Often overshadowed by the literatures of larger countries, the traditional stories of Ireland have much to offer. Four great cycles of Irish story-telling survive in whole or in part.

    The "Mythological Cycle" deals with the gods of good and the gods of darkness and evil; many of these stories survive only in vague or garbled versions, so no systematic study is possible. The "Ulster Cycle" is so called for its place of origin; these stories center on King Conchobar mac Nessa and his heroic nephew Cu Chulainn (more familiar to readers of Yeats as "Cuchulain"). The "Fenian Cycle" focuses on Fionn Mac Cumhaill (sometimes called "Finn MacCool") and his descendants, soldiers commissioned by Irish kings to protect the coasts. Finally, the "Historical Cycles" (as you can imagine) tell more or less accurately of the families and genealogies of the kings served by various poets.

    Many of these stories have been drawn upon by modern poets and playwrights from William Butler Yeats to the more contemporary J. M. Synge and Seamus Heaney.

    One of these, "The Cattle Raid at Cooley" is the longest story in the "Ulster Cycle," and celebrates one of Cu Chulainn's great deeds. Maeve, the warrior queen of Connaught, has been arguing with her husband over which of the two is richer. Her husband owns a white-horned bull which makes him the winner, so she determines to steal a more-famous bull from the men of Ulster.

    Meanwhile, all the Ulstermen have been laid low by a curse; only 17-year-old Cu Chulainn is well enough to fight, so he single-handedly holds off the army of Connaught. Finally he meets his foster-brother Fer Diad (who is fighting on the other side) in single combat. Battling for three days, Cu Chulainn wins, but is nearly dead from the effort. The revived army of Ulster joins him--but the people of Connaught have already taken the bull.

    The bulls are then pitted against each other; the Ulster bull wins, but ultimately dies from his wounds, mirroring the events of the "Cattle Raid."

    Vocabulary: Which word above means

    1. confused, jumbled

    2. decides, resolves

    3. adopted son of one's parents

    4. forced to fight with

    5. person-to-person fight

    6. made unable to fight

    7. having come back to full strength

    8. a group of stories about a central theme or figure

    9. family trees

    10. by oneself, without the help of others

    ANSWERS: 1. garbled 2. determines 3. foster-brother 4. pitted against 5. single combat 6. laid low 7. revived 8. cycle 9. genealogies 10. single-handedly