Gods and Fighting Men: The Story of the Tuatha De Danaan and of the Fianna of Ireland

by Lady Augusta Gregory, Finn MacCumhaill, Felicity Gregory

Book Overview

Lady Augusta Gregory's Irish Myths and Legends, or Gods and Fighting Men as it was first titled in 1904, is an essential collection of Irish myths, legends and folk tales gathered by Gregory from... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1495385140
• ISBN13: 9781495385148
• Release Date: February 2014
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 330 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful Book

There are some errors in the spelling in the book, but the book is otherwise wonderful. I've really enjoyed reading it.

Gods and Fighting Men- by Lady Augusta Gregory

Lady Gregory has written a very precise and easily read translation of some of the best of Irish mythology. Originally written at the turn of the ninetteenth century it still holds today.I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Celtic mythology and lore.

This is THE actual Book of Irish Mythology

Gods and Fighting Men is an excellent resource because it preserves the lore from the Book of Invasions as well as other sources -- the legends of the earliest inhabitants of Ireland, the coming of the Tuatha De Danaan (The People of Dana) and the stories of Finn MacCumhail. What is portrayed as "Early Irish Mythology" 99% of the time actually isn't -- the dozens of translations of The Tain, albeit worthy reading, are actually the lore of Ulster, a single Irish province. This makes it Ulster Mythology (regional) more than Irish Mythology (national). The legends of the Tuatha De Danaan are essential for a comprehensive understanding of Irish mythology, actually comprising the majority of the Mythological Cycle, and deal with the initial settling of all of Ireland. Unfortunately, it seems to be modern New Age reconstructions of the Mythological Cycle rather than the native stories that seem to be infusing themselves into the mainstream, and that is sad. In my mind, the Mythological Cycle is the most important cycle in Irish mythology, because it sets up the scenario for all that is to follow. The Fenian Cycle (legends of Finn MacCumhail and his warband) are fascinating not only for their strong associations with Nature, but also for the fact that the stories are well-known both in Ireland and in the Scottish Highlands. The Gods still walked and resided on (or in) the Earth and interacted often with mortals. Magic was all around. The Tain, on the other hand, is more a time of towns and forts and war-chariots; a time when magic was less present and people were less intertwined with Nature than in the Golden Age. The Gods had already departed our realm and only made brief cameos in the stories. In summary, Gods and Fighting Men is the actual collection of Irish Mythology from the earliest legends. It affects all of Ireland and the stories are fairly widespread throughout the Gaelic world. Lady Gregory wrote these translations with a view to retain the native Irish sense of story-telling; this she achieved remarkably well. My one concern is that it would have been nice for Lady Gregory to have cited her sources for each story. I know that in many cases she blended versions from several sources to produce what she saw as the purest form of the story, but a simple listing of these would have been fantastic from an academic standpoint. Overall this is probably the greatest collection of Irish Mythology I have found so far, albeit Lady Gregory's focus was primarily as storyteller rather than academic (this is not a bad thing -- dry, stale translations of Irish lore would have been extremely anti-Irish in themselves). This should probably be the FIRST book one reads of Irish Mythology. I highly recommend this book and the fact that it is value-priced definitely doesn't hurt, either. This book is definitely worth several times its cost. Happy Reading!

Irish Myths brought to Life

The works of Lady Gregory are the best way to get a pure taste of the original Irish Myths - unless you are fluent in Gaelic and can get a hold of older copies. Lady Gregory's elequent speech and style breathes life into Ireland's forgotten Heroes and Gods!