Creatures of Celtic Myth

by Bob Curran

The Celts had a predominantly oral tradition with their stories descending from generation to generation until Christian communities adopted them, wrote them down and added their own perspective. Curran examines legends across Celtic Britain, Ireland and Brittany and provides samples of the stories themselves accompanied by many colourful illustrations. The stories include tales of giants, demons, fairies and witches amongst many others.

Genres: Mythology, Reference, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 2000

About the author

BOB CURRAN is an educational psychologist in Coleraine University. His interests are broad-ranging but are focused especially on history and story. He has written several books, including The Field Guide to Irish Fairies, The Wolfhound Guide to the Shamrock, Creatures of Celtic Myth, The Truth about the Leprechaun.

Reviews

[Carly Powers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Admittingly I did not read every story of this book and skimmed severel towards the end, because my purpose for reading was research and inspiration and some of the content just wasn't applicable.

I did enjoy the history, the legends, the background given on each section. It was very helpful in deciding how much inspiration I wanted to take from Celtic culture, as well as further directions to turn for inspiration elsewhere.

It really does read like a textbook at times (which isn't bad), and the writing style varies in the stories, so some were really interesting reads and some just didn't grab my attention as much.

[Patricia]

I liked the collection of stories as well as the setup for each by the author.

[Trevor · Rating 2 out of 5]

A combination of historical fact and cultural myth, neither done in depth. Interior art comperable to that found in a High School art fair. Overall: not impressed.