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Playing the Hero: Reading the Táin Bó Cúailnge

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Written by Ann Dooley (associate professor in the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto) Playing the Hero: Reading the Irish Saga Tain Bo Cuailnge is an in-depth scrutiny of the surviving manuscripts of the great twelfth-century Irish saga, the Tain Bo Cuailnge (Cattle-Raid of Cooley). Arguing that the scribes' work in recording the Tain Bo Cuailnge is both a transmission and a translation, Playing the Hero explores how the historical circumstances of the breadth of the twelfth century impacted the literary creativity of the minds behind this ancient classic. Intended for a scholarly audience, Playing the Hero leaves no stone unturned in its search for nuance and understanding in what Tain Bo Cuailnge can tell modern-day readers of Irish mythology and culture centuries past. Exhaustive notes, a bibliography and an index round out this fine addition to Irish historical literary studies and college library shelves.