Myths of the Cycle of the Kings
The Cycle of the Kings covers the long middle period of Irish tradition — the centuries between the mythological age and the coming of Christianity. Its stories are set in a world of real Irish dynasties and historical High Kings, but they reach constantly into the supernatural. The otherworld presses against the human world at every turn.
These are also the most varied stories in Irish tradition — ranging from intimate tragedies of jealousy and betrayal to sweeping historical battles, from love stories to prophetic visions. Several of them are among the finest texts in early medieval Irish literature.
The stories here are drawn from the manuscripts that preserve the Cycle of the Kings tradition, primarily the Book of the Dun Cow, the Book of Leinster, and the Yellow Book of Lecan.
Cycle of the Kings Myths
Cormac’s Adventure in the Otherworld
The king who walked into a fairy fort and came back with the cup of truth Echtra Cormaic — the Adventure of Cormac in the Land of Promise — is one of the most beautiful Otherworld tales in the entire Irish tradition. Cormac mac Airt — the wisest king in Ireland, son of Art, raised […]
The Adventure of Art
A banishment, a monster-filled quest, and the woman at the end of it The Adventure of Art mac Cuinn follows the son of Conn of the Hundred Battles into one of the most extraordinary Otherworld quests in the Cycle of Kings. Art — later to become Art mac Cuinn, one of the most celebrated kings […]
The Adventure of Connla
The fairy woman who came for a prince — and the father who couldn’t stop her The Adventure of Connla is one of the oldest and most delicate stories in the Cycle of Kings — a brief, perfect tale about a fairy woman who comes to the court of Conn of the Hundred Battles and […]
The Adventure of Lóegaire
Two kings of Ulster follow a fairy army into the Otherworld The Adventure of Lóegaire is one of the echtrai — the adventure tales — of the Cycle of Kings: a story in which a mortal king crosses into the Otherworld and has to decide whether to return. It features Lóegaire mac Crimthann, king of […]
The Battle of Mag Mucrama
The reign that went wrong, and the war that followed The Battle of Mag Mucrama is one of the great political tragedies of the Cycle of Kings — a story about legitimate rule, illegitimate usurpation, and the long consequences of a wrong done to a king. It centres on the conflict between Art mac Cuinn […]
The Destruction of Da Choca’s Hostel
Another king, another hostel, another night of destruction The Destruction of Da Choca’s Hostel is the second great togail — destruction tale — of the Cycle of Kings, paralleling the more famous Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel in its structure. Like Conaire Mór before him, the king at the centre of this story is a […]
The Feast of Fort Geeso
A feast, a quarrel, and the battle that followed Fled Dúin na nGéd — the Feast of the Fort of the Geese — is one of the Cycle of Kings’ battle tales, built around the politics and tensions of the early historical Irish kingship and the way a feast could escalate into a war. It […]
The Wooing of Becfhola
The queen who went riding and came home with more than she bargained for The Wooing of Becfhola is a compact and unusual tale — part love story, part Otherworld adventure, part comedy of manners. It features Becfhola, wife of the High King Diarmait mac Aedo Sláine, who goes riding on a Sunday against her […]