A German translation of the Leinster text of the _Tain Bo Cuailnge_
will soon be accessible to all in Dr. Windisch's promised edition
of the text. It is therefore unnecessary to compare the two
versions in detail. Some of the main differences may be pointed
out, however.
Of our three copies none is the direct ancestor of any other. LU
and YBL are from a common source, though the latter MS. is from an
older copy; LL is independent. The two types differ entirely in aim
and method. The writers of LU and YBL aimed at accuracy; the
Leinster man, at presenting an intelligible version. Hence, where
the two former reproduce obscurities and corruptions, the latter
omits, paraphrases, or expands. The unfortunate result is that LL
rarely, if ever, helps to clear up textual obscurities in the older
copy.
On the other hand, it offers explanations of certain episodes not
clearly stated in LU. Thus, for example, where LU, in the story of
the sons of Nechta Scene, simply mentions 'the withe that was on
the pillar,' LL explains that the withe had been placed there by
the sons of Nechta Scene (as Cuchulainn placed a similar with in
the path of the Connaught host), with an ogam inscription
forbidding any to pass without combat; hence its removal was an
insult and a breach of _geis_. Again, the various embassies to
Cuchulainn, and the terms made with him (that he should not harass
the host if he were supplied daily with food, and with a champion
to meet him in single combat), are more clearly described in LL.
Some of the episodes given in LU are not told in the Leinster
version. Of the boyish deeds of Cuchulainn, LL tells only three:
his first appearance at Emain (told by Fergus), Culann's feast (by
Cormac), and the feats following Cuchulainn's taking of arms (by
Fiacha). In the main narrative, the chief episodes omitted in LL
are the fight with Fraech, the Fergus and Medb episode, and the
meeting of Findabair and Cuchulainn. The meeting with the Morrigan
is missing, owing to the loss of a leaf. Other episodes are
differently placed in LL: e.g. the Rochad story (an entirely
different account), the fight of Amairgen and Curoi with stones,
and the warning to Conchobar, all follow the fight with Fer Diad.
A peculiarity of the LU-YBL version is the number of passages which
it has in common with the _Dinnsenchas_, an eleventh-century
compilation of place-legends. The existing collections of
_Dinnsenchas_ contain over fifty entries derived from the _Tain_
cycle, some corresponding with, others differing from those in LU.
This version has also embodied a considerable number of glosses in
the text. As many of these are common to LU and YBL, they must go
back to the common original, which must therefore have been a
harmony of previously existing versions, since many of these
passages give variants of incidents.