St. Patrick’s Day has come and gone, but that’s no reason to stop celebrating the heritage of the Irish. The folk stories of Gaelic heroes are a rich source of imaginative literature for children and adults alike. The greatest of these heroes is the legendary Finn MacCool.
While Finn is the subject of many legends, some of his tales best exemplify the four qualities of Gaelic folktales: They are strange, inspiring, funny, and profound.
Fionn MacCool (mac Cumhaill) meets his father’s old companions in the forests of Connacht. Illustration by Stephen Reid. (Public Domain)
The Strangeness of Wonder
To talk about strangeness as a reason for reading and listening to Irish legends might seem strange; we can all think of a lot of strange things we would not want to expose ourselves and especially our children to. But there is a different kind of strange: that of realizing the limitations of our own point of view and experience, of realizing that there are beautiful and interesting things we have yet to learn in this immense world. It is the strangeness of wonder….