Togail Bruidne Da Derga (The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel) is an epic tale, written in Old and Middle Irish. It recounts the birth, life, and death of Conaire Mor, a legendary High King of Ireland, who is killed at Da Derga's hostel by his enemies when he breaks his geasa. It is considered one of the finest Irish sagas of the early period, equal or superior to the better known Tain Bo Cuailnge. The theme of gathering doom, as the king is forced through circumstances to break one after another of his taboos, is non-Christian in essence, and no Christian interpretations are laid upon the marvels that it relates. In its repetitions and verbal formulas the poem retains the qualities of oral transmission. It has been argued that Geoffrey Chaucer's The House of Fame borrows features from the Togail Bruidne Da Derga. The tone of the work has been compared with Greek tragedy.
