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''Táin Bó Flidhais'', also known as the ''Mayo Táin'', is a tale from the Ulster Cycle of early Irish literature. It is one of a group of works known as Táin Bó, or "cattle raid" stories, the best known of which is ''Táin Bó Cúailnge''. ''Táin Bó Flidhais'' survives in two forms, a short version from the Old Irish period and a longer, wordier version found in the 15th century Glenmasan Manuscript which is held in the Advocates Library in Edinburgh. It is believed to be a copy of an earlier manuscript from the 12th century. The early version of ''Táin Bó Flidhais'' predates the ''Táin Bó Cúailnge''.〔Dunford, S. ''Táin Bó Flidhais'' (2008), Dublin.〕〔(jstor.org ).〕〔http://www.westernpeople.ie/news/story/?trs=eykfojmhmh westernpeople.ie〕 It is named for the heroine of the tale, Flidais. ==Historical setting== At the time that these legendary tales relate to (the second half of the Iron Age (approximately AD 50–500) and early Medieval Ireland (approximately 500–800), Ireland was a country divided up into hundreds if not thousands of territories known as tuatha. This tale is likely to relate to incidents around 100 AD before the arrival of people bringing Christian teachings with them. Each tuath had at its head a king. Some kings were higher ranking than others and some, like Medb were the head of an entire province such as Connacht. There was constant battling amongst the kings over territorial boundaries and, as is demonstrated in this story, when one "king triumphed over another, he cut off his victim's head to parade it as a prestigious trophy, proving that he was no longer alive. Terrible things were done to the conquered king's remains by the victorious king. Brehon Laws were the order of the day and armies consisted of both men and women who fought side by side. At the same time in Ireland, small churches were being built, some being the provenance of just a single monk (usually nowadays referred to as "saints"). The townlands where small religious communities existed are often now known by the name of the 'saint' who founded them – e.g.: Cill Ghallagáin (Church of St. Galligan) or Cill Chomáin. Some of these small churches grew into religious communities of monks which got larger and more prosperous; others remained small and fairly insignificant. This period was the Golden Age of making illuminated manuscripts and craftworking of relics with gold and silver filigree in the monasteries. Some items, like the Cross of Cong or the Ardagh Chalice can be seen in Irish museums today. The Early Christian and the tuatha communities existed side by side across the Irish landscape, sometimes in harmony, sometimes not. Often the kings of the tuatha found it advantageous to become patrons of their local religious community as it gave them prestige. The people of the tuatha were usually the extended family of the king. They would have included many generations of relatives and also children of other tuatha who were given “fosterage” by a different tuatha and treated with as much love as if they were the children of the king. This extended family was the army with which the territorial battles were fought between kings. ''Táin Bó Flidhais'' is not as well known as the ''Táin Bó Cuailnge'', but the story it relates is equally as complex and intricate. It includes many of the most important characters of Irish saga literature who appear in many of the cycles of legends from the period. Queen Maedbh, the Queen of Connacht, is one such individual, as are Cú Chulainn and the irresistible hero, Fergus mac Róich. The story of the ''Táin Bó Flidhais'' is set in the province of Connacht in Ireland in the late Iron Age . The Royal fort of Cruachan, near Tulsk in Roscommon was the seat of the Queen of Connacht, Maedbh and her husband, King Ailill MacMáta. The story tells the tale of a punitive raid by them on one of the Gamhanraidh tribe who lived in County Mayo, a tribe as well respected in Connacht as the Red Branch Knights were in Ulster. The heroine of the tale is Flidhais Fholtchain ("Flidhais of the lovely soft hair"), a ravishing beauty, a Celtic Artemis, who was married to Oilill Fionn, a king of the Gamhanraidh tribe and the son of a powerful chieftain called Domhnall Dualbhuidhe ("Donal of the yellow locks") who lived at Glencastle in Erris and operated the gates to the Mullet Peninsula. Flidhais and Oilill owned two forts in Co. Mayo, one at Rathmorgan, known as Dún Flidhais, situated at the southern end of Carrowmore Lake in Erris and another west of Lough Conn near Nephin, known as Dún Átha Féan, further south. The Gamhanraidh tribe of which Flidhais and Oilill were part, owned large stretches of territory, stretching all the way west of the Shannon from North Mayo as far down as County Clare. Flidhais and Oilill had a legendary white cow, the Maol, which, it was reputed, gave vast quantities of milk every day – said to be enough milk to satisfy three hundred men together with their women and their children, in one milking. They also owned several other enormous herds of cattle and deer. Flidhais and Oilill had four daughters, one of who was said to be the adulterous lover of the hero, Cú Chulainn. Flidhais had a reputation of having a voracious sexual appetite herself and she harboured a lust for the Ulster hero Fergus mac Róich who, having fought with and killed so many tribal chieftains in Ulster, was lying low at Cruachan, the Royal rath of Maedbh and Ailill in Roscommon for his own safety. Fergus had gone to Cruachan after his triumphant bloody battles in Ulster, to gain the shield of the name and fame of Queen Maedbh and her consort, King Ailill mac Máta. Fergus was a fine figure of a man and it did not take long for the "shameless" Queen Maedbh to fall hopelessly in lust with her equally promiscuous guest. Her consort, Ailill however, observed the daily infidelity and one night, in retaliation, he stole Fergus's enchanted sword from his guest's scabbard and replaced it with a wooden replica. 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「Táin Bó Flidhais」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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