CHAPTER XXII EARLY SAGA AND ROMANCE

During the golden period of the Greek and Roman genius no one ever wrote a romance. Epics² they left behind them, and history, but the romance, the Danish saga³, the Irish sgeul or úrsgeul was unknown. It was in time of decadence⁴ that a body of Greek prose romance appeared, and with the exception of Petronius' semi-prose "Satyricon," and Apuleius' "Golden Ass," the Latin language produced in this line little of a higher character than such works as the Gesta Romanorum. In Greece and Italy where the genial⁵ climate favoured all kinds of open-air representations, the great development of the drama took the place of novelistic literature, as it did for a long time amongst the English after the Elizabethan revival⁶. In Ireland, on the other hand, the dramatic stage was never reached at all, but the development of the úrsgeul, romance, or novel, was quite abnormally great. I have seen it more than once asserted, if I mistake not, that the dramatic is an inevitable⁷ and an early development in the history of every literature, but this is to generalise from insufficient⁸ instances. The Irish literature which kept on developing—to some extent at least—for over a thousand years, and of which hundreds of volumes still exist, never evolved a drama, nor so much, as far as I know, as even a miracle play, although these are found in Welsh and even Cornish. What Ireland[Pg 277] did produce, and produce nobly and well, was romance; from the first to the last, from the seventh to the seventeenth century, Irishmen, without distinction of class, alike delighted in the úrsgeul.

When this form of literature first came into vogue⁹ we have no means of ascertaining¹⁰, but the narrative¹¹ prose probably developed at a very early period as a supplement to defective¹² narrative verse. Not that verse or prose were then and there committed to writing, for it is said that the business of the bards¹⁴ was to learn their stories by heart. I take it, however, that they did not actually do this, but merely learned the incidents of a story in their regular sequence, and that their training enabled them to fill these up and clothe them on the spur of the moment in the most effective garments, decking them out with passages of gaudy¹⁶ description, with rattling¹⁷ alliterative lines and "runs" and abundance of adjectival declamation¹⁸. The bards, no matter from what quarter of the island, had all to know the same story or novel, provided it was a renowned¹⁹ one, but with each the sequence of incidents, and the incidents themselves were probably for a long time the same; but the language in which they were tricked out and the length to which they were spun²⁰ depended probably upon the genius or bent²¹ of each particular bard¹³. Of course in process of time divergences²² began to arise, and hence different versions of the same story. That, at least, is how I account for such passages as "but others say that it was not there he was killed, but in," etc., "but some of the books say that it was not on this wise it happened, but," and so on.

It is probable that very many novels were in existence before the coming of St. Patrick, but highly unlikely that they were at that time written down at full length. It was probably only after the country had become Christianised and full of schools and learning that the bards experienced the desire of writing down their sagas²⁴, with as much as they could recapture of the ancient poetry upon, which they were built. In the Book of[Pg 278] Leinster, a manuscript of the twelfth century, we find an extraordinary list of no less than 187 of those romances with THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY of which an ollamh had to be acquainted. The ollamh was the highest dignitary amongst the bards, and it took him from nine to twelve years' training to learn the two hundred and fifty prime stories and the one hundred secondary ones along with the other things which were required of him. The prime stories—combinations of epic¹ and novel, prose and poetry—are divided in the manuscripts into the following romantic catalogue:—Destructions of fortified²⁵ places, Cow spoils (i.e., cattle-raiding expeditions), Courtships or wooings, Battles, Cave-stories, Navigations, Tragical²⁶ deaths, Feasts, Sieges, Adventures, Elopements, Slaughters²⁷, Water-eruptions, Expeditions, Progresses, and Visions. "He is no poet," says the Book of Leinster, "who does not synchronise²⁸ and harmonise all the stories." We possess, as I have said, the names of 187 such stories in the Book of Leinster, and the names of many more are given in the tenth-or eleventh-century tale of Mac Coisè; and all the known ones, with the exception of one tale added later on, and one which, evidently through an error in transcription, refers to Arthur instead of Aithirne, are about events prior to the year 650 or thereabouts. We may take it, then, that this list was drawn²⁹ up in the seventh century.

Now, who were the authors of these couple of hundred romances? It is a natural question, but one which cannot be answered. There is not a trace of their authorship remaining, if authorship be the right word for what I suspect to have been the gradual growth of race, tribal³⁰, and family history, and of Celtic mythology³¹, told and retold, and polished up, and added to; some of them, especially such as are the descendants of a pagan mythology, must have been handed down for perhaps countless³² generations, others recounted historical, tribal, or family doings, magnified during the course of time, others again of more recent date, are perhaps fairly accurate accounts of actual[Pg 279] events, but all PRIOR TO ABOUT THE YEAR 650. I take it that so soon as bardic³³ schools and colleges began to be formed, there was no class of learning more popular than that which taught the great traditionary stories of the various tribes and families of the great Gaelic race, and the intercommunication between the bardic colleges propagated local tradition throughout all Ireland.

