By Samuel Puopolo
Published in North American journal of Celtic studies, 2025.
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Abstract

, abstract:, The ninth-century Longes mac nUislenn (LMU), the ‘Exile of the sons of Uisliu’, the oldest surviving version of the popular ‘Deirdriu story’, presents a stri-dent female protagonist who may at first glance appear to be proto-feminist. However, its political lessons ultimately reveal a conservative, patriarchal political order driven by male homosociality and undermined by female agency. The present article examines desire and its political consequences in LMU. Specifically, this article leverages theoretical tools from Louise Aranye Fradenburg’s work on desire and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s work on homosociality to analyze moments of decision-making in the text (where desire is most palpable) and map the constellation of desirous connections that revolve around the tale’s protagonist, Deirdriu. Doing so reveals how the tale predicates Conchobor’s kingship upon the successful conversion of desire into power, despite his unsavory behavior. Conversely, the inability of Deirdriu and the sons of Uisliu to do the same seals their tragic fate.