The Greeks have have the Odyssey and the Illiad, the Sumerians had Gilgamesh, Hindus have the Mahābhārata and the Ramayana, the English have Beowulf, and and the Irish… the Irish have the Táin Bó Cúailnge. (Roughly translated, The Cattle Raid of Cooley.)
Now I won’t say that the Táin is my favorite ancient epic poem, but it’s definitely got it’s high points. Take, for example, the reason for the cattle raid (or war, really) in the first place. The whole thing starts up through a mixture of petty jealousy, spousal turmoil, a female temptress, and a miscommunication that leads to a complete misunderstanding.
Not unlike a certain famous Grecian epic we might name? But the fun doesn’t stop there. Instead, Cú Chulainn gets involved.
Cú Chulainn, the Hound of Ulster, is one of the great heroes of Irish mythology, a berserker warrior who appears in the Táin at the age of seventeen and singlehandedly defeats an entire army. This guy was so awesome even his horses were badasses, and when he died (tied to a standing stone so that he could still fight while going out) his sword continued to cut heads off until his sword arm was severed from his dead body. That was the last anybody heard of him until his ghost showed up to help St. Patrick convert King Lóegaire to Christianity.
So… there’s your St. Patrick’s day connection.
Anyway, you don’t have to take my word for it, because MK Reed’s About a Bull, a webcomic adaptation of the story, has already started. You can read chapter one here, and it will be updating with a new chapter every month (the Táin has thirteen).
Of course, if you’re looking for something more… complete, you could always check out our St. Pattie’s day PowerGrid, 10 Geek Bars for Your St. Patrick’s Day Bar Crawl.
(via The Beat.)
