Irish Myths and Legends [Hardcover]

Lady Gregory (Author), William Butler Yeats (Preface)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1998

This book contains all the Irish heroic cycl es from the myths of Lugh and the gods of Tuatha de Danaan, to the exploits of the heros Finn MacCumhal and Cuchulain. T hese retellings bring to life the very roots of Ireland''s li terary tradition. '

Product Details

• Hardcover: 446 pages
• Publisher: Courage Books / Running Press; 1st edition (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762402814
• ISBN-13: 978-0762402816
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,106,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Know what you are getting..., April 30, 2002

By 

St. Amadeus (Wheeling, WV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Irish Myths And Legends (Hardcover)

In case your one of the 96% who never really looks at the "size" of a book when you order it, make sure you do for this one. It's only a pocket version of Lady Gregory's book, and, although the website does not tell you so, this is an ABRIGDED version.

Just know what you're getting.

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent translation, but "compiled", January 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Irish Myths and Legends (Hardcover)

I have read this book and find that the first part is fairly accurate when I compare it with other translations of the stories about Finn and the Fianna. However, I read the notes section for the stories about Cuchulain and noticed that Lady Gregory states that she compiled these stories, while the book jacket states she translated them. Unfortunately she has used several different sources for one of my favorite tales (Deirdre and Naoise) and it makes me wonder how accurate her version of this tale is. She has some elements in the ending that I have found attributed to later versions of the tale (she uses the later version of Deirdre stabbing herself instead of her dashing her head on the rocks), but the fact that she admits in her notes to editing and compiling the tales as she sees fit makes me wonder what else she edited because she didn't like. Personally, I am searching for a translation that is more accurate when it comes to Irish tales, because I feel that the original meaning becomes muddled when tales are edited to match a person's taste.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not the edition you're looking for, October 12, 2005

By 

Labhrás Mac Muiris - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Irish Myths And Legends (Hardcover)

This edition offers only a small selection of Lady Gregory's _Gods and Fighting Men_, plus the book itself is about 2" by 4". In other words, this book is really a souvenir--not a text to be read. You probably want to get the full text of _Gods and Fighting Men_ instead.