These two books are scholarly translations of Irish legends. Although many of the stories in these books center around cattle raids, they have numerous supernatural incidents and remnants of pre-Christian religious beliefs.
Volume I. [1905]
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The first volume contains five separate stories,
the "Courtship of Etain,"
the "Boar of Mac Datho,"
the "Sick-bed of Cuchulain,"
the "Death of the Sons of Usnach" (Book of Leinster version), and
the "Combat at the Ford" out of the Book of Leinster version of the "Tain bo Cuailnge."
Two versions are given of the
"Courtship of Etain ";
and the "Sick-bed of Cuchulain".
Volume II. [1906]
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This part includes the five "Tains" or
Cattle-Forays of Fraech (Tain bo Fraich),
Dartaid (The Raid for Dartaid's Cattle),
Regamon (The Raid for the Cattle of Regamon),
Flidais (The Driving of the Cattle of Flidais),
and Regamna (The Apparition of The Great Queen to Cuchulain);
They are all expressly named as "fore-tales,"
remscéla, or preludes to the story of
the great war of Cualnge, which is
the central event in the Ulster heroic cycle.
As an appendix, this book includes the
Irish text and literal translation of
an incident of the Courtship of Etain, which is translated
in the first volume.
The original book of Volume II. had literal and verse translations on facing pages. We have maintained the page order in the etext, and have left the page number markers so that the two translations can be distinguished.