The Voyage of Máel Dúin

The protagonist is Máel Dúin, the son of Ailill Edge-of-Battle, whose murder provides the initial impetus for the tale.

Alternative transliterations of the name include Maildun (Patrick Joyce's translation) and Maeldune (Tennyson's poem).

The story belongs to the group of Irish romances, the Navigations (Imrama), the common type of which was possibly drawn in part from the classical tales of the wanderings of Jason, Ulysses, and Aeneas.

Imram Curaig Mailduin is preserved, in each case imperfectly, in the Lebor na hUidre, a manuscript in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin; and in the Yellow Book of Lecan, MS. H. 216 in the Trinity College Library, Dublin; fragments are in Harleian MS. 5280 and Egerton MS. 1782 in the British Museum.

Máel Dúin seeks the advice of a druid named Nuca at Corcomroe, who tells him how to find the murderers.

Upon hearing Máel Dúin's call, his foster brothers cried out, "We will go after thee into the sea and be drowned therein, unless thou come unto us."

Hans Oskamp suggests that Máel Dúin is the earliest imramm to use Christian and non-Christian elements indiscriminately.

[11] Elva Johnston pointed out that the delay caused by the extra passengers gives Máel Dúin time to reconsider his intended revenge, and is therefore instrumental in his salvation.

[12] Mael Dúin's gratitude to God for preserving him in the face of the many dangers encountered on the voyage transcends his need for vengeance.