Episode 14 Medieval Irish Literature

The Celtic World

Dr Jennifer Paxton (2018)

Film Review

Ireland had the largest body of medieval vernacular literature in Europe. There were hundreds of Irish stories published before 1000 AD. This was in addition to medieval Ireland’s massive Latin literature.

Poets had the same honor* price as kings or bishops. They were also allowed to freely move between warring kingdoms. Some families raised children to become poets as they could earn a good living singing the praises of clan chiefs. The training could take as long as 20 years due to the extensive oral history that had to be memorized.

Some poets were satirists (some of whom were women) used by clan chiefs to make enemies look bad.

Irish stories weren’t plot driven. They tended to be full of digressions relating to place names and family trees. Often tied to geography and landscape, they took the place of maps.

Medieval Irish stories fell into three main categories:

1. The mythological cycle – concerned the founding of the Ireland and pre-Christian mythology and includes the Book of Invasions.

2. The Ulster cycle – concerned the battle between the warring princes of Ulster and Conough over the theft of the Brown Bull of Cooley.**

3. King Tales – followed Ireland’s conversion to Christianity and Included the myth of the Irish goddess of sovereignty. All Irish monarchs needed her approval to serve as king.

*The honor price was the penalty a murderer paid for killing someone.

**Paxton refers to this legend as the Irish Iliad. See https://www.thelastleprechaunsofireland.com/stories/the-brown-bull-of-cooley/

Film can be viewed free with a library card on Kanopy.

https://pukeariki.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/video/5701024/5701052