The very essence of the national life of Erin was embodied³⁴ in these stories, but, unfortunately, few out of the enormous mass have survived to our day, and these mostly mutilated or in mere¹⁵ digests. Some, however, exist at nearly full length, quite sufficient to show us what the romances were like, and to cause us to regret the irreparable loss inflicted³⁵ upon our race by the ravages³⁶ of Danes, Normans, and English. Even as it is O'Curry asserts that the contents of the strictly³⁷ historical tales known to him would be sufficient to fill up four thousand of the large pages of the "Four Masters." He computed³⁸ that the tales about Finn, Ossian, and the Fenians alone would fill another three thousand pages. In addition to these we have a considerable number of imaginative stories, neither historical nor Fenian, such as the "Three Sorrows of Story-telling" and the like, sufficient to fill five thousand pages more, not to speak of the more recent novel-like productions of the later Irish.[1]

It is this very great fecundity³⁹ of the very early Irish in the production of saga and romance, in poetry and prose, which best enables us to judge of their early-developed genius, and considerable primitive⁴⁰ culture. The introduction of Christianity neither inspired these romances nor helped to produce them; they are nearly all anterior⁴¹ to it, and had they been preserved to us we should now have the most remarkable⁴² body of primitive myth and saga in the whole western world. It is probably this consideration which makes M. Darmesteter say[Pg 280] of Irish literature: "real historical documents we have none until the beginning of the decadence—a decadence so glorious, that we almost mistake it for a renaissance⁴³ since the old epic sap dries up only to make place for a new budding and bourgeoning, a growth less original certainly, but scarcely less wonderful if we consider the condition of continental⁴⁴ Europe at that date." The decadence that M. Darmesteter alludes⁴⁵ to is the rise of the Christian²³ schools of the fifth and sixth centuries, which put to some extent an end to the epic period by turning men's thoughts into a different channel.

It is this "decadence," however, which I have preferred to examine first, just because it does rest upon real historical documents, and can be proved. We may now, however, proceed to the mass of saga, the bulk of which in its earliest forms is pagan, and the spirit of which, even in the latest texts, has been seldom quite distorted by Christian influence. This saga centres around several periods and individuals: some of these, like Tuathal and the Boru tribute, Conairé the Great and his death, have only one or two stories pertaining⁴⁶ to them. But there are three cycles which stand out pre-eminently, and have been celebrated⁴⁷ in more stories and sagas than the rest, and of which more remains⁴⁸ have been preserved to us than of any of the others. These are the Mythological⁴⁹ Circle concerning the Tuatha De Dannan and the Pre-Milesians; the Heroic, Ultonian, or Red-Branch Cycle,[2] in which Cuchulain is the dominating figure; and the Cycle of Finn mac Cúmhail, Ossian, Oscar, and the High-kings of Ireland who were their contemporaries—this cycle may be denominated the Fenian or Ossianic.

[1] O'Curry was no doubt accurate, as he ever is, in this computation, but there would probably be some repetition in the stories, with lists of names and openings common to more than one, and many late poor ones.

[2] M. d'Arbois de Jubainville calls this the Ulster, and calls the Ossianic the Leinster Cycle.

1 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

2 epics   

n.叙事诗( epic的名词复数 )；壮举；惊人之举；史诗般的电影（或书籍）

参考例句：

• one of the great Hindu epics 伟大的印度教史诗之一
• Homer Iliad and Milton's Paradise Lost are epics. 荷马的《伊利亚特》和弥尔顿的《失乐园》是史诗。 来自互联网

3 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

4 decadence   

n.衰落，颓废

参考例句：

• The decadence of morals is bad for a nation.道德的堕落对国家是不利的。
• His article has the power to turn decadence into legend.他的文章具有化破朽为神奇的力量。

5 genial   

adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的

参考例句：

• Orlando is a genial man.奥兰多是一位和蔼可亲的人。
• He was a warm-hearted friend and genial host.他是个热心的朋友，也是友善待客的主人。

6 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

7 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

8 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

9 Vogue   

n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的

参考例句：

• Flowery carpets became the vogue.花卉地毯变成了时髦货。
• Short hair came back into vogue about ten years ago.大约十年前短发又开始流行起来了。

10 ascertaining   

v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I was ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. 我当时是要弄清楚地下室是朝前还是朝后延伸的。 来自辞典例句
• The design and ascertaining of permanent-magnet-biased magnetic bearing parameter are detailed introduced. 并对永磁偏置磁悬浮轴承参数的设计和确定进行了详细介绍。 来自互联网

11 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

12 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。

13 bard   

n.吟游诗人

参考例句：

• I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神！
• I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。

14 bards   

n.诗人( bard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were feasts and drinking and singing by the bards. 他们欢宴狂饮，还有吟游诗人的歌唱作伴助兴。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• Round many western islands have I been Which Bards in fealty to Apollo hold. 还有多少西方的海岛，歌都已使它们向阿波罗臣服。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学

15 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

16 gaudy   

adj.华而不实的；俗丽的

参考例句：

• She was tricked out in gaudy dress.她穿得华丽而俗气。
• The gaudy butterfly is sure that the flowers owe thanks to him.浮华的蝴蝶却相信花是应该向它道谢的。

