Published in 1929, and chosen as one of six Newbery Honor titles in 1930, The Tangle-Coated Horse and Other Tales is the second collection of Irish mythology from Ella Young to be so distinguished, following upon 1927's The Wondersmith and His Son: A Tale from the Golden Childhood of the World. That earlier work was concerned with the adventures of Goibniu, the Great Smith of Ireland, and derived from the Mythological Cycle of the Irish folk tradition (na Scéalta Miotaseolaíochta), whereas this is a children's version of the Fenian Cycle (An Fiannaíocht), in which is told the deeds of the hero Fionn mac Cumhaill and his band of warriors, the Fianna.

Opening when Fionn (still known by his childhood name of Demna) is yet a boy, orphaned by the slaying of his father Uail at the hands of Goll, son of Morna, and being raised in hiding by the Druidress Bovemall and the woman warrior Liath, it follows its hero through many adventures, as he regains the leadership of the Fianna, once held by his father, and wins back the lost prestige of the Clan Bassna. The famous episode involving Finnegas the Poet and the Salmon of Knowledge; Fionn's battle with Allyn, son of Midna, which ranged from the gates of Tara to the slopes of Slieve Cullion; his meeting and all-too-brief time with the beautiful Saba, mother of Usheen**; and his travels, together with his companions in the Fianna, to the Land Under Wave (told in the the titular selection, The Tangle-Coated Horse), are all laid out in this collection. So too are many other tales, from Keeltya's time as the "king's candlestick," to Diarmid's doomed love affair with Murias, daughter of the King Under the Wave. Finally, the collection closes with the story of Usheen's time with Nee-av in Teer-nan-ogue, and his return to Ireland many centuries later, in the days of St. Patrick - the days when the great cycles of Irish mythology were first recorded.

There is great beauty here, in Young's language - just as there was in The Wonder Smith and His Son - and in the stories themselves. It is the seductive beauty of music, and of enchantment, of the Shining Folk with whom mortals must share the land, and with whom they must contend: "Minute by minute the music changed. It was patterned, as reedy shallows are patterned by the feet of the wind: it gathered itself as a wave gathers, curving to fall: and like foam on the running eager crest of a wave - like the silvery flash of a salmon in swirling waters - the first unearthly melody, the high lilting sweetness, maintained itself. Ah, what was it that the son of Midna was playing? Why did Fionn take part with him, against himself? He was playing the stars out of the sky; he was playing the earth to nothingness, and yet Fionn exulted and towered out of his body to listen! What was that thin sweet song! Sun moon and stars were dust upon the wind - small scattered dust - and yet the song persisted: how could so thin and fine a sweetness consume the heart?"

But it is also the beauty of Ireland herself, a "troubling beauty," all "flame and starlight and silence - quenchless and death-giving." It is a beauty to cause "bitter longing" in the exile - be it Diarmid in the Land Under Wave, Usheen in Teer-nan-ogue, or perhaps, Ella Young in California - and a ceaseless desire to return home. By turns humorous and haunting, these tales are not all that can be told, of Fionn and the Fianna, but they are a fine introduction to that corpus of story, full of beauty and mystery. Although not quite the equal, in my estimation, of the incomparably powerful The Wondersmith and His Son (which was a five-star standout for me!), this is still a lovely collection, one I would highly recommend to any reader interested in retellings of the Fenian cycle of Irish mythology.

**Note: Young wrote before there was any standardization, both in terms of Irish spelling, and the Anglicization of names, so readers should be prepared for some unusual forms (I tried to stick with those used by Young, in writing of her book) that are not much in use today. ( )