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Cath Ruis na Ríg (for Bóinn)

  • Middle Irish
  • prose, prosimetrum
  • Ulster Cycle
The Middle Irish version of the tale of the battle of Ros na Ríg as represented by the Book of Leinster text.
Scope
redaction/recension
Manuscripts
Language
  • Middle Irish
Date
Uáitéar Mac Gearailt dates the LL version to “possibly mid-way through the second half of the twelfth century” (1991: 129).
Form
prose, prosimetrum (primary)
verse (secondary)
Textual relationships
Related: Cath Ruis na Ríogh for Bóinn (modern versions)Cath Ruis na Ríogh for Bóinn (modern versions)

Early Modern version or versions, of the tale of the battle of Ros na Ríg on the Boyne, written in a mix of prose and verse. It has been argued, foremost by Uáitéar Mac Gearailt, that it derives from a Middle Irish recension that is distinct from that contained in the Book of Leinster and that the latter represents a particular scribal innovation which draws on a common ancestor.

Classification

Ulster Cycle
Ulster Cycle
id. 1797

Subjects

Conchobar mac Nessa
Conchobar mac Nessa
(time-frame ass. with Ulster Cycle)
king of the Ulaid in tales of the Ulster Cycle; son either of Cathbad or Fachtna Fáthach (father) and Ness (mother); husband of Mugain; father of Cormac Cond Longas, Cúscraid Mend Macha, Furbaide Fer Bend and Fedelm Noíchrothach; fosterfather of Cú Chulainn.
See more Cú Chulainn
Cú Chulainn
Young Ulster hero and chief character of Táin bó Cuailnge and other tales of the Ulster Cycle; son of Súaltam or Lug and Deichtire (sister to Conchobor); husband of Emer (ingen Forgaill)
See more
Ros na Ríg on the BoyneRos na Ríg on the Boyne
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.
See more

Sources

Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.

[dipl. ed.] Best, Richard Irvine, and M. A. OʼBrien, The Book of Leinster, formerly Lebar na Núachongbála, vol. 4, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1965. xxvii + pp. 761-1117.
CELT – pp. 761-781 and 785-841: <link>
761–779 (lines 22627–23283) Diplomatic edition of the text in LL. direct link
[ed.] [tr.] Hogan, Edmund [ed. and tr.], Cath Ruis na Ríg for Bóinn, Todd Lecture Series, 4, Dublin, 1892.
Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link>
2–59 direct link

Secondary sources (select)

Wadden, Patrick, “Cath Ruis na Ríg for Bóinn: history and literature in twelfth-century Ireland”, Aiste 4 (2014): 11–44.  
abstract:

This paper discusses the tale Cath Ruis na Ríg for Bóinn, a sequel to the early Irish epic Táin Bó Cúailgne, in light of the historical context of the period when it was written (the second half of the twelfth century). It argues that its author drew on contemporary historical events and developments as models for episodes in the plot of his story. Specifically, his depiction of Irish kings importing foreign mercenaries from the Hebrides and struggling for influence over the midland province of Mide resonates with distinctly twelfth-century historical phenomena. As a result, although it is set in the heroic past, the images of kingship and of inter-provincial politics depicted in Cath Ruis na Ríg were shaped by the twelfth-century struggle for dominance amongst the various contenders for the high-kingship of Ireland. The paper tentatively suggests that the text might have been written as a commentary on the period of conflict between Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, king of Cenél Eógain, and Tairdelbach Úa Conchobair, king of Connacht, during the early 1150s.

Mac Gearailt, Uáitéar, On the date of the Middle Irish recension II: Táin bó Cúailnge, E. C. Quiggin Memorial Lectures, 11, Cambridge: Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, University of Cambridge, 2010.
Mac Gearailt, Uáitéar, “Die Gedichte in Cath Ruis na Ríg”, in: Erich Poppe (ed.), Keltologie heute: Themen und Fragestellungen. Akten des 3. Deutschen Keltologensymposiums, Marburg, März 2001, 6, Münster: Nodus, 2004. 211–226.
Mac Gearailt, Uáitéar, “Leaganacha de Cath Ruis na Ríg: an deilbhíocht idir 1100-1650”, in: Pádraig A. Breatnach, Caoimhín Breatnach, and Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail (eds), Léann lámhscríbhinní lobháin: The Louvain manuscript heritage, 1, Dublin: National University of Ireland, 2007. 168–197.
Mac Gearailt, Uáitéar, “Cath Ruis na Ríg and twelfth-century literary and oral tradition”, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 44 (1991): 128–153.
web page identifiers
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen, Patrick Brown
Page created
April 2011, last updated: June 2024
Retrieved from ‘https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/index.php?title=Cath_Ruis_na_Ríg&oldid=307877’