17 rattling   

adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词

参考例句：

• This book is a rattling good read. 这是一本非常好的读物。
• At that same instant,a deafening explosion set the windows rattling. 正在这时，一声震耳欲聋的爆炸突然袭来，把窗玻璃震得当当地响。

18 declamation   

n. 雄辩，高调

参考例句：

• Declamation is a traditional Chinese teaching method.诵读教学是我国传统的语文教学方法。
• Were you present at the declamation contest of Freshmen?大一的朗诵比赛你参加了没有？

19 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

20 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

21 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

22 divergences   

n.分叉( divergence的名词复数 )；分歧；背离；离题

参考例句：

• This overall figure conceals wide divergences between the main industrial countries. 这项综合数据掩盖了主要工业国家间的巨大分歧。 来自辞典例句
• Inform Production Planner of any divergences from production plan. 生产计划有任何差异通知生产计划员。 来自互联网

23 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

24 sagas   

n.萨迦（尤指古代挪威或冰岛讲述冒险经历和英雄业绩的长篇故事）( saga的名词复数 )；（讲述许多年间发生的事情的）长篇故事；一连串的事件（或经历）；一连串经历的讲述（或记述）

参考例句：

• Artwork depicted the historical sagas and biblical tales for the illiterate faithful. 墙上的插图为不识字的信徒描绘了历史传说和圣经故事。 来自互联网
• It will complete one of the most remarkable transfer sagas in English football. 到时候，英格兰史上最有名的转会传奇故事之一将落下帷幕。 来自互联网

25 fortified   

adj. 加强的

参考例句：

• He fortified himself against the cold with a hot drink. 他喝了一杯热饮御寒。
• The enemy drew back into a few fortified points. 敌人收缩到几个据点里。

26 tragical   

adj. 悲剧的, 悲剧性的

参考例句：

• One day she was pink and flawless; another pale and tragical. 有的时候，她就娇妍、完美；另有的时候，她就灰白戚楚。
• Even Mr. Clare began to feel tragical at the dairyman's desperation. 连克莱先生看到牛奶商这样无计奈何的样子，都觉得凄惨起来。

27 slaughters   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• These vast slaughters have since become notorious. 此后，这些大规模的屠杀，就变成了很不光彩的新闻。 来自辞典例句
• Remembered that despairs and hope that each other slaughters. 记得绝望和希望，彼此厮杀。 来自互联网

28 synchronise   

n.同步器；v.使同时发生；使同步

参考例句：

• As they fly, they synchronise their wing beats. 飞行时，它们翅膀的拍打是同步的。
• The apps will synchronise with your ipad and download the latest content automatically.这些程序会与你的ipad同步，并自动下载最新的内容。

29 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

30 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

31 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

32 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

33 bardic   

adj.吟游诗人的

参考例句：

• It encourages the would-be American poet to rely too exclusively on a rapt and bardic intuition. 它鼓励未来的美国诗人完全依靠发狂似的诗人的直觉。 来自辞典例句
• They began to write for record, to help and fix their bardic tradition. 他们开始为记事而书写，助长并固定了他们的诗歌传统。 来自辞典例句

34 embodied   

v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• a politician who embodied the hopes of black youth 代表黑人青年希望的政治家
• The heroic deeds of him embodied the glorious tradition of the troops. 他的英雄事迹体现了军队的光荣传统。 来自《简明英汉词典》

35 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

36 ravages   

劫掠后的残迹，破坏的结果，毁坏后的残迹

参考例句：

• the ravages of war 战争造成的灾难
• It is hard for anyone to escape from the ravages of time. 任何人都很难逃避时间的摧残。

37 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

38 computed   

adj.[医]计算的，使用计算机的v.计算，估算( compute的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He computed that the project would take seven years to complete. 他估计这项计划要花七年才能完成。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Resolving kernels and standard errors can also be computed for each block. 还可以计算每个块体的分辨核和标准误差。 来自辞典例句

39 fecundity   

n.生产力；丰富

参考例句：

• The probability of survival is the reciprocal of fecundity.生存的概率是生殖力的倒数。
• The boy's fecundity of imagination amazed his teacher.男孩想像力的丰富使教师感到惊异。

40 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

41 anterior   

adj.较早的；在前的

参考例句：

• We've already finished the work anterior to the schedule.我们已经提前完成了工作。
• The anterior part of a fish contains the head and gills.鱼的前部包括头和鳃。

42 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

43 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

44 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

45 alludes   

提及，暗指( allude的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In the vegetable kingdom Mr. Mivart only alludes to two cases. 在植物界中，密伐脱先生仅提出两点。
• Black-box testing alludes to test that are conducted at the software interface. 黑箱测试是指测试软件接口进行。

46 pertaining   

与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to)

参考例句：

• Living conditions are vastly different from those pertaining in their country of origin. 生活条件与他们祖国大不相同。
• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school. 视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。

47 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

48 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

49 mythological   

adj.神话的

参考例句：

• He is remembered for his historical and mythological works. 他以其带有历史感和神话色彩的作品而著称。
• But even so, the cumulative process had for most Americans a deep, almost mythological significance. 不过即使如此，移民渐增的过程，对于大部分美国人，还是意味深长的，几乎有不可思议的影响。