Which European mythology do you find most interesting?

[Daco Celtic]

Seems like a lot of people are basing their choices on regional pride, which is natural. I would say there is no equivalent to the Iliad and Odyssey, so Greek/Roman Mythology probably take the cake. Homer man. I admit, my reading of Celtic mythology is deficient but I would like to know what great text they produced? I'm open to reading recommendations.

[Grace O'Malley]

That image has several flaws, to begin with that of France.
in addition others are rare like that of Belgium and UK.

It's from actual skin cancer studies. I can cite the Irish one for example and others could most likely be found but it would take a lot of time. This is the study that has the Irish figures. I used to have the complete study at one time but this is only a excerpt. The study is from Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.

Abstract

The Irish are generally considered to have a fair complexion. We surveyed the distribution of skin type in an Irish city population (n = 1000). Skin type prevalence was as follows: type 1: 26%, type 2: 49.6%, type 3: 19.7%, type 4: 4.3%, type 5: 0.3%, type 6: 0.1%. Sunbeds were used by 16% of the population. Malignant melanoma occurred in 1.4% of patients, non-melanoma skin cancer in 6%. The high frequency of sunbed use in a fair skinned population and the high incidence of skin cancer is disturbing and highlights the need for ongoing public health education regarding ultraviolet radiation risks.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02944190

A lot of these studies are in Medical Journals so can be quite difficult to access.


What's the problem with the French results?

[Grace O'Malley]

Seems like a lot of people are basing their choices on regional pride, which is natural. I would say there is no equivalent to the Iliad and Odyssey, so Greek/Roman Mythology probably take the cake. Homer man. I admit, my reading of Celtic mythology is deficient but I would like to know what great text they produced? I'm open to reading recommendations.

"Ireland in fact," writes M. Darmesteter in his English Studies, which summarize conclusions he derives from the works of the great Celtic scholars, "...has the peculiar privilege of a history continuous from the earliest centuries of our era to the present days. She has preserved in the infinite wealth of her literature a complete and faithful picture of the ancient civilization of the Celts. Irish literature is therefore the key which opens the Celtic world (Eng. tr., 1896, 182). But the Celtic world means a large portion of Europe and the key to its past history can be found at present nowhere else than in the Irish manuscripts. Without them we would have to view the past history of a great part of Europe through that distorting medium, the coloured glasses of the Greeks and Romans, to whom all outer nations were barbarians, into whose social life they had no motive for inquiring. Apart from Irish literature we would have no means of estimating what were the feelings, modes of life, manners, and habits of those great Celtic races who once possessed so large a part of the ancient world, Gaul, Belgium, North Italy, parts of Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and the British Isles, who burnt Rome, plundered Greece, and colonized Asia Minor. But in the ancient epics of Ireland we find another standard by which to measure, and through this early Irish medium we get a clear view of the life and manners of the race in one of its strongholds, and we find many characteristic customs of the continental Celts, which are just barely mentioned or alluded to by Greek and Roman writers, reappearing in all the circumstance and expansion of saga-telling.

If you were interested you could read these.

The Mabinogion - a collection of stories of Welsh mythology.

Celtic mythology, Arthurian romance, and an intriguing interpretation of British history--these are just some of the themes embraced by the anonymous authors of the eleven tales that make up the Welsh medieval masterpiece known as the Mabinogion. They tell of Gwydion the shape-shifter, who can create a woman out of flowers; of Math the magician whose feet must lie in the lap of a virgin; of hanging a pregnant mouse and hunting a magical boar. Dragons, witches, and giants live alongside kings and heroes, and quests of honour, revenge, and love are set against the backdrop of a country struggling to retain its independence

.

https://www.amazon.com/Mabinogion-Ox...FHQ7JC0S3ZT7SC



The Táin: From the Irish Epic Táin Bó Cúailnge - (The Cattle Raid of Cooley)

