BOOK OF THE DUN COW REVIEW LINKS

As is customary after a series of blog posts about one topic I’m posting a guide and links to each part.

PART ONE – This opening segment examined the Six Ages of the World section, a mythological look at the history of the world from Creation to the coming of Jesus Christ. The Book of the Dun Cow contains a mix of pagan and Christian materials, and in Part One I also reviewed its presentation of myths regarding Great Britain, legends of Saint Columba and its version of the story of Tuan mac Cairill, the only non-Ark survivor of the Great Flood and who chronicled the ancient races of Ireland like the Tuatha de Danaan, Fir Bolg and Milesians. Click HERE.

PART TWO – The four sections covered in Part Two: Two Sorrows of the Kingdom of Heaven, featuring Elijah and Enoch in Heaven and their observations regarding the Antichrist, the end of the world and the Final Judgment; The Intoxication of the Ulstermen, about the Samhain partying of the Ulstermen and the peril it led to; The Raid on Dartaid’s Cattle, about a raid to rustle the cattle of the she-warrior Dartaid; and The Raid on Fliodhaise’s Cattle, featuring Queen Maeve, King Ailill, Fergus mac Roich and Queen Fliodhaise, her lusty ways and her cattle. Click HERE.

PART THREE – The Voyage of Mael Duin. Due to the epic length of this tale, it is the one and only section covered in Part Three. This imram deserves to be alongside the Illiad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid and others. Click HERE.

PART FOUR – Once again, a very lengthy work is covered, so it is the only one examined. This time around it’s The Vision of Adomnan, a forerunner of sorts of Dante’s Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso). Saint Admomnan’s Guardian Angel guides him on a tour of Heaven, Hell and purgative measures encountered by the soul after death. Click HERE.

PART FIVE – The lengthy myth of The Expulsion of the Deissi is examined in Part Five. The Deissi are hounded from Tara and driven through Leinster, Ard Ladrann, Osraige and Munster. Click HERE. 

PART SIX – This section covers The Cattle Raid of Cooley, one of the most famous Irish myths, featuring the demigod Cuchulainn, Queen Maeve, Fergus mac Roich and others. Also featured is the myth about The Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel, about Conaire Mor, Conall Cernach and Mac Cecht besieged by hundreds of enemy warriors. Click HERE.

PART SEVEN – The Feast of Bricriu, Ireland’s forerunner of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, followed by two of the definitive hybrids of pagan and Christian elements: The Phantom Chariot of Cuchulainn, in which the long dead figure helps Saint Patrick’s efforts to convert Ireland to Christianity; and The Prophecy of Art mac Cuinn and His Faith, regarding the title character’s supposed prophetic visions of Christian missionaries arriving in Ireland. Click HERE.

PART EIGHT – Four sections are covered in this part: The Adventure of Connla the Beautiful, Son of Conn of the Hundred Battles, in which a fairy woman lures Connla to the mystic island of Mag Mell; The Four Quarters of the World, a mix of prose and poetry; The Voyage of Bran, Son of Febal, an imram featuring the title figure’s epic journey to the home island of the sea god Manannan mac Lir; and The Wooing of Emer, about Cuchulainn’s wooing of his eventual wife. Click HERE.

PART NINE – The three myths in this part are The Conception of Cuchulainn, one of the tales regarding the conception and birth of the demigod, whose father was the sun god Lugh … The Wooing of Etain, about the feisty title woman and the gods Oengus, Boand, Midir and the Dagda … and The Conception of Mongan, featuring the sea god Manannan mac Lir impregnating Caintigern with the future Prince Mongan. Click HERE.

PART TEN – This final part dealt with the myth regarding Prince Mongan being Finn mac Cool reborn, a separate full-length Tale of Mongan about the prince’s entire life, The Frenzy of Mongan, about his mysterious frenzy, and The Location of the Heads of the Heroes of Ulster, detailing the action-packed deaths of King Conchobar, Loegare Buadach, Celtchar mac Uthechair, Fergus mac Roich and Cet mac Magach. Click HERE.