Early Irish Literature

(2.5,3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Early Irish literature comprises an extensive body of narrative featuring mainly kings, queens and warriors, churchmen and practitioners of the arts. This introduction will present a particular group of tales, the Cycles of the Kings, especially those dealing with the lives of the legendary kings believed to have reigned in pagan times, such as the famed King of Tara, Cormac mac Airt. The main themes illustrated are the nature of kingship in Early Ireland and its debt to pre-Christian beliefs, the qualities required of the ideal king, and the depiction of women in the uniquely early literature. No knowledge of Irish required.