The Tain Bo Cualinge, centrepiece of the eighth-century Ulster cycle of heroic tales, is Ireland's great epic, on par with Beowulf and The Aeneid. The story of the emergence of a hero, a paean to the Irish landscape, and a bawdy and contentious marital farce, The Tain tells of a great cattle-raid, the invasion of Ulster by the armies of Medb and Ailill, Queen and King of Connacht, and their allies, seeking to carry off the great Brown Bull of Cualige. The hero of the tale is Cuchulainn, the Hound of Ulster, who resists the invaders single-handed while Ulster's warriors lie sick. In its first translation in forty years, Ciaran Carson brings this seminal work of Irish literature fully to life, capturing all of its visceral power in what acclaimed poets Seamus Heaney and Paul Muldoon individually called one of the best books of the year.

https://www.amazon.com/Tain-Penguin-...FHQ7JC0S3ZT7SC

[Gwydion]

I'll have be a contrary voice and say that while some tales of Classical myth are interesting, namely the Illiad, Odyssey, and material dealing with Heracles, overall I find the Classical mythology by far the most boring. While strong on detail it is weak in other areas, such as lacking as strongly a preserved cosmology and eschatology one finds in Norse myths with its World Tree, Nine Worlds, Ragnarok, etc. for example. IMO there is also no figure in Classical myth as intriguing as the multifaceted seeker of knowledge, master of magic and death, as Odin, as exemplified in his various epithets found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_names_of_Odin

Celtic mythology is weakest in terms of detail regarding specific deities, lacks a creation myth, etc. but as I hinted at earlier those with even the slightest interest in mystical or esoteric topics will be able to discern that the Celtic myths were most advanced in this regard. The "gnosis" or omniscience of the bard-seer Taliesin I quoted earlier is an example, but really it's all about the Otherworld:

Somewhere along the line, traditions of the agelessness of the Island Otherworld (similar to the Babylonian legend of Utnapishtim) was given an ingenious rationalisation which involved the concept of the mutability of time itself, and thence a view of the Island Otherworld as a subjective state - as much as an actual physical location. This advanced, relativistic understanding is most lucidly expressed in the Manannán sequence from the Immram Brain, in which the sea itself transforms into a flowering plain - merely through an altered perception of the passage of time. However, many continued to believe in the physical existence of the Island Otherworld, as demonstrated by the forlorn voyages from the Western shores of Ireland by these Early Medieval monastic adventurers - protected by nothing stronger a hide coracle and a Quixotic faith in the reality of myth.

In the medieval Celtic narrative tradition, this Island Otherworld lore seems to have increasingly fused with that of other fantastical dreamscapes: not only that of the Christian paradise, but also more native complexes such as the ‘Indigenous Underworld’ discussed in the previous chapter. In the Welsh bardic tradition in particular, influenced as it was by this Gaelic material (as we shall consider below), Caer Siddi and even Annwfn, as well as other faery otherworlds from the later folk-tradition (like the home of ‘the children of Rhys the Deep’), seem to been located wherever the story-teller felt it was necessary to place them: sometimes on an coastal island, sometimes under a lake, sometimes in the ‘Hollow Hills’ accessed through a tumulus or a hole in a leafy river bank. The agelessness and innocence of its inhabitants became a feature of this generic Otherworld, as did the notion of an anomalous passage of time. The incipient notion of the psychic nature of this otherworld experience seems to have taken hold, particularly within the more esoteric reaches of bardic lore. And this interpretation of the Island Otherworld in particular was known to the author of the Mabinogi, as we shall see below.

For a more advanced detail of the same topic:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2055718...n_tab_contents

In Indo-European society the priestly caste of Brahmins/Druids and the sages were the highest caste and Celtic mythology comes closest to approaching the ideals of this caste out of the various European mythologies, with elements of Odin in the Norse myths and perhaps material in the Kalevala relating to Väinämöinen being second closest. Even to this day Merlin or his Tolkien equivalent of Gandalf remain the archetypal image of the Western/European wizard or pagan seer.

