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''The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig'' (Old Irish: ''Scéla Muicce Meicc Da Thó'') is a legendary tale from early Irish literature, written primarily in prose and heroic saga form and placed within the Ulster Cycle. The story's composition in its present form can probably be attributed to an unknown author of Leinster c. AD 800, and survives in at least six manuscripts, written between the 12th and 18th centuries. The three most important of these primary sources are held in Trinity College, Dublin and the British Library. The story tells of a dispute between the Connachta, led by Ailill and Medb, and the Ulaid, led by Conchobar mac Nessa, over the acquisition of the hound of Leinster, Ailbe. The dispute is ultimately resolved through the plan of the king of Leinster, Mac Da Thó, to hold a feast at his hostel, at which a fight breaks out over the assignment of the ''curadmír'' or champion's portion. The story deals with the themes of provincial rivalry between Ulster and Connacht, communal feasting and the heroic contest over the ''curadmír'', and includes elements which show parallels with older Gaulish and pan-Celtic traditions. Although apparently the quintessential Ulster Cycle story in many respects, the tale's composition also displays a sophisticated satiric quality as a parody of the genre. The story was apparently popular in the Middle Ages and later times, and became the subject of a number of independent poems. The central figure of the pig has parallels with the great boars of Welsh-language literature and the Matter of Britain, particularly Twrch Trwyth in the 11th-century Welsh story of ''Culhwch and Olwen''. ==Sources and composition== ''The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig'' survives in at least six manuscripts.〔Chadwick, p 81〕 The earliest and best form of the story is preserved in three texts: the Book of Leinster, in the paper leaves of H.3.18 in Trinity College, Dublin, and in the Harley 5280 manuscript in the British Library (formerly the British Museum).〔〔Thurneysen, p i〕 The earliest of these is the Book of Leinster, written c. AD 1160; the Harley 5280 manuscript was written in the first half of the 16th century, whereas H.3.18 was written c. 1700.〔Thurneysen, pp. i–ii〕 In two of these manuscripts, H.3.18 and Harley 5280, the story is called ''Scēla muici M''(''ei'')''c Dathó'', "Tidings of the pig of MacDathó".〔 In the Book of Leinster, the story is similarly entitled ''Incipit Scēl Mucci M''(''ei'')''c Dathó''.〔 These texts are independent of each other, but are believed to be derived from a common source.〔 Linguistically, this source is believed to be a lost 10th- or 11th-century transcript of a previous version dating to c. 800.〔〔Thurneysen, p iv〕 The scene of the story, and its familiarity with the area of modern County Kildare, suggests a Leinster authorship; though it appears that the south-west of Ireland was also not unknown to the author.〔〔Thurneysen, p v〕 A fourth version is recorded in the 15th-century MS Rawlinson B 512, now in the Bodleian Library, which is less accurate and conservative than the first three.〔 In this redaction, the story is designated ''Scaradh Ulad ocus Connacht im choin M''(''ei'')c'' Dá-Thó ocus immá muic'', "The Separation of the Ulstermen and the Connaughtmen on account of the dog of Mac Dá-Thó and his pig".〔Thurneysen, p i〕 The manuscript does not preserve the original text with any accuracy, but contains innovations, expansions and other deviations in almost every section.〔Thurneysen, p ii〕 This remoulding might date to the 11th or 12th century: The text is written by the same scribe as ''Baile in Scáil'', which he took from the 11th century ''Book of Dub-Da-Leithe'', leading Celticist Kuno Meyer to conclude the Rawlinson B 512 version was derived from the same source.〔 Linguistically, the text of Rawlinson B 512 is similar to Harley 5280, especially at the beginning; and there are also innovations in common with the Book of Leinster, showing that the redactor clearly had more than one manuscript at his disposal.〔Thurneysen, p iii〕 In one instance the diction seems to come closer to the form of the original than any other surviving manuscript.〔 An interpolation concerning Cú Roí points to this version's origin in Munster.〔 In spite of some miscomprehension of the story on the part of the revisionist scribe, the literary style as a whole is somewhat smoother than in the earlier version, which Rudolf Thurneysen points out is of help for the understanding of the tale.〔Thurneysen, pp. ii–iii〕 The last two manuscripts containing the story are MS. XXXVI in the National Library of Scotland and ''H.6.8'' in Trinity College, Dublin, written 1690–1691 and c. 1777 respectively.〔 These represent a modernisation of the story that might have been made in the 15th or 16th century.〔〔Chadwick, p 82〕 The two manuscripts differ from each other in some respects, and the spelling is very poor.〔 William J. Watson notes that the text of MS. XXXVI was based on the redaction contained in Rawlinson B 512, but not upon that specific manuscript.〔 The changes are so considerable in these modernisations that they are of no value for reconstructing the original text.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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