The Táin

Years ago I got stranded at the Cincinnati Airport. I spent some time in a small Food Court-ish area where travelers could wait for their flights. On one side of the Food Court was a Starbucks, on the other side, a Seattle’s Best Coffee. I remember thinking how funny it was for two coffee companies to be competing for customers in such close proximity. I imagined the owners grimacing at each other, mumbling, “It’s on!” fiercely under their breaths.

I had a similar reaction the first time I read a translation of the The Táin.

The Táin (pronounced tawn and short for Táin Bó Cíailnge), is one of the most important legends in Irish mythology. At the beginning of this epic tale, King Aillil and Queen Medb of the province Connacht compare their fortunes. Each insists that they are wealthier than the other. All comes to a head when Aillil reveals that he possesses the great white bull Finnbhennach. Medb has no bull in any of her herds that can match Finnbhennach’s virility, and she becomes determined to search all of Ireland to find a stronger bull. Eventually one of her servants locates the powerful Donn Culaigne of the province Ulster, an enormous brown bull capable of competing against Aillil’s white bull. The Queen tries negotiating with Donn Culaigne’s owner for possession of the bull to no avail. Thus she amasses her armies and declares war against Ulster. The great brown cow will be hers!

“It’s on!”

The epic continues and supernatural deities, heroic warriors, and magical spells come into play before the resolution. The tale is gory, bloody, and savage.

The Táin seemed ridiculous the first time I read it. How could an entire nation possibly go to war over a cow? However, in Ireland, livestock are everywhere. I admit that I am smitten with the Irish cows. They are much hardier than those I see driving cross-country in America. I stare at the cows here, and imagine the absurdity of a nation going to war over one of these animals. However, in ancient Ireland, cows and other livestock equaled wealth. Men and women that had the greatest amount of livestock were the richest and, thus, the most powerful and respected.

Is it such a stretch to ask how a nation could go to war over a cow when nations today go to war over petroleum? Have the values of the culture in which The Táin was conceived really changed? Are we still fighting for bulls, or are nations just fighting for a different kind of cow?