What are the overall main themes in The Tàin (give examples)? Was there any part that confused you or left you questioning throughout the last sections of the book?
Medieval Feminism
ENGL 361 and WGST 322 | Spring 2020 | Dr. Myra Seaman
What are the overall main themes in The Tàin (give examples)? Was there any part that confused you or left you questioning throughout the last sections of the book?
Obviously, a main theme in “The Tain” is war and battle. One thing that confused me, though, especially in more action-centered scenes, was the amount of detail dedicated to mentioning the specific names of people killed (despite them not being main characters) as can be seen of pages 139 and 140, and 155 and 156. The author does the same thing when a character is preparing for battle, mentioning everything they do like with preparing the chariot on page 148. I somewhat understand mentioning how many people Cuchulainn kills because it tells the reader how fierce he is in battle, but why not just say the number of people killed? I assume this writing style is just the norm for the time, but I was unsure if it has any significance.
One of the biggest themes that is constant throughout the entirety of this epic is death and war. This whole epic is based off of the concept of two warring states fighting. One part of the epic that confused me was what exactly they were fighting over. I thought for a while that they were fighting over a bull, but then the more I thought about it the more illogical that seemed to me. But then again if the point of this epic is to bring light to just how silly it is for people to cause death and war in order to restore their honor and keep their name clear, then this epic does a great job of doing that. Overall, in every section of this epic there is someone dying in nearly every paragraph. A second theme that is constant in almost every section of this epic is childbirth. There are so many instances where there is a moment of a child being born, and then this child later on in the epic re-appears as this fierce warrior who brings bloodshed, but honor, to his region. Those were the two major themes that were displayed all throughout the entirety of the novel, and they were also recurring and constant in all sections of the epic.
To me, one of the most recurring features of the epic is women’s bodies being used as sexual objects and also masculinity being linked to war and carnage. Women throughout this narrative often are displayed as objects of reproduction, or sexual tools. This can be seen when Cuchulainn is surrounded by naked women that will give him sexual pleasure in order to prevent further attack. The linkage between masculinity and war is also a trend due to the constant portrayal of men seeking battle. However, there are also other women in this tale, such as Madb, who have skills in hand-to-hand combat. This shows that physical strength is a sign of respect, but often the women who possess battle skills do not use them unless necessary.
Something that has confused me during the tale is why are they fighting so much? Are they fighting over the bull? Is it that simple or is it deeper than that?
It’s very clear that the main theme of the Tain is war. The epic is shrouded in battles and killings. The ability to fight and kill is something to be proud of and respected for here. Cuchulainn is often called “the high hero” and he kills at least one new victim almost every paragraph within the last section of the book. The one time in the entire epic that he doesn’t kill his victim, the event is told in intense detail describing how he wrung Larane’s body so hard he could never “empty his bowels” or eat painlessly ever again (132). On that note, there is also a theme of magic or otherworldliness in many of the events. The effects of “the first warp-spasm” on Cuchulainn on page 150 is bizarre and superhuman.
There are many redundant lists of names of victims and unnecessary explanations of how the landmark these victims were killed at is now named after them. I was confused why so much of the story was taken up by this recurring trend, often the moment these characters died was the first instance we heard about them in the first place. Keeping up with so many names has obviously been a struggle for most of us reading and these moments in the epic make it even more jumbled for me.
One of the most prevalent themes in the tain is the attachments made to men and women. Men are heavily related to war, crimes, and pettiness. This theme can be seen in many of the stories, particularly in ways that parallel each other. For example beheading people becomes a common occurrence, especially in ways that seem emotionless. A few beheadings occur with the simple throw of a rock- this disconnects the men from their crimes. A recurring theme for women is bearing children, and raising children as there own. One of the women was forced to birth the same child three times, and raise one that was not her own. Many of the women who were primarily side characters were described as pregnant at some point in the story. The women were also heavily objectified unless they were in positions of power. Medb seemed to be rarely sexualized, and the lady who took over the house seemed to not have sexuality attached to her. The women who weren’t in positions of power seemed to only be referred to in sexual ways. I think this story also emphasized the irrationality of many of the wars that people get involved in.
Since war has already been stated and while I agree that is definitely the main theme, I think dominance is also a pretty relevant theme throughout the epic, particularly the battle for dominance. The battle between Cuchulainn and the men of the other army when he “slew a hundred of the men on each of the three nights” (114), the spar between Ailill and Medb over who is more wealthy (52), and then the battle between the two bulls at the end (251) all show a struggle for dominance. Something that confused me in the last pages of the reading were why exactly there ended up being a last battle between the two lands? The whole epic seemed to focused on Cuchulainn so once he was injured I figured the fighting would end but then the soliders curse was lifted and they could fight resulting an in all out war. The soldiers seemed to kind of be in the background throughout the whole war, making me assume that the fight was between Cuchulainn and the King and Queen but his injury ends up being anticlimactic because there is a huge last battle after his.
War is the main theme in The Tain. It is an epic poem in the same vain as the Iliad and Odyssey. Violence is very loud and at the forefront of The Tain, epic battles happen throughout the novel. Men battles in The Tain in order to gain honor from their tribe or family. It goes back to Manne idea of misogyny, violence is way to oppress women. Violence is the very sword that Cuchulainn welds, metaphorically, over women.
I think one of the main themes of The Tain is honor. This theme, though, goes hand in hand with something in the text that confused me, yet I can understand why it was done perhaps. There are copious times throughout the text where locations are gives names based on many different factors whether it be from a death that happened in that particular spot (“the place of the throw,” 130) or one of the main characters reaching an unconquered location (“Medb’s Hill,” 127). I think this emphasis on giving many names to locations is a sign of honor amongst the warriors of The Tain. Regardless of who the person is, they deserve to be honored in death for their bravery and sacrifice.
One of the main themes in the Tain is that of war and the battle to prove your masculinity. Almost every story contains some sort of fight or battle to gain power, honor or for men to prove their strength. The men in the stories see the ability to win fights as something to work for and to be proud of. It’s the way they gain power and everything that comes with it, including women and material possessions.
You could say some main themes involved in The Tàin were the constant struggle of war and violence. You can see this when the battle between Cuchulainn and the army men took place. A significant reason for all the war and violence was the fight for dominance between all the men.
I don’t think there was anything too confusing about the last sections of the book, once I understood the names better it made it easier to dive into the last sections of the book.
The most prevalent themes in The Tain are war and sexuality. War is obviously the basis of the entire story. While I do not think that sexuality and focus on women using their bodies to their advantage was probably an intended important theme, it is used heavily throughout The Tain. Definitely the most confusing part of The Tain was all the names at the beginning and keeping them straight. Connecting the stories at the beginning to the actual Tain took some time at first as well but after getting it all clear, I did not think it was too bad.
Some of the main themes in The Táin are violence, honor, and women. We see violence consistently throughout the war that takes place in this story, with every beheading or when Cuchulainn murders his own son. Violence follows honor, the men take honor in killing and feel it, and their courage, strength, and brutality, are what makes them men. But violence also follows no honor, like when it’s revealed that Medb had plans to steal the bull, which shows a lack of honor. A war is started and more violence ensues. Women are seen commonly throughout, and apart from Medb and her role opposing the submissive standard of most women, the other women seen through the text are used as possessions, there for the male gaze and not around for their own merit. Their purpose in the piece is to appease the men, they aren’t viewed as their own beings.