Celtic Mythology

by Simon Goodenough

The myths and legends of the Celts come alive on the pages of this beautifully illustrated volume. A complete history of Celtic lore is highlighted with over 100 color and archival images, vibrantly capturing the history and drama of this mysterious, ancient civilization.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mythology, History, Ireland, Historical

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE this stuff

[Maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots if glossy pretty pictures, but the information...you'd have thought that in 1997 people already knew the druids had nothing to do with Stonehenge...

[Jessika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating this particular book wasn't easy because I usually don't rate 3 stars and below on books. Unfortunately 3 stars felt justified in this case for a variety of reasons.

While I enjoyed the rich and engaging Celtic myths, legends and beliefs it just didn't dive too deep as I wanted it to scholarly wise. This book is perfect for the type of readers looking for a broad introduction to the Celtic mythological and spiritual beliefs.

There are a few things that I loved about this book such as the gorgeous imagery. This book is filled with photographs of Celtic artwork(my favorite), illustrations and artifacts which gives us an insight of the Celtic side. On a cozy evening with hot cocoa this is the type of book to get lost in and for a visual learner like me the images made it easier for me to imagine the Celtic mythology. Simon Goodenough has done a great job of weaving together stories of the heroes, gods, traditions, and history. The connection between spirituality, nature, and history weaved together beautifully.

Enjoying this book would have been easier if the sections dived deeper and weren't brief. The pictures randomly popping up between the pages were disconcerting and rather annoying regardless of how beautiful they were. I would have enjoyed this book more if the pictures were placed different throughout the book even if they had their own section at the end so that it didn't interrupt my thought process while I was reading. This is my own personal preference of course. Another thing I would have liked more is if there was more information from other parts of the Celtic regions and not just Irish and Welsh(which I enjoyed thoroughly). One last detail that kind of irked me was that there wasn't a citation page which I would have enjoyed so that I could easily look up more information and see where the author had gotten their information from.

Even with the downfalls of this book I would still recommend it for a cozy and curious read. You can flip through the pages and let your imagination run wild and write down all the subjects you want to look further into later.

[Nathan Shumate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although exploring Arthurian myths is only a small part of the text, the lion's share of the book is illustrated with various Arthurian images -- probably because that's what's readily available in the public domain. And the text was marred with bizarre errors in which the second half of a paragraph would be overwritten by the first half again. With all the signs of lackluster production, I'm half convinced that "Simon Goodenough" is the house pseudonym roughly corresponding to "Alan Smithee."

[Amy oh god why!!! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overall base of information, lovely quality pictures

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an ok book if it's the first time reading about Celtic mythology but I've read better Celtic books.The illustrations in this book are good too.

[Nell Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of glossy coloured photos, easy to read and fairly basic information - including the sort of details you really want to know about these intriguing and difficult-to-pin-down ancestors of many peoples - make this a far more enjoyable read than many of the more scholarly books out there. There are a few typos and printing errors at the beginning, but nothing too worrying, and on the whole I found it well-written and informative.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gorgeous pictures, but whoever edited and did the layout for this book wasn't very good. Information was mixed up and pictures were seemingly random, often depicting someone/something that wasn't mentioned or was yet to come.
I would have liked more details for the actual legends, seeing as this was a mythology book, and less about what sort of shoes Celts *might have* worn.