Furthermore Celtic myth reigns supreme in terms of living potency in the historical period. Even before Christianization the Classical gods and myths were often rationalized and humanized, becoming mere literary motif, whereas in its Frenchified form the Celtic Arthurian cycle was an animating power of the medieval period, with many kings and knights aspiring to be like Arthur and the Grail cycle becoming an inspired esoteric spiritual mythos...read Evola's "The Mystery of the Grail" to learn more.

On a more localized scale, the Gaelic mythological worldview remained a strong lived experience well into the modern period. The successor to the pagan druids, the filid, survived until the time of Cromwell and into the 20th century there are tales of contact with the Sidhe, say for example the many musical tunes purported to be of "fairy" origin. No other mythological culture can compare to the Irish in terms of a mythological topography that one finds in the Dindsenchas or the importance given to sacred geography with the sacred center or omphalos of Tara/Uisneach.

In short, outside of literary and artistic motifs, the power of Classical or even Norse mythology can't compete with the lasting power Celtic pagan myth has had as a living reality and never did they impose themselves so strongly on foreign people as Celtic myth managed to with the Arthurian cycle.

[Grace O'Malley]

I'll have be a contrary voice and say that while some tales of Classical myth are interesting, namely the Illiad, Odyssey, and material dealing with Heracles, overall I find the Classical mythology by far the most boring. While strong on detail it is weak in other areas, such as lacking as strongly a preserved cosmology and eschatology one finds in Norse myths with its World Tree, Nine Worlds, Ragnarok, etc. for example. IMO there is also no figure in Classical myth as intriguing as the multifaceted seeker of knowledge, master of magic and death, as Odin, as exemplified in his various epithets found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_names_of_Odin

Celtic mythology is weakest in terms of detail regarding specific deities, lacks a creation myth, etc. but as I hinted at earlier those with even the slightest interest in mystical or esoteric topics will be able to discern that the Celtic myths were most advanced in this regard. The "gnosis" or omniscience of the bard-seer Taliesin I quoted earlier is an example, but really it's all about the Otherworld:



For a more advanced detail of the same topic:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2055718...n_tab_contents

In Indo-European society the priestly caste of Brahmins/Druids and the sages were the highest caste and Celtic mythology comes closest to approaching the ideals of this caste out of the various European mythologies, with elements of Odin in the Norse myths and perhaps material in the Kalevala relating to Väinämöinen being second closest. Even to this day Merlin or his Tolkien equivalent of Gandalf remain the archetypal image of the Western/European wizard or pagan seer.

Furthermore Celtic myth reigns supreme in terms of living potency in the historical period. Even before Christianization the Classical gods and myths were often rationalized and humanized, becoming mere literary motif, whereas in its Frenchified form the Celtic Arthurian cycle was an animating power of the medieval period, with many kings and knights aspiring to be like Arthur and the Grail cycle becoming an inspired esoteric spiritual mythos...read Evola's "The Mystery of the Grail" to learn more.

On a more localized scale, the Gaelic mythological worldview remained a strong lived experience well into the modern period. The successor to the pagan druids, the filid, survived until the time of Cromwell and into the 20th century there are tales of contact with the Sidhe, say for example the many musical tunes purported to be of "fairy" origin. No other mythological culture can compare to the Irish in terms of a mythological topography that one finds in the Dindsenchas or the importance given to sacred geography with the sacred center or omphalos of Tara/Uisneach.

In short, outside of literary and artistic motifs, the power of Classical or even Norse mythology can't compete with the lasting power Celtic pagan myth has had as a living reality and never did they impose themselves so strongly on foreign people as Celtic myth managed to with the Arthurian cycle.

You're very good at the "auld" writing as my grandmother would say. Even in parts of Ireland today they still have a bit of reverence for the old sites.

This is quite funny.

Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae has insisted a dip in a Kerry road which had been repaired before mysteriously reappearing is due to the presence of fairy forts.

