Bound and Free. Voices of Mortal and Otherworld Women in Medieval Irish Literature

Hardback, 232 pages, Size:152 x 229 mm, Language: English. ISBN 9780888442369. Summary Otherworld women feature in a number of medieval Irish tales. They are not always powerful figures, and their struggles often mirror those of mortal women; authors apparently found them useful for exploring social tensions and issues of contemporary concern. This volume analyzes female figures as literary characters, rather than as mythological beings, focusing on their expression of emotions and the repercussions for the societies depicted in the narratives. Drawing on gender analysis, speech act theory, narratology, disability theory, and trauma theory, and incorporating recent work on emotions in medieval literature, this study probes the representation of both mortal and Otherworld women as active and desiring subjects and the responses that their words and actions might have generated in their medieval audiences. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction Part One: Mortal Women CHAPTER ONE Mother Knows Best: The Role of Nes in Compert Conchobuir CHAPTER TWO Fate, the Feminine, and the Flawed King: Conchobor, Deirdriu, and Luaine CHAPTER THREE A Woman's Last Word: Emer's Construction of the Hero in Brislech Mor Maige Muirthemni Part Two: Otherworld Women CHAPTER FOUR A Good (Mortal) Man is Hard to Find: Otherworld Women and Bad Romance CHAPTER FIVE What She Wants: Female Desire and Agency in Tain Bo Froich and Aislinge Oenguso CHAPTER SIX The Grieving Otherworld Woman in Serglige Con Culainn, Aided Derb?orgaill, and Acallam na Senorach CHAPTER SEVEN Aided Derb?orgaill and the Otherworld Body: Shape-Shifting and Disability CHAPTER EIGHT Dangerous Siren or Abandoned Wife? Gloss versus Text on a Manuscript Page Conclusion Bibliography Index