What does «Ciclo del Ulster» mean in Spanish?
- The Ulster Cycle is a collection of medieval Irish legends and heroic sagas that constitutes one of the four great cycles of Irish mythology. It features the heroes of the Ulaid, the people after whom the province of Ulster was named, in the reign of their king Conchobar mac Nessa at Emain Macha (now Fort Navan near Armagh), traditionally dated to the 1st century BC/1st century AD, and their enemies, particularly the Connachta under Queen Medb and her husband Ailill. The longest and most important story is the Táin Bó Cúailnge or "Raid on Cooley's Cattle", in which Medb gathers an army to invade the Cooley peninsula and steal the Ulaid prize bull Donn Cúailnge, assisted by Fergus mac Róich, a former Ulaid king in exile, and opposed only by the teenage Ulaid hero Cú Chulainn. Perhaps the best known story is the tragedy of Deirdre, source of the works of W. B. Yeats and J. M. Synge. Other stories tell of the births, lives, loves and deaths of the characters, and the various conflicts between them. The tales of the Ulster Cycle are written in Old and Middle Irish, usually in prose, interspersed with occasional passages of verse. They are preserved in manuscripts from the 12th to 15th centuries, but in many cases they are much older: the language of the earliest stories dates back to the 8th century, and the events and characters are mentioned in poems dating from the 7th century. The tone is concise, violent, and mostly realistic, although supernatural elements intrude from time to time, and heroic exaggeration is common. Cú Chulainn in particular has superhuman fighting abilities, a result of his semi-divine ancestry, and when particularly awakened his ríastrad or battle contortion transforms him into an unrecognizable monster who knows neither friend nor foe. Obvious deities such as Lug mac Ethlenn, the Morrígan, Óengus and Midir also make occasional appearances. Unlike most of the early Irish historical tradition, which presents ancient Ireland as a country largely united under a succession of High Kings, the stories of the Ulster Cycle depict a country with no effective central authority, divided into local and provincial kingdoms often at war with each other. The civilization depicted is a pagan, pastoral civilization ruled by a warrior aristocracy. Ties between aristocratic families are cemented by the breeding of each other's children. Wealth is counted in livestock. Warfare primarily takes the form of cattle raids, and often involves individual combat between champions. The actions of the characters are sometimes restricted by religious taboos known as geisa.