Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Proinsias MacCana. "Mythology in Early Irish Literature." In The Celtic Consciousness. Ed. Robert O'Driscoll. New York: Braziller and Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. pp. 143-54.

Provides a brief introduction to the historical context of early Irish written literature and its development from oral traditional sources from the viewpoint that "oral literature did not cease with the coming of writing; on the contrary, it continued as abundant as ever, independent of the written literature although not necessarily unaffected by it. In the nature of things, however, we can know it only in so far as it is reflected in the written texts" (145). Compares and contrasts the Noinden Ulad (The Debility of the Ulstermen) with an early version of the Deirdre story, demonstrating that "while immersed in native tradition, the author is also able to exploit it for his own literary ends, so that in the finished composition mythological concept and literary artifice combine and fuse in an indissoluble unity" (148), and goes on to discuss the relationship of Christianity to the pagan myth, citing Caillech Bhérri (The Hag of Beare) as an example of the literary fusing of the two systems. Concludes that the clerical authors were men who were "admirably equipped by instinct and training to approach the orally transmitted mythology with a combination of sympathy and sophistication" (154).
Area: OI