“There are numerous fairy forts in that area,” he said yesterday. “I know that they are linked. Anyone that tampered with them back over the years paid a high price and had bad luck.”

Asked if he believed in fairies, the TD said the local belief – which he shared – was that “there was something in these places you shouldn’t touch”.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/envi...road-1.3179717

I don't really know if this guy was been really serious.

[renaissance12]

I like very much Arthurian cycle.. To me England = Arthurian cycle

England has nothing to do with Norse religion of Vikings.

[Sokunch]

Greek,because of age of mythology Prostagma ? Vulome

[Grace O'Malley]

I like very much Arthurian cycle.. To me England = Arthurian cycle

England has nothing to do with Norse religion of Vikings.

Arthur was a Celt though. He as a Briton and most likely a Welshman. His name was Arthur Pendragon.

FRENCH historians have suggested King Arthur was indeed a Welshman despite years of English “spin” claiming the mythical figure as their own.

As part of a major conference into the legend, academics say that if the king ever existed he was probably from Wales with strong links to Brittany, in northern France.

And far from being English – a ploy, they say, to appeal to nationalist sentiment – he would actually have been the sworn enemy of the Anglo-Saxons.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/w...sh-say-2161427

But whether he was Welsh or not he was a Celt.

[Gwydion]

You're very good at the "auld" writing as my grandmother would say. Even in parts of Ireland today they still have a bit of reverence for the old sites.

This is quite funny.

Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae has insisted a dip in a Kerry road which had been repaired before mysteriously reappearing is due to the presence of fairy forts.

“There are numerous fairy forts in that area,” he said yesterday. “I know that they are linked. Anyone that tampered with them back over the years paid a high price and had bad luck.”

Asked if he believed in fairies, the TD said the local belief – which he shared – was that “there was something in these places you shouldn’t touch”.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/envi...road-1.3179717

I don't really know if this guy was been really serious.

Iceland seems to be the other place in Western Europe where these sorts of sentiments lingered on...whether its the stronger contact with primal nature compared to more and earlier urbanized/industrial areas or a quality of the Gaelic blood that exists in both places or both I'll leave others to decide.

Of course the "fairy faith" as it were is degenerated in modern Gaelic, Celtic, and indeed other cultures since much of it became bound up with the popular notion of "the little people" or actual fairies as most would imagine them, usually as mischief makers or even a danger to be warded against such as with the notion of changelings. The older Gaelic myths speak of something different, where the figures of the Sidhe are more like gods, human-sized, but more wise and beautiful, and also connected with the idea of the continued influence of the dead. Furthermore instead of being mere mischief makers, the Sidhe was considered the source of truth, beauty, magic, wisdom, and even kingship.

The sidhe was also contextualized through Christian ideas in some cases as representing the beings who didn't "fall" and hence were still in the paradisal state of Eden. Given the psychic or spiritual context of the perception of the sidhe mentioned, whereby it was accepted to exist parallel to our own world but on a different or higher plane as it were, one can see how this general worldview would lend itself to the importance placed on "imbas" or wisdom/poetic power derived from the Otherworld. It is these elements which place Celtic myth closer to the "first function" or Brahmin/spiritual caste of Indo-European cultures, and hence its superiority. This isn't to say the other European mythologies lacked this element in their heyday, but that they simply survived more potently and longer in the Celtic nations.

This is why an esotericist and Hermeticist like Yeats would find so much inspiration in Irish culture and wished to use it as a means to revive a more mythic or spiritual worldview to Europe in general:

[renaissance12]

Arthur was a Celt though. He as a Briton and most likely a Welshman. His name was Arthur Pendragon.



https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/w...sh-say-2161427

But whether he was Welsh or not he was a Celt.

In the 70s one of my favourite cartoon..




I think that Arthur was real...


Anyway to me England is: King Arthur, Shakespeare, Newton, Richard the Lionheart