The volume under review is presented as a sequel to The Gaelic Finn Tradition, published in 2012, and edited by Sharon J. Arbuthnot and Geraldine Parsons, two of the editors of this volume. Like the previous installment, this volume is an edited collection of essays, all of which focus on various approaches to and aspects of the Fenian tradition (Classical Gaelic Fiannaigheacht): a broad and heterogenous body of literary texts and oral traditions known throughout the Gaelic-speaking world from the early Middle Ages up until the present day. As is noted in the introduction, the “nucleus” of this volume was the Second International Finn Cycle Conference, hosted by the University of Glasgow in 2014; of the fourteen essays presented here, all but two represent research which was presented in some form at that conference.
The book’s essays are divided into three sections. The essays of the first section focus on medieval and early modern literary texts of the acallam “colloquy” tradition. Gregory Toner’s “Dating the Acallam” discusses previous approaches to establishing a date of composition for the lengthy prosimetrum Acallam na Senórach, and suggests that the application of machine-learning techniques (chronometrics) to the dating of texts may yield some insights. Employing an algorithm that he and Xiwu Han have developed, Toner presents the results of various analyses of the text. Because of the standardized nature of the literary language in the period ca. 1200-1600, while the algorithm is capable of assigning texts to that period, it struggles to provide more accurate dates; at the moment, therefore, chronometrics must be used alongside rather than in place of conventional approaches to textual dating.
Kevin Murray’s “Editing Acallam na Senórach” begins with an account of the extant manuscripts and editions of this text, noting that none of these editions provide readers with a full critical view of the tradition. Taking the mucc shlánga “healing pig” episode as a starting point, Murray discusses the considerable degree of textual variation found across manuscript witnesses, and suggests a variety of approaches which a modern editor might take in trying to present a new critical text.
Elizabeth FitzPatrick’s “Hunting Places in the Finn Cycle” brings the textual evidence into dialogue with archaeology. Using Fiodh Gaibhle in county Offaly and Sídh na mBan Finn in county Tipperary as case studies, FitzPatrick connects the sites of literary hunts with real-world territorial boundaries in Gaelic Ireland, and suggests that these literary hunts are a reflex of the real-world practice of hunting in borderlands as a way of demonstrating sovereignty.
Arbuthnot’s contribution, “The Reeves Agallamh as a Lexical Resource,” reflects her experience as an editor of the ElectronicDictionary of the Irish Language (eDIL). She introduces the “Reeves Agallamh” or “Late Agallamh,” a fourteenth- or fifteenth-century recension of Acallam na Senórach, and how it was used as a lexical resource during the 2007-2013 expansion of the Dictionary; in particular, the poem “Caoilte and the Animals” proved to be a rich resource for ornithological vocabulary.
Síle Ní Mhurchú’s “The Poetic Contention in Agallamh Oisín agus Phádraig” explores the early modern literary tradition of poetic dialogue between Saint Patrick and Oisín, the last survivor of the pre-Christian Fianna. Through a close reading of several verses drawn from this tradition, Ní Mhurchú identifies affinities with the language of devotional and homiletic texts in Irish, and challenges the often-stated assumption that these dialogues reflect an anti-clerical or even anti-Christian sentiment.
The second section focuses on other “texts and traditions” from the Middle Ages. In her contribution, “The Narrative Unity of ‘Finn and the Man in the Tree,’” Rebecca Shercliff discusses one of the earliest prose tales regarding Finn, preserved within the commentary to the Senchas Már legal compilation. Although the tale consists of two seemingly unconnected episodes, Shercliff identifies thematic connections between the two halves, and suggests that the work is a cohesive whole that explores both positive and negative aspects of Finn’s character.
Martina Maher’s “The Cín Dromma Snechtai-Fíanaigecht Complex” explores one section of the sixteenth-century Irish manuscript Egerton MS 1782, in which a sequence of Fenian texts accompanies texts of the Ulster cycle from the now-lost eighth-century manuscript Cín Dromma Snechtai. Maher asks whether this section was deliberately composed as a unity or haphazardly compiled from whatever sources the scribes had to hand. Exploring each of the texts in turn, Maher notes common thematic concerns with prophecy, the Otherworld, and kingship; observing that the scribes likely had access to a wide range of sources, she argues that the tales in this section were deliberately compiled in a way that showed an interest in these themes and a growing awareness of these texts as members of cycles.
Maxim Fomin’s “Tecosca Cormaic and Fíanaigecht Traditions” discusses two sections of the Old Irish wisdom text Tecosca Cormaic, which recount the eponymous Cormac’s experience as a gilla “young warrior” within a fian. Fomin offers an edition, translation, and close reading of these sections, and places them within the context of other passages on kingship and warfare from early Irish wisdom literature. The author of this text, he suggests, is both innovative and traditional in drawing upon existing literary conventions in order to portray the often-maligned institution of the fían in a respectable light.
