Heroic Romances of Ireland, Translated into English Prose and Verse — Volume 2

A scholarly translation volume presents five prelude tales to the central Táin, offering poetic renderings paired with literal prose translations, introductions, manuscript notes, and an Irish-text appendix. The narratives centre on cattle raids, rivalries and courtship among legendary heroes and queens, voyages to foreign lands, and repeated interventions by supernatural figures and magical objects, alternating ornate descriptive passages with brisk ballad-like episodes. Editorial material traces manuscript authority, linguistic choices, and variant readings, and frames each tale with brief introductions that clarify its form, probable date-range, and relationship to the greater heroic cycle.