Chapter 9 of The Coming of Cuculain is here in full — 47 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The Coming of Cuculain is here in full — 47 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.” --Homer. Concobar Mac Nessa sat one day in his high chair, judging the Ultonians. His great Council sat before him. In the Champion’s throne sat Fergus Mac Roy.
Chapter 9 of The Coming of Cuculain is here in full — 47 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/9 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
a mythical Greek hero of the Iliad
From this reading “THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.””
possessive form of “champion” — someone who has won first place in a competition
too numerous to be counted
From this reading “THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.””
causing destruction or much damage
From this reading “THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.””
a base hit on which the batter scores a run
From this reading “--Homer.”
a waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric
From this reading “Concobar Mac Nessa sat one day in his high chair, judging the Ultonians.”
in ancient Greek mythology any of 9 daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne; protector of an art or science
From this reading “THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.””
plural of “woe” — misery resulting from affliction
From this reading “THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.””
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
a mythical Greek hero of the Iliad
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
earlier than; in front of
From this reading His great Council sat before him.
inflected form of “bring” — take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading Concobar Mac Nessa sat one day in his high chair, judging the Ultonians.
someone who has won first place in a competition
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
possessive form of “champion” — someone who has won first place in a competition
From this reading In the Champion’s throne sat Fergus Mac Roy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Concobar Mac Nessa sat one day in his high chair, judging the Ultonians.
a body serving in an administrative capacity
From this reading His great Council sat before him.
too numerous to be counted
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading Concobar Mac Nessa sat one day in his high chair, judging the Ultonians.
causing destruction or much damage
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading In the Champion’s throne sat Fergus Mac Roy.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading His great Council sat before him.
greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading Concobar Mac Nessa sat one day in his high chair, judging the Ultonians.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading His great Council sat before him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Concobar Mac Nessa sat one day in his high chair, judging the Ultonians.
a base hit on which the batter scores a run
From this reading --Homer.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Concobar Mac Nessa sat one day in his high chair, judging the Ultonians.
the cognitive process of reaching a decision or drawing conclusions
From this reading Concobar Mac Nessa sat one day in his high chair, judging the Ultonians.
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
a waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric
From this reading Concobar Mac Nessa sat one day in his high chair, judging the Ultonians.
in ancient Greek mythology any of 9 daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne; protector of an art or science
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Concobar Mac Nessa sat one day in his high chair, judging the Ultonians.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Concobar Mac Nessa sat one day in his high chair, judging the Ultonians.
a king of the Myrmidons and father of Achilles
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading In the Champion’s throne sat Fergus Mac Roy.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Concobar Mac Nessa sat one day in his high chair, judging the Ultonians.
deliver by singing
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
a male human offspring
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
the chair of state for a monarch, bishop, etc.
From this reading In the Champion’s throne sat Fergus Mac Roy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Concobar Mac Nessa sat one day in his high chair, judging the Ultonians.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
plural of “woe” — misery resulting from affliction
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
intense anger (usually on an epic scale)
From this reading THE CHAMPION AND THE KING “Sing, O Muse, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Achaeans.”
Chapter 9 of The Coming of Cuculain by Standish O'Grady holds 47 sentences, grouped into 10 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 9 holds 47 sentences of The Coming of Cuculain, unabridged, divided into 10 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Coming of Cuculain by Standish O'Grady exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 47 sentences, grouped into 10 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 10 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 10 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 9 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Coming of Cuculain by Standish O'Grady on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1562 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5092 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5092, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 130 minutes of reading across 313 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Coming of Cuculain section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of The Coming of Cuculain to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Coming of Cuculain, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
