Which European mythology do you find most interesting?

[TheOldNorth]

Greeks are great storytellers and greek mythology is unrivaled in its complexity.

unrivaled in its complexity? Irish myth is so complex even JRR Tolkien admitted he didn't quite understand it, and the man made an entire history!

[renaissance12]

Nordic/Germanic Mythology historical sources are are very very scarce.. so it is impossible to really know what was the religion of the celts and germanic.. Most of what we know ( ( in addition to the ancient Roman ones ) about nordic mythology was collected by Christian Monks.. Sagas were recorded in high medeival times with christian moral purposes ( written to make fun of those who were not yet Christians ).

Saying this it is clear that it is foolish to consider religion the parody written by Christian monks to mock non-Christians ..

Furthermore, the medieval accounts are contradictory...

It makes sense to tell that the Historical sources of norse religione are MARVEL COMICS...

Don't forget that Christian Monks ( whose purpose was to make fun of those who were not Christians ) could also have taken inspiration from the writings of Tacitus and Julius Caesar because ,probably, the very scarces oral traditions ( if they still existed ) were not worthy of any attention ..

[dududud]

Preindo-europeans anatolian hunter gatherer.

[renaissance12]

unrivaled in its complexity? Irish myth is so complex even JRR Tolkien admitted he didn't quite understand it, and the man made an entire history!

Historical sources please..


It makes no sense to compare Greek/Roman mythology with something that has almost no HISTORY And the scarse sources were written by Christian Monks during middle age era..... to make fun of those who were not Christians .
Northern archeology ( also very scarce) does not help to fill the void of written sources..

[tomásx]

easily Roman/Greek

[Grace O'Malley]

Irish mythology with their Giants, Gods & Goddesses, fairies, leprechauns, spirits, selkies etc. Most of the witchy stuff is based on Irish mythology.

Some figures from Irish mythology

Finn Maccool


Deirdre of the Sorrows


Children of Lir


Cú Chulainn (hound of Cullen) born as Sétante, the son of the god Lug (Lugh) of the Long Arm and Dechtire


Danu (she's like a Mother Goddess). Her people are the Tuatha Dé Danann (People of the Goddess Danu)


Angus Og (god of youth, love and poetic inspiration)


Lugh (God of light)


The Morrigan (shape shifting Goddess of War, Fate and Death)


Brigid, the Triple Goddess, daughter the The Dagda (she is associated with spring, fertility, healing, poetry and smithscraft)


The Dagda also called Eochaid Ollathair (“Eochaid the All-Father”). He is the good god. He is associated with fertility, agriculture, virility and strength, as well as magic, druidry and wisdom.


Manannán mac Lir ("son of the sea"). He is the ruler and guardian of the otherworld. He has cool things like a cloak of invisibility.


There are many, many more but this is just to show how magical and wonderful Irish mythology is. It just isn't well known.

[Grace O'Malley]

Either Greek/Roman Mythology or Nordic/Germanic Mythology. Never really got into Celtic because the Irish discarded it the minute Christianity came to town. I will say the Iliad and Odyssey are unmatched although I love Beowulf and Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda.

Shame on you. Irish in fact incorporated many of their myths into the Celtic Church. Where do you think St Brigid came from?

[TheOldNorth]

Irish mythology with their Giants, Gods & Goddesses, fairies, leprechauns, spirits, selkies etc. Most of the witchy stuff is based on Irish mythology.

Some figures from Irish mythology

Finn Maccool


Deirdre of the Sorrows


Children of Lir


Cú Chulainn (hound of Cullen) born as Sétante, the son of the god Lug (Lugh) of the Long Arm and Dechtire


Danu (she's like a Mother Goddess). Her people are the Tuatha Dé Danann (People of the Goddess Danu)


Angus Og (god of youth, love and poetic inspiration)


Lugh (God of light)


The Morrigan (shape shifting Goddess of War, Fate and Death)


Brigid, the Triple Goddess, daughter the The Dagda (she is associated with spring, fertility, healing, poetry and smithscraft)


The Dagda also called Eochaid Ollathair (“Eochaid the All-Father”). He is the good god. He is associated with fertility, agriculture, virility and strength, as well as magic, druidry and wisdom.


Manannán mac Lir ("son of the sea"). He is the ruler and guardian of the otherworld. He has cool things like a cloak of invisibility.


There are many, many more but this is just to show how magical and wonderful Irish mythology is. It just isn't well known.

I think the description of Lugh's role here is a bit lacking, he is also the champion of the gods, a god invoked under oaths, an ancestor of kings and heroes, a god associated with the power of storms, and the sea, and a protector or watchman for mankind.

[Grace O'Malley]

I think the description of Lugh's role here is a bit lacking, he is also the champion of the gods, a god invoked under oaths, an ancestor of kings and heroes, a god associated with the power of storms, and the sea, and a protector or watchman for mankind.

Thanks for adding that. Like you I really love Irish mythology. Welsh is cool as well.

[TheOldNorth]

Historical sources please..


It makes no sense to compare Greek/Roman mythology with something that has almost no HISTORY And the scarse sources were written by Christian Monks during middle age era..... to make fun of those who were not Christians .
Northern archeology ( also very scarce) does not help to fill the void of written sources..

irish monks had a great appreciation for the previous gods, and like the Norse began seeing them as historical figures rather then gods, or in some cases turned them into saints or angels, St Brigid is an example, and so to is the many kings and saints named for Lugh even after pagan times. The church of Ireland was isolated from the catholic tradition and therefore was almost a continuation of the previous religious order of the druids (though they dropped some practices that were incompatible with the bible's teachings). Christianized sources for European mythology weren't as distorted as most think, like if you look at the poetic edda, rune stones depicting exact and specific scenes from the book can be found, though Snorri changes the origin of the gods to merely be the descendants of kings from Anatolia.