Celtic Tales

[Brynhild]

We can't have Celtopia without something about its myths and legends, now, can we? There are lots of interesting ones out there, so feel free to post here!

This website has some interesting ones:
Celtic Fairy Tales (http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/fairytale/bl-collected.htm)

[Liffrea]

I can recommend this:

Inspiration and vision are the foundation of Celtic myth. These myths were first told by the ancient bards who went through an arduous training of up to 20 years. This gave them, they believed, powers of divination, shape changing and the ability to travel to the "other world". It also supplied them with an unrivalled knowledge of the natural world of animals and plants and the authority to heal, order and judge. This higher knowledge was held as precious beyond price, and not written down. The bards would not speak openly, but instead encoded their knowledge, incorporating it into teasing riddles and into their tales. These myths were not read; they were told and sung. Claire Hamilton recreates the experience of the Celtic listeners in the way she frames the myth with the teller, the teller with his/her audience. The accompanying CD captures the enchanting and sometimes strange beauty of the music that would have accompanied the tales. Introductions are given to the Celtic societies, particularly those of Ireland, Wales and Scotland, as well as the music of the Celts and their use of the harp.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Celtic-Bards-Myth-Music/dp/1903816548/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252434038&sr=8-8

[Treffie]

I'd recommend the tales of the Mabinogion. The stories have been told since before the Romans arrived in Britain, but it wasn't until the 10th century that they were put into script.

http://www.mabinogion.info/

[Barreldriver]

I finished reading an excellent book called "Celtic Myths and Legends". I'll supply the author when I gets me on home. :P Excellent book. Goes over a great number of Gaelic, Cornish, Manx, Welsh, Breton, and Scottish Gaelic myths and legends. In a lot of these tales I find that they act as a sort of daily news as the myths often reflect the times, these legends often mentioning Norsemen, Saxons, and such.

[Liffrea]

Originally Posted by Barreldriver
I finished reading an excellent book called "Celtic Myths and Legends".

It wasn’t by Peter (I hate the English, they slept with my sister before I had a chance, if it wasn’t for the “Saxon” Ireland would have ruled the world, it was an English Empire never a British Empire, by the way did I mention I hate the English in the last sentence?) Beresford Ellis was it?

If you want a laugh I would recommend this:

Celt & Saxon

Peter Berresford Ellis charts the struggle for the supremacy of Britain between the invading ancestors of the English and the British Celts.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saxon-Celtic-interest-Peter-Berresford/dp/0094732604/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252960963&sr=8-1

To say this man has a "chip on his shoulder" as one critic does is like saying Hitler had a slight problem with Jews.....:D

[Barreldriver]

It wasn’t by Peter (I hate the English, they slept with my sister before I had a chance, if it wasn’t for the “Saxon” Ireland would have ruled the world, it was an English Empire never a British Empire, by the way did I mention I hate the English in the last sentence?) Beresford Ellis was it?


Na, it wasn't by him. It was just a compilation of old tales, I did not have the compiler in my memory at the moment and I have to go home and see the inside cover of the book lol. It was a female though that compiled the book I read.