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Over Nine Waves: A Book of Irish Legends | 
 enlarge | Creator: Marie Heaney
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy New: $7.44
You Save: $5.51 (43%)
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Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 49879
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5 x 0.8
ISBN: 057117518X
Dewey Decimal Number: 398
EAN: 9780571175185
ASIN: 057117518X
Publication Date: July 13, 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 4 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Few left in stock - order soon. Code: V20090105044840S
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Product Description
Journalist Marie Heaney skillfully revives the glory of ancient Irish storytelling in this comprehensive volume from the great pre-Christian sequences to the more recent tales of the three patron saints Patrick, Brigid, and Colmcille.
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Great Place to Start March 7, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This was not one of the typical translations that one reads of the Irish Myth but I still enjoyed it. In this book Heaney worked from existing English translations and put them into a an "easier" style that is more modern and flows smoother than some of the direct translations that are available. Having read several of the other translations for the same stories I have to say she did a very good job. The language is a little elementary, I get the sense that she was writing this in hopes of the tales to be used by mid or high schooled age students, but for the most part is very loyal to the original translations. Frankly this would be better suited to someone as an introduction to the myths to be followed up later by more aggressive reads like Of Gods and Fighting Men or the more modern, scholarly translations.
Heaney in Over Nine Waves included stories from 3 of the 4 mythological cycles of Ireland. Oddly she leaves of the Historical Cycle tales and replaces them with stories of the Three Saints of Ireland (Patrick, Brigid, and Columcille) while an interesting read they also seem a little jarring next the earlier texts which are faithful in highlighting the pre-Christian deity even calling them Gods and Goddesses. I have no way of knowing but I must assume this has more to do with the religious tradition of the author than any kind of desire to reunite the Mythological, Ulster, and Finnian Cycles with the stories of the Saints (of which only the story of Oisin's return would make any sense and he does not convert anyway).
Over all I enjoyed the read and although almost all of the poetry is left out of this text so are some of the more tedious medieval structure of other translations. For someone new to Irish Myths this would be a great place to start.
 A fascinating read! October 17, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was required reading for an Irish mythology class I took a few years ago while studying in Ireland. This book is very easy to read which makes it easy to know the characters and sympathize with them, even for someone new to this subject. For instance, I nearly cried after reading 'The Children of Lir.' A perfect book to read on a rainy afternoon - with a pint of Guiness!
GREAT! July 21, 1999
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
After traveling throught out Ireland every year for the past six I have seen many books on Celtic Myths. By far Heaney's is the best. It is very helpful in the fact that there is a pronunciation key included. A great book just for fun, but also a good learning tool that adds another dimention to a very complex land.
Best introduction to Irish myth and legend April 15, 1998
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
Over nine waves is a modern (and fresh) rendering of the classic Irish myths. I loved this retelling just as I love the tales themselves. After reading so many 'straight' translations to was very refreshing to read these free renderings by a modern story teller. This is an excellent introduction for anyone not familiar with Irish legend who would like to get an overview. This is Not a 'things go bump in the night' series of ghost stories (though those have their own attractions) but a full blooded account of the legendary heroes of old Ireland (Hercules and Xena eat your hearts out) Prepare to be beguiled by a storyteller of delicacy and magnificence.
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