Celtic Mythology

by John Arnott MacCulloch

Few surviving Celtic myths bear any resemblance to their originals. In the course of time they have been infused with romance, pseudohistory and Christian theory. Stories of Ireland and Wales have been combined with tales of love, war and slaughterdeeds both noble and ignoble. In this classic study, MacCulloch proves that Celtic legend borrowed from preCeltic mythology, just as Christianity in Britain subsumed much of the Celtic past.

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction, Religion, History, Ireland

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1918

About the author

John Arnott MacCulloch, DD (1868 - 1950) was a Scottish clergyman.

Author of works including:
The Childhood of fiction: a study of folk tales and primitive thought; Comparative Theology; The Misty isle of Skye: its Scenery, its People, its Story.

Reviews

[Lollita]

The way it was written gave the impression the reader already had some knowledge of Celtic mythology, referring to things that weren't explained or talked about previously. As this was basically the first thing about Celtic mythology I've read it wasn't the best place to start.

[Kevin]

The introduction is quite good, but I found the summaries of the myths to be too succinct and soon too confusing, due to all of the names briefly introduced yet not easily distinguished in terms of character. The fault may be mine (I've had similar trouble with some of Lady Gregory's accounts), but I had a hard time keeping track of who was doing what. However, I did appreciate his portrayal of the Firbolgs and Fomorians in more human terms, treating them like indigenous groups or previously settled invaders contending with the invading Tuatha de Danann, and avoiding the colonizing habit of treating them as monsters. I might return to this book when I have ingested other sources and become more familiar with the mythology.

[Andrea Hickman Walker]

I think this would be a good book for people with a solid grounding in Celtic mythology. As I don't know very much about it yet, I found this book completely confusing.

[Clayton]

Interesting stories but it is kind of hard to keep track of everything

[Mir]

You might think from the title that this is an introductory volume, but it actually is a study that presumes familiarity with the myths.

I don't recall that much about the book at this point -- I read it for some material on how Christian writers made up new stories featuring mythical characters meeting saints or missionaries (some of these seemed not favorable to the Christian perspective, but maybe that's my modern view interpolating?). For example, Kif Caraill was eaten and reborn and grew up to be baptized by St Patrick. Yep.

[R.A. Nelson]

You better brush up on your Celtic legends before reading this. It's more of an analytical study on how these stories could have developed and how they relate to one another. Very grounded in history and sociology. A bit of a dense read, but it made for good research for my upcoming book!

[Asagrimnir]

Se nota que este libro es hijo de su época. Es imposible entenderlo si no tienes un conocimiento previo del tema tratado. Por lo tanto, no es buena introducción al asunto. Tampoco tiene bibliografía.

[Bad Tim]

This is a handy reference to have in your library because of the way the information is organized. it has lots of interesting pictures and is copiously referenced. however, it's a terrible read. the prose is dense and the stories are told in bits and pieces, so that you don't a picture of the myths as works of literature. portions of the stories are summarized as the pertinent topic arises, and the characters are treated like a hollywood a-list. names are dropped without context, and whole episodes are so sketchily presented that it's impossible to tell who's who. one of my greatest pet peeves in this book is that as the author presents the myths and legends, if he's discussed one under a previous topic, he will simply refer back to that topic without a cross-reference, so you'd have to search the text to develop any kind of continuity in the stories. there are also a handful of comments about paganism vs. christianity that i found dismissive and offensive. the author has a definite bias against the spiritual relevance of his material.

[Dawn Colclasure]

This was a very interesting book! Such interesting stories. I have written a short story about a "magical basket" that fills up with food again after it's empty and I was surprised to learn that there is a similar story of a "magical basket" that refills with food in Celtic legends. Wow! What a neat coincidence. Also, I am a HUGE fan of the Arthurian legends, so I really enjoyed the chapter on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. I was surprised by the author's statement that Arthur had "little to do" with the Holy Grail. Overall, a fascinating book that I could not put down. I loved it.

[Susan Kelnberger]

It was a bit confusing. Still it is a good reference if you are into this kind of thing

[Maya]

For a more in depth review check out my website: Celtic Mythology

[Cheryl]

The most boring, confusing book I've every attempted to read. For scholars of Celtic mythology only.