Gods and fighting men: The story of the Tuatha de Danaan and of the Fianna of Ireland, [Hardcover]

Gregory (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1970

The Story of the Tuatha de Danaan and of the Fianna of Ireland.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory (15 March 1852¿22 May 1932), née Isabella Augusta Persse, was an Irish dramatist and folklorist. With William Butler Yeats and others, she co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, and wrote numerous short works for both companies. Lady Gregory produced a number of books of retellings of stories taken from Irish mythology. Born into a class that identified closely with British rule, her conversion to cultural nationalism, as evidenced by her writings, was emblematic of many of the changes to occur in Ireland during her lifetime. Lady Gregory is mainly remembered for her work behind Irish Literary Revival. Her home at Coole Park, County Galway served as an important meeting place for leading Revival figures, and her early work as a member of the board of the Abbey was at least as important for the theatre's development as her creative writings. Her motto was taken from Aristotle: "To think like a wise man, but to express oneself like the common people." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 476 pages
• Publisher: Scholarly Press (1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0403004004
• ISBN-13: 978-0403004003
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,991,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is THE actual Book of Irish Mythology, August 21, 2005

By 

Ogma (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gods and Fighting Men: The Story of the Tuatha De Danaan & of the Fianna of Ireland (Coole Edition of Lady Gregory's Works; V. 3) (Paperback)

Gods and Fighting Men is an excellent resource because it preserves the lore from the Book of Invasions as well as other sources -- the legends of the earliest inhabitants of Ireland, the coming of the Tuatha De Danaan (The People of Dana) and the stories of Finn MacCumhail.

What is portrayed as "Early Irish Mythology" 99% of the time actually isn't -- the dozens of translations of The Tain, albeit worthy reading, are actually the lore of Ulster, a single Irish province. This makes it Ulster Mythology (regional) more than Irish Mythology (national).

The legends of the Tuatha De Danaan are essential for a comprehensive understanding of Irish mythology, actually comprising the majority of the Mythological Cycle, and deal with the initial settling of all of Ireland.

Unfortunately, it seems to be modern New Age reconstructions of the Mythological Cycle rather than the native stories that seem to be infusing themselves into the mainstream, and that is sad.

In my mind, the Mythological Cycle is the most important cycle in Irish mythology, because it sets up the scenario for all that is to follow. The Fenian Cycle (legends of Finn MacCumhail and his warband) are fascinating not only for their strong associations with Nature, but also for the fact that the stories are well-known both in Ireland and in the Scottish Highlands. The Gods still walked and resided on (or in) the Earth and interacted often with mortals. Magic was all around.

The Tain, on the other hand, is more a time of towns and forts and war-chariots; a time when magic was less present and people were less intertwined with Nature than in the Golden Age. The Gods had already departed our realm and only made brief cameos in the stories.

In summary, Gods and Fighting Men is the actual collection of Irish Mythology from the earliest legends. It affects all of Ireland and the stories are fairly widespread throughout the Gaelic world. Lady Gregory wrote these translations with a view to retain the native Irish sense of story-telling; this she achieved remarkably well.

My one concern is that it would have been nice for Lady Gregory to have cited her sources for each story. I know that in many cases she blended versions from several sources to produce what she saw as the purest form of the story, but a simple listing of these would have been fantastic from an academic standpoint.

Overall this is probably the greatest collection of Irish Mythology I have found so far, albeit Lady Gregory's focus was primarily as storyteller rather than academic (this is not a bad thing -- dry, stale translations of Irish lore would have been extremely anti-Irish in themselves).

This should probably be the FIRST book one reads of Irish Mythology. I highly recommend this book and the fact that it is value-priced definitely doesn't hurt, either. This book is definitely worth several times its cost.

Happy Reading!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Irish Myths brought to Life, February 8, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (- - Toronto - Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gods and Fighting Men: The Story of the Tuatha De Danaan & of the Fianna of Ireland (Coole Edition of Lady Gregory's Works; V. 3) (Paperback)

The works of Lady Gregory are the best way to get a pure taste of the original Irish Myths - unless you are fluent in Gaelic and can get a hold of older copies. Lady Gregory's elequent speech and style breathes life into Ireland's forgotten Heroes and Gods!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read, but remember the stylistic differences....., June 9, 2000

By 

David Stabler "dwivian" (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gods and Fighting Men: The Story of the Tuatha De Danaan & of the Fianna of Ireland (Coole Edition of Lady Gregory's Works; V. 3) (Paperback)

Lady Gregory faithfully renders old Irish stories into a form that we clods that only speak English can understand. She does not, however, make them more prosaic, or fix them into what we normally find as our story format! They are true to the original structures of the genre, and are much more lively and fun for that. My wife places them firmly in the nature of Irish legend, which she calls "We went over there and stole their cow!" (Tain Bo Cuailnge is basically a story of a cow theft, and is one of the most famous stories of Irish legend). I love the split style, and it does give the reader a good understanding of the way stories were related in the old days. A must for those who want to know where some of the ancient Irish names derive!