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68 THE VIKING PERIOD
attained the rank of ollamh was bound to know for recital
to kings and chieftains two hundred and fifty tales of prime
importance (prim-scela), and one hundred secondary ones. 1
The same source gives the names of one hundred and
eighty-seven of these tales, the majority of which have not
come down to us. These include stories from the three
great cycles of legend, viz., that relating to the gods ;
to
Cuchulain and the warriors of the Red Branch, and to Finn
and Fianna. A number of stories relating to the kings of
Ireland mentioned in this list have an historical basis ;
while there are others purporting to deal with kings as far
back as 1000 B.C., which are no doubt partly imaginary,
and were invented to arouse popular interest in the past
history of the country.
We know of several stories and poems about kings and
chieftains who played a prominent part in the wars against
the Vikings. The list in The Book of Leinster mentions
only one, The Love of Gormflaith for Niall (i.e., Niall
Glundubh (d. 919), a summary of which is contained in
the mediaeval English translation of The Annals of
Clonmacnois. In the case of The Victorious Career of
Cellachan of Cashel, it is difficult to say whether this was
originally an oral narrative committed to writing for the
first time in the fifteenth century, or whether it was copied
from an older manuscript, now lost. Brian Borumha and
his sons are the principal characters in The Leeching of
dan’s Leg, a tale preserved in a sixteenth century manu-
script.
2
It is interesting to note here the presence of a
1
O’Curry : Lectures on the MS. Materials of Irish History, pp. 243,
583-
2
Printed in Silva Gadelica (ed. Standish O’Grady), Vol. I., pp.
296-305.
Stones of Brian and his sons are still current in the Gaelic-speaking
districts of Ireland. (See Zeitschrift fur Celtische Philologie, Band I.,
pp. 477-492.) They are, however, more likely to be folk tales, in
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