Aspects Of The Táin By J.P. Mallory

Paperback, 159 pages. Editor and contributor, J.P.Mallory. Contributors Patricia Kelly and Ruairí Ó hUiginn. Pub. December Publications, 1992

Flint Johnson

I came across this three-authored work as an postgraduate. It is a basic piece of scholarship in that it approaches a mythical tale as a tool for archeological and sociological study of the period, and it does a good job in that regard. What I found so useful, however, was the innovative approach of using the literature as a platform from which to test and better understand the culture of the period. If the Tain claims that early Ireland had it, a balanced essay about linguistics and archeology follows and draws insightful conclusions. The book came to results that were startling at the time, that much of the technology we find there was added on by those individuals who passed along the stories or who finally wrote them down. A useful work, one whose relevance has not diminished in twenty years.
Maya

Please see my review at Celtic Scholar’s reviews and opinions
Othy

An amazing introduction to the literature of the Tain up to 1992. I don't agree with all the opinions in this volume but I think the scholars do a wonderful job in furthering the study of the Tain.