490 
has been chiefly attracted to the tales by their literary 
merits, and has sought with no little success to make 
these the prominent feature in her renderings. This at 
times involves the omission of details that are not without 
interest, but, after all, there is enough left to give a fair 
impression of what can be learned from the old literature 
of Ireland. This mass of legend, for the most part 
taking its final form about the twelfth century, but 
demonstrably far older in origin, is, in fact, a perfect 
mine of primitive custom and belief, and as such is full 
of interest for the anthropologist. Where the ordinary 
reader will only see something fanciful or unintelligible, 
the specialist will often discern an interesting survival or 
a striking parallel, even if it is hard at times to draw the 
line between Irish tradition and Irish imagination. 
The peculiar character of these tales is due to a double 
tendency in Irish literature. On the one hand there is 
an exuberant imagination which recklessly transcends all 
limits of time and space ; on the other there is a love of 
minute detail which constantly brings in the smallest 
features of everyday life and work. To the latter ten- 
dency we owe the minute descriptions of the appearance 
and dress of the heroes, of their horses and chariots, 
their arms and modes of fighting, their palaces and forts, 
and soon. It is akind of Homeric life and culture that 
meets us here, yet with a greater admixture of primitive 
types, civilisation and barbarism being strangely inter- 
mingled. Nor does the Homeric Olympus lack its 
counterpart, for behind the real world of mortal heroes 
lies the realm of the Sidhe and the Tuatha De Danann, 
constantly reminiscent of the old Celtic mythology which 
Christianity has displaced. With a real and an imaginary 
world to move between, there is nothing that the Irish 
story teller will not dare to say ; nothing is either too mean 
or too marvellous for him. Man and animal are inter- 
changeable beings. Cuchulain himself is a reincarna- 
tion of Lugh (one of the old gods), who takes the shape 
of an insect and is swallowed by the sister of Conchubar. 
Curéi makes his fort whirl round like a millstone all 
night, so that no one can enter it after sunset. The 
bridge in Scotland which Cuchulain has to cross can 
alter its own shape and size at pleasure. Conchubar’s 
shield moans when he is in danger, “and all the shields 
of Ulster would moan in answer to it.” Wells and 
streams have a faculty of bursting out and overflowing 
whole tracts of country, and it is out of two lakes that 
Cuchulain gets his famous pair of horses, the Grey and 
the Black. Charms and spells are as potent as in Africa, 
and satire may be so deadly as to kill its victim. Fingan 
the physician “ could tell what a person’s sickness was by 
looking at the smoke of the house he was in.” It is 
three champions of the Sidhe who have to be killed three 
times before they are done with ; but even mortal heroes 
have an almost feline tenacity of life. Itis well for them 
that this is so, for their chief happiness consists in 
fighting ; in cases of single combat the chariot-driver 
usually looks on and encourages his master, or goads 
him on to do his best by means of bitter taunts. Feats 
of strength and skill are naturally common, but some of 
those mentioned are not easy to understand. Still 
stranger are the distortions of Cuchulain when in a rage, 
for which Lady Gregory has substituted the very euphem- 
istic statement that he assumed the appearance of a god ; 
NO. 1716, VOL. 66] 
NATURE 
[SEPTEMBER 18, 1902 
the direct opposite would not overstate the case. Con- 
tention and jealousy are rampant among the heroes, and 
each unblushingly sounds his own praises and states his 
claims to the ““Champion’s Portion,” which after all is 
only a certain quantity of food and drink. Yet the spirit 
of chivalry is not wanting, and an adventurous quest is 
greatly to their minds. But while they are ready to face 
most dangers without shrinking, the power of geasa or 
taboo lies heavy on them. Before Conaire meets his 
death, he has succeeded in doing everything which he 
ought not to have done. Historically these geasa are 
known from the ‘“ Book of Rights,” and form a curious 
study. Of great interest, too, is the periodic weakness 
of the men of Ulster, which has been the subject of much 
discussion among scholars. 
As to the central figures in the cycle, Conchubar and 
Cuchulain, many difficult problems present themselves. 
It is possible that they take the place of older mytho- 
logical personages, especially as Conchubar is actually 
called a god in one text and Cuchulain is the representa- 
tive of Lugh. Those who are interested in this feature 
of early Irish literature may be referred to Prof. Rhys’s 
Hibbert lectures, where the solar explanation of Celtic 
myths receives full consideration, and to Mr. Nutt’s 
study of the “Celtic Doctrine of Rebirth” in “The 
Voyage of Bran.” It is precisely because these Irish 
tales can provide materials for serious works of this kind 
that their perusal will be found, not only interesting, but 
profitable ; and this new version of the Cuchulain cycle 
may do good service in spreading a knowledge of Celtic 
legend outside the small circle of scholars who have 
made it a subject of special study. 
OUR BOOK SHELF. 
Flora Arctica. Parti. By’C. H. Ostenfeld. Pp. xi + 
136. (Copenhagen: Det Nordiske Forlag, 1902.) 
THE records of plants collected in the Arctic regions 
are for the most part scattered through numerous 
papers and written in various languages. At the request 
of Prof. Warming, Mr. O. Gelert in 1698 undertook to 
work up, revise and combine the accumulated data, 
basing his investigations on the collections belonging to 
the Copenhagen Museum. The work promised to be 
so extensive that he requested Mr. C. H. Ostenfeld to 
cooperate with him. This cooperation was cut short 
in 1899 by Mr. Gelert’s premature death, and since that 
time Mr. Ostenfeld has continued the work alone. 
The limits of the Arctic territory as here interpreted 
coincide fairly nearly with the limits of the wood- 
boundary. This has its anomalies, for, as shown by the 
map provided, all Greenland is included almost to the 6oth 
parallel, while Iceland in longitude 65° N. and Norway 
which extends higher than the 7oth parallel are excluded. 
This the first volume contains the Pteridophyta, Gymno- 
sperma: and Monocotyledons. The Pteridophytes are 
very few in number, the large group of Filices being 
limited to ten species. The Gymnosperms included are 
but three, this being the result of the boundary adopted. 
Amongst the Monocotyledons the most extensive orders 
are the Graminez, with twenty-four genera and sixty-one 
species, and the Cyperacez, including six genera, of which 
Carex, the most important, is subdivided into fifty-four 
species. In dealing with this genus the author has had 
the benefit of Mr. C. B. Clarke’s valuable assistance. 
The Graminez were undertaken by Mr. Gelert, and the 
arrangement given is that left by him. The larger 
proportion of the illustrations refer to the Carices ; 
