The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel: Kingship and Narrative Artistry in a Media

Description: The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel by Ralph O'Connor This book explores the strange world of Irish sagas and is the first monograph to offer systematic literary analysis of any single native Irish saga. It presents an analysis of the finest of the sagas, The Destruction of Da Dergas Hostel, and invites the reader not only to understand this and other Irish sagas, but also to enjoy them as literature. FORMAT Hardcover LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description Irish saga literature represents the largest collection of vernacular narrative in existence from the early Middle Ages, using the tools of Christian literacy to retell myths and legends about the pagan past. This unique corpus remains marginal to standard histories of Western literature: its tales are widely read, but their literary artistry remains a puzzle to many even within Celtic studies. This book, the first to offer a systematic literary analysis of anysingle native Irish tale, aims to show how one particularly celebrated saga works as a story: the Middle Irish tale Togail Bruidne Da Derga (The Destruction of Da Dergas Hostel), which James Carneycalled the finest saga of the early period. This epic tale tells how the legendary king Conaire was raised by a shadowy Otherworld to the kingship of Tara and, after a fatal error of judgement, was hounded by spectres to an untimely death at Da Dergas Hostel at the hands of his own foster-brothers. By turns lyrical and laconic, and rich in native mythological imagery, the story is told with a dramatic intensity worthy of Greek tragedy, and the intricate symmetry of its narrative procedurerecalls the visual patterning of illuminated manuscripts such as The Book of Kells. This book invites the reader to enjoy and understand this literary masterpiece, explaining its narrative artistrywithin its native, classical and biblical literary contexts. Against a historical backdrop of shifting ideologies of Christian kingship, it interprets the sagas possible significance for contemporary audiences as a questioning exploration of the challenges and paradoxes of kingship. Author Biography Ralph OConnor studied Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic and English Literature at the University of Cambridge before becoming a Junior Research Fellow in Irish and Icelandic Literature at St Johns College, Cambridge. He is currently Professor of the Literature and Culture of Britain, Ireland, and Iceland at the University of Aberdeen, where he teaches in the departments of Celtic, History, and English. He has published widely on mediaeval Irish and Icelandicand modern British literature. His previous books are Icelandic Histories and Romances (Tempus, 2002), The Earth on Show: Fossils and the Poetics of Popular Science (Chicago, 2007), which won two internationalbook prizes in 2008, and Science as Romance (Pickering & Chatto, 2012). Table of Contents AcknowledgementsNote on quotationsList of illustrationsIntroduction1: The text and its authors; or, how to write a saga2: A child of the Otherworld3: The plunderers dilemma4: The road to Da Dergas Hostel5: The house of death6: The perfect spy7: Sovereignty shattered8: The Latin dimension: classical and biblical influence9: Conaire, Saul, and sacred kingship10: The message of the Togail: tract or tragedy?11: Afterword: reading the Togail Review OConnor has written a book that constitutes a major step forward in the criticism of the early Irish saga. It deserves to be as stimulating of further discussion as it is persuasive in its own terms. * T.M. Charles-Edwards, Corpus Christi College, Oxford University, Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies * Long Description Irish saga literature represents the largest collection of vernacular narrative in existence from the early Middle Ages, using the tools of Christian literacy to retell myths and legends about the pagan past. This unique corpus remains marginal to standard histories of Western literature: its tales are widely read, but their literary artistry remains a puzzle to many even within Celtic studies. This book, the first to offer a systematic literary analysis of anysingle native Irish tale, aims to show how one particularly celebrated saga works as a story: the Middle Irish tale Togail Bruidne Da Derga (The Destruction of Da Dergas Hostel), which James Carneycalled the finest saga of the early period. This epic tale tells how the legendary king Conaire was raised by a shadowy Otherworld to the kingship of Tara and, after a fatal error of judgement, was hounded by spectres to an untimely death at Da Dergas Hostel at the hands of his own foster-brothers. By turns lyrical and laconic, and rich in native mythological imagery, the story is told with a dramatic intensity worthy of Greek tragedy, and the intricate symmetry of its narrative procedurerecalls the visual patterning of illuminated manuscripts such as The Book of Kells. This book invites the reader to enjoy and understand this literary masterpiece, explaining its narrative artistrywithin its native, classical and biblical literary contexts. Against a historical backdrop of shifting ideologies of Christian kingship, it interprets the sagas possible significance for contemporary audiences as a questioning exploration of the challenges and paradoxes of kingship. Review Quote OConnor has written a book that constitutes a major step forward in the criticism of the early Irish saga. It deserves to be as stimulating of further discussion as it is persuasive in its own terms. Feature Sets the little-known world of Irish saga literature within a wider comparative literary contextDraws on both literary-critical and historical methods of analysisContains diagrams explaining how the story worksWritten in a lively, accessible styleContains a glossary of essential jargon and foreign-language terms Details ISBN019966613X Author Ralph OConnor Short Title DESTRUCTION OF DA DERGAS HOSTE Language English ISBN-10 019966613X ISBN-13 9780199666133 Media Book Format Hardcover Year 2013 Subtitle Kingship and Narrative Artistry in a Mediaeval Irish Saga Place of Publication Oxford Country of Publication United Kingdom DEWEY 891.6209001 Affiliation Professor of the Literature and Culture of Britain, Ireland, and Iceland, University of Aberdeen UK Release Date 2013-02-28 AU Release Date 2013-02-28 NZ Release Date 2013-02-28 Pages 400 Publisher Oxford University Press Publication Date 2013-02-28 Imprint Oxford University Press Illustrations Black-and-white halftones; figures Audience Tertiary & Higher Education We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. 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