ripping yarn

Alexander Bennett氏翻訳の五輪書 "The Book of Five Rings and Other Works" を読んでいます。
今日引用するのも翻訳者のIntroductionからで、武蔵が初めて刀での対決をした時の話で、武蔵はまだ13歳でした。

Before anybody could stop him, he charged at Kihei, brandishing his weapon like a madman. Kihei drew his blade to deflect the attack but Musashi penetrated his defenses, discarded his staff and unceremoniously dumped Kihei on his head. Barely conscious, Kihei attempted to get back on his feet but MUsashi retrieved his staff and beat him to death with fourteen or fifteen blows to the head. Of course, this account was a figment of Hokin's imagination but nevertheless made for a ripping yarn.

まず "ripping yarn" の "ripping" の意味を調べます。

・Collins Dictionary: Chiefly British, Slang, Obsolete：excellent; fine; splendid

翻訳者は五輪書が古い本なので意図して古い言葉を使用したと思われます。次に "yarn" を調べます。

・Oxford English Dictionary: a long story, especially one that is exaggerated or invented: He used to spin yarns (= tell stories) about his time in the army.
・Collins Dictionary: A yarn is a story that someone tells, often a true story with invented details which make it more interesting.: Doug has a yarn or two to tell me about his trips into the bush.
・Vocabulary.com: Yarn is made from fibers, and it comes in many colors. When you knit, you weave yarn with needles and end up with a pot holder or a pair of mittens. Another kind of yarn is a long story that's told out loud. You might, in fact, tell your friend a yarn while you crochet an afghan with yarn. The Old English root word, gearn, means "spun fibers," but it comes from the Proto-Indo-European ghere, or "intestine."

Wikipediaによると1976～1979年に英国で "Ripping Yarns" と題されたTVシリーズがあったそうです。
・Wikipedia: Ripping Yarns is a British television adventure comedy anthology series.