The Hound of Ulster

Prolific English children's author Rosemary Sutcliff, perhaps best known for her novels set in Roman Britain, here retells the life story of Cú Chulainn, one the greatest figures of Irish myth and folklore. The son of Dectera (Deichtire), here a half fairy woman, the boy Setanta is sent to be raised by his kinsman, Conor Mac Nessa, and gains his true name - Cú Chulainn, the "Hound of Cullan" - through an act of boyhood bravery, in which he slays a fearsome dog. The narrative follows him through his wooing of Emer, his youthful training with the woman warrior Skatha (Scáthach), and his many battles and heroic deeds. The book climaxes with the great war between Ulster and Connacht, in which Cú Chulainn, the champion of Ulster, kills show more his own son, Connla, before realizing who he is. The story concludes with the death of the hero, at the hands of the three Witch Daughters of Calatin...

Although quite familiar with the character of Cú Chulainn, who is the hero of the ancient Irish epic, The Táin Bó Cúailnge ("The Cattle Raid of Cooley"), which has been described as the Irish Iliad, and which chronicles the events of the ancient war between Connacht and Ulster, I had never read anything that took all of the stories about him and tied them together into one narrative of his life. I was therefore pleased when Sutcliff's The Hound of Ulster was assigned as a text in the course I took on the history of children's literature, while getting my masters, particularly as I had already read and greatly enjoyed her historical novel, The Eagle of the Ninth. I found this telling immensely engaging, and was interested to see Sutcliff's take on this famous tale. I do wish that she had discussed her specific sources, in her too-brief foreword, but leaving aside that criticism, this is one I would highly recommend, to any middle-grade reader (or older reader of middle-grade books) who enjoys fantasy and/or mythology. show less

I believe I had probably read this book before, when I was very young. However, it's possible that I'd read a different re-telling of these stories.
"The Hound of Ulster" is Cuchulain, the legendary Irish hero, who, when his battle rage was upon him, was undefeatable.
It collects the different tales of Cuchulain, and strings them together into a narrative, much like Howard Pyle's tales of King Arthur.
The language is quite traditional, without using the technique of fleshing out the stories with many completely original details, as is more the mode today. What's here is pretty much just what's in the original tales, but told in an easy-to-follow, enjoyable way.

However, in Sutcliff's introduction, she mentions how one can tell a lot about a show more people and culture from the tales that they tell... and, reading these, I couldn't help but be reminded (again) of Ursula K. LeGuin's "Gifts," and how she showed in that book how small and petty conflicts and rivalries could be magnified to an importance all out of proportion in an isolated, primitive culture. Here, a good deal of Cuchulain's "heroic" exploits have to do with no more than stealing a neighbor's cattle! It's interesting to read these stories in contrast to so much of the extremely 'elevated' fantasy inspired by Celtic myth.
The book also shows, however, some of the interesting aspects of the culture - how a Queen could sometimes be more powerful than her husband, how bearing a child out of wedlock did not have shame attached, and acceptance of infidelity in marriage - things that are there in the original stories, but surprising, I thought, for a book published in 1963 and marketed to an audience including young people. show less