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Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s famously difficult Irish language novelCré na Cillecontains a cluster of Breton words that have not all been recognised as such. These words are a clue that the French-speaking airman, arguably the only character in the novel with a significant “arc”, is in fact supposed to be a Breton. His immersion in Gaelic Ireland, his frustrated hope of fulfilment in philological studies and pan-Celticism and his ultimate lapse into patriotic Frenchness mirror the experiences of Breton nationalists of the 1940s – some of whom were helped by Ó Cadhain himself to take refuge in Ireland after the Second World War – and represent a subtle critique of Brittany’s pan-Celticist hopes within the novel’s larger multifaceted critique of Irish rural life. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the crucial role of a nineteenth-century multiform of ATU 675: The Lazy Boy, in the development of the otherwise highly literary legend of the City of Ys (Ker- Is in Breton). The City of Ys is not simply evoked as a setting that was fashionable at the time; instead the tale-type is appropriated for use as a complete alternative retelling of the mainstream legend, into which it later comes to be incorporated in various ways. The complex interactions of folktale, literature, drama, art and even sculpture are fascinating to observe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article shares insights on how to justify and design multilingual coverage of British literature in a matter that avoids a counterproductive dependence on anachronisms and stereotypes. It explains the three interrelated meanings of English literature, namely, literature in English, the literature of England, and the literature of English people. The author discusses how Celtic-language literary traditions have become an integral part of British literature.

The article presents the author's criticism on the article by K. Sarah-Jane Murray's "The Ring and the Sword: Reading Marie de France's Yonec in the Light of the Vie de Saint Alexis." It argues on the heroic elements background of the poem which include the ring, the sword, the fancy dress, and the late child. It examines the Celtic origin of the narrative poem "Yonec" based on Tom Peete Cross's arguments about the sources and influences of the language to the poem. It reviews the plot of the poem through the discussion of how various Celtic stories are analogous to it, the unusual pairing of a ring and a sword, and the allusion to the Old French Vie de Saint Alexis.