Introduction

One of the most important and influential narratives composed in the Middle Irish period was Togail Troí (The Destruction of Troy), a vernacular expansion and elaboration of De excidio Troiae historia (History of the Destruction of Troy), an influential fifth-century Latin account of the Trojan war, purporting to be translated from the account of Dares Phrygius, who was allegedly an eye-witness to the events he described. Cast into Irish in the eleventh century or perhaps a little earlier, along with Scéla Alaxandair (The Alexander Saga), it constitutes the earliest strand of Irish adaptations of Classical secular history. This type of writing became increasingly popular in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, during which time the Troy tale was also reworked. A poetic version of it has been dated to the early twelfth century; a second, much-expanded prose recension is preserved in the Book of Leinster, which has been dated to the second half of that century. Such intensive literary activity concerning the narrative underlines the significance of the story of Troy for Irish authors of this time. Moreover, its inclusion in a substantial vernacular codex, the subject-matter of which is predominantly historical, indicates its importance in the construction of Ireland’s own past by the learned classes, as Michael Clarke, as well as Erich Poppe and Dagmar Schlüter have shown.

Not only its content but also the manner in which the story of Troy was related proved influential and deliberate echoes of Togail Troí are found in other Middle Irish texts. The lengthy battle-descriptions which are a feature of the vernacular versions (but not of Dares) informed elaborate accounts of combat in tales such as Cogadh Gáedhel re Gallaibh (The War of the Gaídil [Irish] against Gaill [Vikings]) and Cath Ruis na Ríg (The Battle of Ross na Ríg), as Uáitéar Mac Gearailt has suggested. In the case of a particular passage in one of these narratives, the Cogadh, Brent Miles has demonstrated clear dependency on the first recension of Togail Troí. The depiction of the premier Trojan hero, Hector son of Priam, also proved to be attractive to Irish authors. Accorded an enhanced role in the Middle Irish renderings of the Troy tale, Hector came to function as a heroic yardstick against whom Irish heroes were measured, as I have discussed elsewhere. As defender of his territory, he becomes a paradigmatic hero.