Book Review

Irish Legends
Retold by Iain Zaczek
Contemporary Books, 1999
Reviewed by Robert Rodriquez

An Irish poet of some renown once said that Ireland was the land of happy wars, joyous turmoil, sad love songs, and a place where the gift of storytelling, and its tellers, reign as proud monarchs without challenge. This anthology of some of Ireland's best and oldest narrative is but the merest tip of a truly ancient literary iceberg, of stories and myths that were old when Roman power held dominion over the known world. In this collection of tales, the reader will discover an Ireland of noble gods and jealous goddesses, honored poets and relentless warriors, enchanted swans and shape-shifting Druids, wise salmon and Faerie steeds, among many other marvels too numerous to mention. Here is the stuff of wondrous legend and grand epic tale-telling: cattle raids and bridal abductions, wicked enchantments and heroic deeds on the battlefield, fantastic voyages and poignant love stories, and overshadowing all, the special turns of verbal phrase and descriptive imagery that has come down the centuries to represent the very best of the Irish storytelling tradition. Whether it is a description of Tir-Nan-Og, the Land of Youth, the thousand-year enchantment of a quartet of swans, or the strange birth of a future hero, the word smiths of Ireland told their enchanting tales which still enchant even unto today. The stories in this anthology fall under three general categories: the mythological cycle, including stories of the early gods and goddesses of Ireland such as the Tuatha de Danaan, the successive waves of invasions and peoples settling Ireland until the coming of the current inhabitants the Milesians, and the beginnings of what would become the Irish national character as demonstrated in their oldest myths; the Ulster cycle of tales centering around the life and deeds of Cuchullain, Ulster's war with Connacht, and the heroic deeds of the warriors of the Red Branch; and the cycle of stories based around the figure of Fionne and his heroic band of warriors, the Fianna. The end of this last cycle would help to usher in the era of Christianity that would come to Ireland in the fifth century C.E. In these pages the reader will encounter some of the most memorable folks to ever inhabit a good yarn: the sons of Tureen who must undertake a quest to gain seven magical objects and marvels to repay the blood price of a murder. Deirdre, the Irish Helen of Troy whose tragic destiny would involve two nations in warfare and whose tragic tale is still considered to be one of the sorrows of Irish literature. The heroic Cuchullain who chose a short and gloriously heroic life rather than a long and uneventful one, and Oisin, son of Fionne, who, for the love of a Faerie princesses, journeyed to the Land of Youth, stayed for what he thought to be three years, returned to Ireland, only to find three hundred years had passed.

And as if these tales were not enough, there is much more to this collection in the form of a series of inserts and captions giving a wealth of information most beneficial to the reader of this collection: information on everything from Celtic burial sites and weaponry to important calendar festivals, the importance of the Druids to ancient Ireland, fantastic creatures of Irish myth and legend, gods and goddesses of pre-Christian Ireland, and the major and extraordinary role of poets and bards in the development of Ireland's long and honorable literary tradition. This author has certainly gone to great lengths to do historical and other research involving ancient Irish society, rituals, family practices, and much more besides. What results is a volume more than well worth reading. Even the nearly inexhaustible cavalcade of Irish place and personal names will in no way detract from the total joy and magical wonder of these timeless tales. This is truly storytelling at its very best. May all who read this collection truly have the wind at their backs and may all their roads rise to guide them safely on all their journeys to come.

—published in WIP Winter 2000.