Heroes and heroism in medieval Irish literature

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dc.check.date2029-12-31
dc.contributor.advisorCarey, John
dc.contributor.authorTaylor, David Emmet Austinen
dc.date.accessioned2024-09-24T10:19:37Z
dc.date.available2024-09-24T10:19:37Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.date.submitted2023
dc.description.abstractThe heroes of medieval Irish literature have been, and continue to be, a topic of enduring interest, both within and beyond the academy. These heroes, of whom Cú Chulainn and Finn mac Cumaill are certainly the best known, are frequently the topics of discussion in many different sub-branches of the field of Celtic Studies, and are included in discussions of related fields, such as in comparative analyses of these heroes with those of other traditions. By describing certain characters as heroes, scholars have, often implicitly, suggested that these characters are in some way similar, and that these similarities are what make an individual heroic. However, there has been no scholarly consensus as to what it means for a character to be identified as a hero in medieval Irish literature, nor what the implicitly suggested similarities are. While several scholars have used the term to refer to distinct, often conflicting, concepts, most continue to use the term agnostically. This thesis addresses this uncertainty surrounding the use of ‘hero’ as a classificatory term for characters from medieval Irish literature, focusing on the agnostic use of the term, identifying, and discussing the similarities that connect these characters, and examining how these similarities change throughout the medieval period. To do this, this thesis draws on over a hundred texts from the two heroic cycles of medieval Irish literature, the Ulster Cycle and the Finn Cycle, focusing on those composed between the 7th and 15th centuries. It argues that these heroes are modelled on the historical medieval Irish warrior aristocracy, and that this has heavily influenced the depiction and development of these heroes across the medieval period. It discusses how this relationship with the historical warrior aristocracy has influenced the relationship between heroes and kings, the association between heroism and masculinity, pushes heroes into conflict with other heroes, and causes the development of clessa as repertoire of imagined martial arts. Further, this thesis argues that heroes operate in warrior bands comprised of other heroes, which are modelled on several different forms of historical martial institutions, and that within these bands, heroes compete for status, which sometimes involves the display of the severed heads of their enemies, and unintentionally encourages heroes to behave in deceitful or underhanded ways to gain an edge.en
dc.description.statusNot peer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationTaylor, D. E. A. 2023. Heroes and heroism in medieval Irish literature. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.
dc.identifier.endpage397
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/16427
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherUniversity College Corken
dc.rights© 2023, David Emmet Austin Taylor.
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.subjectFinn Cycle
dc.subjectMedieval literature
dc.subjectIrish literature
dc.subjectMasculinity
dc.subjectHeroes
dc.subjectWarriors
dc.subjectUlster Cycle
dc.subjectHeroic literature
dc.titleHeroes and heroism in medieval Irish literature
dc.typeDoctoral thesisen
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoralen
dc.type.qualificationnamePhD - Doctor of Philosophyen
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