Celtic Beasts: Animals Motifs and Zoomorphic Design in Celtic Art

by Courtney Davis, Dennis O'Neil

8 pages in color & 95 b/w illustrations. Journey along a spiritual path to meet mythical serpents, shape-shifters, and other fantastic creatures whose origin can be traced back to the earliest Northern European civilization. The Celts not only relied on animals for survival, but they respected, learned from, and honored them. Awe-inspiring illustrations and faithful narrative take us back to the time of goddesses, stone carvings, cave paintings, and beyond, to gain greater insight into the history and lure of the Celtic beast. Trim 8 1/2 x 11.

Genres: Art

96 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1999

About the author

His work has been exhibited widely in Europe, USA, and as far a field as Japan and Australia. Celtic Art designer Courtney Davis is widely acclaimed as the best-known contemporary Celtic-design artist in the world.

Reviews

[DW]

It covers a ton of ground but makes a lot of vague connections. Ending the book with a sudden discussion of Carl Jung reminded me that 1999 was such a big year for a lot of New Age philosophies. With it comes a lot of exoticization of all spiritualities into a big meltic pot and subtle distinctions get lost in a fascination with understanding the Other (and mixing up all the cultures all across the world which should stand distinctly). This did not age well.

On the flip side, history is so connected and the histories of different religions absorbing symbolism was quite educational. The strength of the purely Celtic research seemed quite solid and I felt like I learned a lot, even if the connections to other religions beyond Christianity seem too shaky to be reliable.

The art is excellent and learning about Celtic belief systems was very cool.

[claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the information was really neat, and the book was clearly well researched. It is a book worth looking through if you are interested in the Celtic mythology surrounding specific animals and want to learn more about their symbolism. The original illustrations are quite wonderful.
The information was not put together well --it felt sloppy. There was too much seemingly useless information, like stories which failed to contribute to the purpose of the section.

[Cwn_annwn_13 · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've seen my arms you know that I'm quite enamored with the Celtic style of art. This book is the best compilation of zoomorphic celtic art that I have run across. But besides all the great art there is lots to read. Fairly extensive looks at what the symbology and meaning of each individual animal was to the ancient Celtic tribes of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was dubious at first, but this turned out to be a wonderful resource.