Some of the sources include "Gilgamesh (Mesopotamia-Sumerian)," Homer (Greek)," "Aesop's Fables (ancient Greek)," "Poetic Edda (Iceland-Norse mythology)," "Beowulf (England)," "The
Fenian Cycle (Ireland)," "One Thousand and One Nights (Persia)," "The Mahabhrata (India)," "Yuch-fu Poems (China)," "The Water Monster and the Water Lily (Australian/Aboriginal)," "The Pyramid Texts (Egyptian)," "The Popol Vuh (MesoAmerican)," and more.
The
Fenian Cycle stories relate to Finn MacCumhail and the Fenian army.
The oldest stories can be divided into three basic categories: a mythological cycle of voyages, invasions, and pre-Celtic divinities; the Ulster cycle, recounting the exploits of the Red Branch warriors; and the
Fenian cycle, which relates tales of Fionn MacCumhaill and the Fianna warriors.
It concludes with a series of heroic tales and ballads from both the Ulster cycle and
Fenian cycle of Irish legend, and it also contains miscellaneous poems by 44 Scottish and 21 Irish authors.
(also known as Finn mac Cumhail and Finn MacCool) Legendary Irish hero, hero of the
Fenian cycle, and leader of the Fenians, a band of warriors.
In Gaelic literature, the preeminent tale of the
Fenian cycle of heroic tales.
The major groupings of these hero sagas are three: the mythological cycle, the Ulster cycle, and the
Fenian cycle. The mythological cycle relates various traditions about the early settlement and conquest of Ireland.
The
Fenian cycle remains a vital part of Irish folklore and contains many of the best-loved folktales of the country.
Ossian or OisinThe Irish warrior-poet of the
Fenian cycle of hero tales about Finn and his war band, the Fianna Eireann.
They are named for Oisin (Ossian), the chief bard of the
Fenian cycle, a collection of tales and verses on the same subject.
In modern times these tales have been grouped into cycles compromising (1) the mythological cycle, dealing with immortal beings; (2) the Ulster (Ulaid) cycle, dealing with the Ulster heroes during the reign of the semihistorical King Conor (Conchobar mac Nessa) in the 1st century BC; and (3) the
Fenian cycle, dealing mainly with the deeds of Finn MacCumhaill's war band during the reign of Cormac mac Art in the 3rd century AD.
