Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/163

 Bibliographical Notes. 1 5 1

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. BOOKS.

The Cuchullin Saga in Irish Literature. Being a Collection of Stories relating to the Hero Cuchullin, translated from the Irish by vari- ous scholars. Compiled and edited, with Introduction and Notes, by Eleanor Hull. [Grimm Library, No. 8.] London : David Nutt, 1898. Pp. Ixxix, 316.

Miss Hull's book is the eighth in the " Grimm Library," and though it is a less ambitious undertaking than some of the other numbers, it is likely to be one of the most useful productions of the series. As its title in- dicates, it is chiefly a compilation of tales from the Middle Irish. Most of the translations here printed have appeared before separately in the learned journals, and Miss Hull has collected them in a single volume, supplying an introduction and brief illustrative notes. The Irish text is not given.

The tales have been selected chiefly with a view to presenting the life and exploits of Cuchullin, the favorite hero of the Ulster Saga cycle. A few of them do not deal with him directly, and some of the best of the Cu- chullin stories (like the " Fled Bricrend ") have been omitted altogether. But some limits doubtless had to be observed in making the selection, and the reader will get from the book an excellent impression of the character of the saga cycle.

In the introductory note to the " Tain Bo Cuailgne " Miss Hull says, " The translation is intended primarily for English readers, not for Irish schol- ars ; " and this statement apparently applies to the whole book, which should be judged accordingly. It does not profess to make any new con- tribution to Celtic scholarship, but it furnishes the general reader a valuable introduction to a body of literature which is none too familiar and none too accessible. Most of the existing English translations of Irish romances were made before the study of the Celtic languages had been put on a scientific basis. Miss Hull has therefore done the English reader a good service in placing at his easy disposal more recent and competent versions of some of the principal tales. The summary of the " Tain Bo Cuailgne " will be particularly convenient for reference, since the original Irish text is not accessible except in the facsimiles published by the Royal Irish Acad- emy. It differs from Zimmer's analysis of the same tale (published in the twenty-eighth volume of Kuhn's " Zeitschrift ") by being much fuller in some sections, which are practically translated at length, and by passing over other sections with a bare indication of the events they relate.

In a work of a different character Miss Hull's method with the transla- tions would be open to some criticism. Thus she says in her prefatory note to the tenth selection (p. 230) : " I have followed the translation of O'Curry, but have adopted a few phrases from the French version where Mr. O'Curry's version is obscure." Elsewhere she makes similar state- ments with regard to other selections. (See pages 22 and 96.) This

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