"Journalist Marie Heaney skillfully revives the glory of ancient Irish storytelling in this comprehensive volume from the great pre-Christian sequences to the more recent tales of the three patron saints Patrick, Brigid, and Colmcille."--Publisher's description.

'These legends are the action-packed stories - of ancient heroes, huge battles, attempted invasions, prophecies and spells, clashes between the underworld and the real world, abductions, love affairs and feasts - which have fascinated the Irish mind for more than 2,000 years . . . Most of them have an extraordinary, stark narrative sweep, with a marvellous sense of detail . . . Heaney writes directly and fluently . . . with great tact and skill.' Sunday Times

"In her colloquial retelling of these stories, Marie Heaney conveys the full dramatic and poetic power of one of Europe's oldest narrative traditions. The most important tales from the three major pre-Christian sequences - the Mythological Cycle, the Ulster Cycle and the Finn Cycle - are followed by lives of the saints Patrick, Brigid and Columcille, and the result is a uniquely accessible compendium." "Encompassing both extremes of violence and the most sublime and tender imaginative fancy, the world of Over Nine Waves is one in which the present-day reader will have no difficulty finding his or her bearings. Marie Heaney is the ideal guide, demonstrating with authority what may still be too little known, that the ancient Irish legends are comparable in their force and profundity to any in the world."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

A sampling of some of the most famous Irish legends.

Tales of the Elders of Irelandis the first complete translation of the late Middle-IrishAcallam na Sen rach, the largest literary text surviving from twelfth-century Ireland. It contains the earliest and most comprehensive collection of Fenian stories and poetry, intermingling the contemporary Christian world of Saint Patrick with his scribes; clerics; occasional angels and souls rescued from Hell; the earlier pagan world of the ancient, giant Fenians and Irish kings; and the parallel, timeless Otherworld (peopled by ever-young, shape-shifting fairies). This readable, lucid new translation is based on existing manuscript sources and is richly annotated, complete with an Introduction discussing the place of theAcallamin Irish tradition and the impact of the Fenian or Ossianic tradition on English and European literature. About the Series:For over 100 yearsOxford World's Classicshas made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

A guide to aligning your life with the frequencies of the Nine Waves of Creation • Explains the quantum physics behind the Waves of the Mayan Calendar system and how their holograms shape the human mind • Shows how throughout history each revolution in human consciousness has been driven by the activation of one of the Nine Waves of Creation • Reveals how we can consciously work to deactivate the negative patterns of the Sixth Wave and manifest the unity consciousness of the Ninth Wave In the past few years the world has witnessed changes in social consciousness whose sudden development the ruling scientific paradigm has not been able to explain. These changes correspond with the activation of new Waves of Creation emanating from the center of the universe that influence human thinking. From the Big Bang to the present, these Waves guide the evolution of the universe and, through their holographic resonance with the human mind, profoundly shape revolutions in religion, technology, economy, and social consciousness. Presenting a quantum-holographic perspective on world history and human consciousness, Carl Calleman explains the quantum physics behind the Waves of the Mayan Calendar system and how these Waves allow us to understand the shifting eras on Earth as well as the possibilities of the future. He describes how, prior to the activation of the 6th Wave in 3115 BCE, our social systems were based on a unified cosmic order, but the hologram of this Wave shifted society to an all-consuming focus on Good and Evil, leading to the rise of patriarchal religious structures, slavery, and warfare. He explores how later Waves and their new holograms helped humanity survive the negative effects of the 6th Wave, such as the Industrial Revolution of the 7th Wave and the Digital Revolution of the 8th Wave. In 2011, the 9th Wave was activated, bringing with it an accelerated push for a more egalitarian world, a rising awareness of unity consciousness, and access to the full power of all Nine Waves of Creation. Calleman explains how our individual resonance with each Wave plays a role in the quality of our lives and how we must consciously work to resonate with the higher Waves. Revealing how we can become quantum activists in a holographic world by aligning with the 9th Wave, the author shows how we each can help manifest the destiny of humanity hinted at in ancient texts.

In this wry and exhilarating coming-of-age story, a prizewinning poet poignantly looks back at his adolescent surfing years. As a disenchanted, unemployed English professor, Thad Ziolkowski decides one day to sneak away from his temp job in Manhattan and catch a wave off a dingy Queens shoreline. In the meager cold waves, he contemplates how he could have possibly become a semidepressed, chain-smoking, aimless man when, for a few shining years of his boyhood, he was invincible. His lapsed love affair with the ocean begins amid the late-sixties counterculture in coastal Florida. After his parents’ divorce, nine-year-old Thad escapes from his difficult family—notably a new brooding and explosive stepfather—by heading for the thrilling, uncharted waters of the local beach. In the embrace of the surf, he is able to stay offshore for years, until his life is upended once again, this time by a double tragedy that deposits him at a crossroads between a life in the waves and a life on land. Lyrical and disarmingly funny, On a Wave is a glorious portrait of youth that reminds readers of Tobias Wolff’s This Boy’s Life and Frank Conroy’s Stop-Time. “A sharp, self-conscious portrait of the artist as a young grommet.” —The New Yorker