Celtic Myth and Legend

by Charles Squire

Overview

Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed a polytheistic religion, having many gods and goddesses. The mythologies of continental Celtic peoples, such as the Gauls and Celtiberians, did not survive their conquest by the Roman Empire, the loss of their Celtic languages and their subsequent conversion to Christianity. Only remnants are found in Greco-Roman sources and archaeology. Most surviving Celtic mythology belongs to the Insular Celtic peoples (the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland; the Celtic Britons of western Britain and Brittany). They preserved some of their myths in oral lore, which were eventually written down by Christian scribes in the Middle Ages. Irish mythology has the largest written body of myths, followed by Welsh mythology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9791222476667
Publisher:	Passerino
Publication date:	11/25/2023
Sold by:	StreetLib SRL
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

An expert in Arthurian and British legends, Charles Squire wrote extensively on the subject just after the turn of the 20th century. His classic Celtic Myth and Legend, Poetry & Romance was abridged from an earlier, 1905 first edition entitled The Mythology of the British Islands.

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

The Gaelic Gods and Their Stories 11

I The Gods of the Gaels 12

II The Gods Arrive 26

III The Rise of the Sun-god 36

IV The Gaelic Argonauts 45

V The War with the Giants 60

VI The Conquest of the Gods by Mortals 70

VII The Gods in Exile 80

VIII The Irish Iliad 97

IX Some Gaelic Love-stories 121

X Finn and the Fenians 135

XI The Decline and Fall of the Gods 155

The British Gods and Their Stories 173

XII The Gods of the Britons 174

XIII The Adventures of the Gods of Hades 195

XIV The Wooing of Branwen and the Beheading of Brân 204

XV The War of Enchantments 211

XVI The Victories of Light over Darkness 217

XVII The Mythological 'Coming of Arthur' 223

XVIII The Treasures of Britain 241

XIX The Gods as King Arthur's Knights 255

XX The Decline and Fall of the Gods 267

Survivals of the Celtic Paganism 287

XXI Survivals of the Celtic Paganism into Modern Times 288