John Carey’s “The Death of Diarmuid: Pessinus to Ben Bulben” begins with a summary of the various traditions surrounding the death of Diarmuid Ua Duibne and his posthumous fate. As other scholars have noted, there are curious parallels between these traditions and Classical accounts of the death of the god Adonis. Rejecting Dáithí Ó hÓgáin’s argument that these similarities reflect the influence of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Carey offers a line of speculation inspired by various Classical accounts of the cult of Attis among the Celtic-speaking Galatians; namely, that a sacred narrative was transmitted westwards by Celtic speakers, and that reflexes of this are to be seen in later Welsh and Gaelic tradition.
Joseph Flahive’s contribution, “‘A Chloidhimh Chléirchín an Chluig’ and the Concept of the Literary Cycle in Medieval Ireland,” also concerns the impact of Classical tradition on Gaelic tradition, albeit from a different perspective. Flahive presents some of his preliminary editorial work on a fourteenth-century version of the Fenian lay, “The Sword of Oscar,” which consists primarily of a series of discrete tales linked by the presence of the titular sword throughout the ages. Flahive notes that these narrative sections fall broadly within three historical-narrative worlds: the Trojan War, the Ulster cycle, and the Fenian cycle; by comparing this with other Irish poems which present their subject matter in a chronological order, Flahive argues, along with Maher, that Irish literati were conceiving of their literary tradition as belonging to narrative cycles.
The essays of the final section, Collection and Modern Adaptation, explore contemporary interest in and reception of the Fenian material, both in the Gaelic languages and the broader European context. Natasha Sumner’s “The Fianna and the Folklore Collectors” offers a history of the recording and publication of Fenian material by folklore collectors in Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and among the Gaelic diaspora in Canada and the United States. Unfortunately, because of limitations of space, Sumner is unable to fully explore the backgrounds, motivations, and accomplishments of the various collectors, but her contribution conveys the sheer size and richness of the corpus, and makes the reader eager for the launch of her online Fionn Cycle Folklore Project.
Anja Gunderloch’s chapter, “John Francis Campbell, William Robertson and the Collection of Fianaigheachd Tales and Ballads,” focuses, rather than on the broader picture of folklore collection in Gaelic Scotland, on the working relationship between one collector and informant. Gunderloch uses John Francis Campbell’s field journals to explore Campbell’s relationship with the South Uist storyteller William Robertson, Campbell’s field methodology, and Robertson’s repertoire. Despite the inherent limitations of Campbell’s field methods, a picture emerges of Robertson as an extremely knowledgeable tradition-bearer and skilled performer.
Bernard Maier’s contribution, “Late Victorian Ideas about Ossian and the Origins of Celtic Studies in Scotland and Germany,” is focused on the afterlife of one of the better-known manifestations of the Fenian tradition, the “Ossianic” poems of the eighteenth-century Scottish poet James Macpherson. Macpherson’s claims to have translated his poetry from Gaelic originals immediately sparked a long-standing controversy about the legitimacy of these claims; Maier traces the continuation of the debate into the later nineteenth-century, showing how the terms of the debate were framed in Victorian ideas about religion, propriety, and religious history. He also explores the influence this debate had on the intellectual formation of German scholars such as Christian Stern and Ernst Windisch, who played an influential role in the development of Celtic Studies as a discipline.
The final essay in the volume, Sìm Innes’s “Dùsgadh na Féinne (1908): Katherine Whyte Grant’s Scottish Gaelic Kinderspiel,” displays both the longevity and reach of the Fenian tradition. Innes’s essay discusses a children’s play written in the early twentieth century and performed by members of the Gaelic diaspora in Australia. The play takes its inspiration from an international tale-type (ATU 766 The Seven Sleepers) and uses the image of sleeping Fenian warriors to inspire the audience to remain proud of their Gaelic culture. Innes places Grant in dialogue with other contemporary Gaelic and Irish authors, but unlike Irish revivalists, Grant’s vision of Gaelic identity is one that can fit comfortably within the British empire.
The book is well laid-out and edited, and I did not notice any major errors or inconsistencies over the course of reading it. The essays are accompanied by an index of first lines, a general index, list of abbreviations, and note on orthography; the latter will be useful for non-specialists for whom the diversity of Gaelic orthographies may be bewildering.
There are some noticeable absences – for example, except for a brief discussion in Sumner’s chapter, a discussion of the Manx tradition is wanting – but the volume makes no claims to completeness, and given its origins in a conference, it would be unreasonable to expect such. On the whole, the editors have done an admirable job of presenting a range of essays showing not only the scope of this body of tradition, but also the range of methodological approaches that can be deployed in the study of it. Like its predecessor, this volume will prove indispensable for both specialists and non-specialists interested in the Fenian tradition and its afterlives.
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[Review length: 1719 words • Review posted on April 20, 2023]