Over Nine Waves

Product Description 'These legends are the action-packed stories - of ancient heroes, huge battles, attempted invasions, prophecies and spells, clashes between the underworld and the real world, abductions, love affairs and feasts - which have fascinated the Irish mind for more than 2,000 years . . . Most of them have an extraordinary, stark narrative sweep, with a marvellous sense of detail . . . Heaney writes directly and fluently . . . with great tact and skill.' Sunday Times Review "Essential background for every reader of Irish literature." --Library Journal From the Back Cover In her colloquial retelling of these stories, Marie Heaney conveys the full dramatic and poetic power of one of Europe's oldest narrative traditions. The most important tales from the three major pre-Christian sequences - the Mythological Cycle, the Ulster Cycle and the Finn Cycle - are followed by lives of the saints Patrick, Brigid and Columcille, and the result is a uniquely accessible compendium. Encompassing both extremes of violence and the most sublime and tender imaginative fancy, the world of Over Nine Waves is one in which the present-day reader will have no difficulty finding his or her bearings. Marie Heaney is the ideal guide, demonstrating with authority what may still be too little known, that the ancient Irish legends are comparable in their force and profundity to any in the world. About the Author Marie Heaney was born in County Tyrone and began her teaching career in schools in Northern Ireland. She and her family moved to Dublin in 1972 where she still lives. As well as Over Nine Waves she has also written The Names Upon the Harp, a book of Irish legends for children (Faber, 2000, illustrated by P. J. Lynch) and as an editor with Townhouse Publishing in Dublin has produced several anthologies, including Heart Mysteries, a personal selection of Irish poetry. Marie Heaney has also contributed to newspapers and journals and has written for radio and television.