Description
Book SynopsisIn A Raven’s Battle-cry Charlene M. Eska presents a critical edition and translation of the previously unpublished medieval Irish legal tract Anfuigell. Although the Old Irish text itself is fragmentary, the copious accompanying commentaries provide a wealth of legal, historical, and linguistic information not found elsewhere in the medieval Irish legal corpus. Anfuigell contains a wide range of topics relating to the role of the judge in deciding difficult cases, including kingship, raiding, poets, shipwreck, marriage, fosterage, divorce, and contracts relating to land and livestock.
Trade Review"Ireland possesses the largest body of early medieval vernacular legal texts from anywhere in Europe. The study of this material, including both the legal system itself and the culture and society it illuminates, is still hampered by the absence of critical editions of so many of the extant texts. Charlene Eska is one of the small number of scholars currently working in this highly complex field, and this, her latest edition and translation, is another highly valuable contribution". [...] ''A raven’s battle-cryis a carefully researched and well-written book, a welcome addition to the list of modern editions and translations of Old Irish laws. Eska has made available, for the first time, a text that will be of interest to linguists and historians for years to come. She has also illuminated many of the opaque passages and the legal culture that they document''. Patrcik Wadden, in North American Journal of Celtic Studies 4 (1), Spring 2020.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Abbreviations Plates Introduction Summary of the Text Manuscript Sources Concordances Editorial Method Notes on Dating and Orthography Anfuigell: Text, Variants, Commentary, and Translation Appendix 1: Text and commentary from source C Appendix 2: Commentary from § 32 source T Appendix 3: Commentary from § 51 source T Appendix 4: List of variant MS readings against CIH Appendix 5: Regarding Aidbred ‘Claiming’ Appendix 6: O’Davoren’s Glossay no. 862(3) and CIH 1452.11–24 Glossary Bibliography Index
