Customer Reviews

The Sorrows: A Grand Retelling of 'The Three Sorrows' (Ulster Cycle)

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In his introduction, Randy Lee Eickhoff points out that the ancient Irish Bard was often required to deliver exact renditions. What Eickhoff has done with The Three Sorrows is to inflate the original texts, as we have them, with examples of every day life that is culturally relevant to the past and in some respect to the present. The translator of any tale often encounters a text that is so familiar to a classical audience that either the full expression of the text was considered unnecessary or the reverse, composed of only those parts that were remembered. Often this leaves the reader intrigued, or confused, as to what might be missing from the tale. Although much of the main action and many of the descriptions seem to follow the original texts very closely, (from what I can tell) it lacks the often archaic and abbreviated tone of Cross and Slover's, Ancient Irish Tales. Thomas Kinsella's elegant translation of the Exile of the Sons of Uisulu in The Tain, is much shorter than the version Eickhoff treats his reader too. In many ways, I prefer the prose of these earlier translations, yet Eickhoff's approach is fresh, informal and, perhaps, more enjoyable to the modern reader. He makes a sincere attempt to keep the action coherent and interrelated.

Eickhoff's narrator begins these tales with a vocal enthusiasm that is very informal. With the enlarged dialogue come phrases and swears that have an air of cultural and historical truth, but that are not included in other translations and difficult to verify. Mr. Eickhoff's footnotes are very helpful at determining how he arrives at some of these `colloquiums' and are much more erudite than anticipated. His attention to geography both ancient and modern is appropriate to the genre.

As to Mr. Eickhoff's overall approach, what comes to mind is an exchange between characters in The Fate of the Children of Turienn. Brian, a fierce yet intelligent child of Turienn, masquerades as a poet in order to gain entrance into a guarded castle. He tells the gatekeeper that he and his brothers are "singers of fate and adventure, of heroes and tragedy, we are poets of the highest order, well-versed in divination and philosophical maundering," when he is interrupted! It seems the gatekeeper wants to hear "stories dear to a soldiers heart... battles and wars and... a tale about a saucy tart or two." Eickhoff's style is indeed a blend of the two approaches to storytelling.

Developing the sexuality of the tale's characters, and supporting it with references from other tales via footnotes was a brilliant stroke in the retelling of these tales. Although some of the descriptions of the female physique were redundant, it could have been to emphasize that a certain phrase or description might have been just another tool of the narrator to illustrate a perception of beauty. Perhaps, he was trying to evoke something of the Sheela-na-gig with his descriptions?

Many ancient Irish tales are written in a form that implies two types of action. Frequently, the prose will alternate with verse. Verse is predominately used when the Otherworld influences the story i.e. prophesy and vision. Eickhoff nicely rounds out the English verses with rhyme while maintaining much of the same meaning when compared other versions. Action, both bawdy and bloody takes place in the general, or prose portion of the text. Indeed, Irish heroes often embody both the traits of the poet or druid and of the warrior. Eickhoff's writing attempts to keeps pace with this dualism.

I can't speak to whether this is a faithful translation or if it is better than other translations, but I enjoyed the Sorrows very much. If you have any interest in ancient Irish folklore and culture, these stories give you interesting tales and a glimpse into past Irish society. There is a very good footnote section as well giving you valuable information about some of the terms and gaelic words used throughout the stories. The writing style is fluid and easy to read and quickly engages you into the story. I enjoyed the second and third tales the best. I liked the first one, but it was a little long and started to repeat itself.

Eickhoff's "The Sorrows" is a good fantasy in the tradition of Grahm Joyce. The book does tend to drag in places, but overall its a very excellent, well written book that captures Ireland's customs.