Page:The courtship of Ferb (Leahy).djvu/19

 Capture of Troy. The romances of this group are among the oldest Irish romances which we possess, and were put into their present form at various periods between the seventh and the tenth centuries; but they are based on traditions which are certainly older, and show traces of a pre-Christian origin. The leading idea of the romances is the state of open or concealed warfare between the kingdoms of Ulster and of Connaught; the principal characters being Conachar (or Conor), king of Ulster; Cuchulainn, Conall, and other Ulster champions; Medb (or Maev), queen of Connaught, with her husband Ailill; and Fergus Mac Roy, the exiled king of Ulster, who in many of the stories is a refugee at the