The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig
| Scéla Muicce Meicc Da Thó | |
|---|---|
| "The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig" | |
| Author(s) | Unknown Leinster author |
| Manuscript(s) | Book of Leinster (Trinity College, Dublin), H.3.18 (Trinity College, Dublin), Harley 5280 (British Library), Bodleian Library, MS Rawlinson B 512, MS. XXXVI (National Library of Scotland), H.6.8 (Trinity College, Dublin) |
| Genre | prose narrative of the Ulster Cycle and Cycles of the Kings; elements of self-parody |
| Subject | Provincial rivalry; heroic communal feasting |
| Setting | Mac Da Thó's Hostel, County Carlow, and surrounding Leinster countryside |
| Personages | protagonists: Mac Da Thó, king of Leinster; Cet mac Mágach; Conall Cernach; Conchobar, king of Ulster; Fer Loga, charioteer of Ailill |
The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig (Old Irish: Scéla Muicce Meicc Da Thó) is a legendary tale in the Ulster Cycle.
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 work is an example of early Irish literature, written primarily in prose 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 story was apparently popular in the Middle Ages and later times, and became the subject of a number of independent poems.
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.