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This module will focus on the medieval Irish saga literature known as fíanaigecht, that is, literature concerned with Finn mac Cumaill and his fían (‘warband’). Significant tales from the so-called ‘Fenian Cycle’, ranging from ‘Finn and the Man in the Tree’ to Acallam na Senórach (‘The Colloquy of the Ancients’) will be studied in detail, and various literary, moral and political interpretations of the tales will be explored. The circumstances of composition of the literature, and its striking interest in aspects of geography and cultural memory, will be discussed in detail. The modern reception and reworking of ‘Finn Cycle’ literature will also be explored.
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