a matter of single combat between warriors armed with swords and spears and mounted in chariots with drivers. The main source of wealth is cattle. Interestingly, it is also a world in which a queen may possess wealth independently of her husband and, indeed, compete with him and raise an army.
The main published translations into English of the Táin Bó Cúailnge are Winifred Faraday's The Cattle-Raid of Cualnge ( 1904) based on the Yellow Book of Lecan text, with a fair number of omissions, Joseph Dunn's The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Táin Bó Cúailnge ( 1914), with many omissions, Cecile O'Rahilly's Táin Bó Cúailnge from the Book of Leinster ( 1967) Cecile O'Rahilly's Táin Bó Cúailnge Recension 1 ( 19761976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). Events January January 12 UN Security Council votes 11-1 to admit the Palestinian Liberation Organization January 15 Would-be Gerald Ford presidential assassin Sara Jane Moore is s), and Cecile O'Rahilly's Táin Bó Cúailnge from the Book Stow 1984, and the poet Thomas KinsellaThomas Kinsella (born May 4, 1928) is an Irish poet, translator, editor and publisher. His work, which is influenced by the modernist tradition, is considered to be amongst the most complex and intellectually demanding Irish poetry of the second half of t's version The Tain ( 1969For other uses, see Number 1969. For the movie, see 1969 (movie). Events January January 1 Australian media baron Rupert Murdoch purchases the largest selling British Sunday newspaper The News Of The World January 5 The Derry Riots leave over 100 people i). The story also inspired a concept album called The Tain ( 1973Events January events January 1 United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Economic Community now known as the European Union January 3 Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $10 million to a 12-person syndicate led) by Irish folk/glam rock band HorslipsThe Horslips are a band who play traditional Irish Jigs and reels with rock undertones. Johnny Fean was born in Dublin in 1951 and spent his childhood in the city of Limerick. He soon mastered guitar, banjo, mandolin and harmonica. In his teens he played. Additionally, the story inspired a single of the same name by the indie rockIndie rock a subgenre of rock music, is often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or who aren't on labels at all. In the 1980s, these bands were referred to as "alternative", since they were an alternative to mainstream rock band The DecemberistsThis entry is not about The Decembrists' failed revolt against Tsar Nicholas I of Russia in December 1825. The Decemberists are an indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. Melodically, their songs range from catchy pop to slower, instrumentally lush arrange ( 2004). Terry Riley's Chanting the Light of Foresight is a programmatic depiction of the epic commissioned by Rova.