Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend

248 Pages·1997·27.735 MB·English

by  Miranda J. Green

Dictionary of Celtic
Myth and Legend
MIRANDA J. GREEN
The bonfires of Beltene; the rites of head-hunting; the
horned god; Cu Chulainn and the bands of ancient Irish
heroes; the mysteries of the Otherworld: here is the
entire panoply of old Celtic ritual and belief.
The ancient Celts were the greatest and most power-
ful of the early European peoples residing north of the €00003351b48
Alps. Warlike, exuberant and superstitious, they saw
divinities in every facet of life and nature, venerating
deities of the sun, thunder, water, war, healing,
hunting, fertility and death. Each tree, mountain, lake,
bog and spring housed its own spirit, which had to be
propitiated and appeased.
In addition to their many gods, the Celts possessed a
complicated array of concepts and rituals. They prac-
ticed human and animal sacrifice, and a powerful
priesthood — the Druids — presided over much of their
religious life: bull worship, the veneration of oaks, anda
pantheon which included the goddess-queen Medb and
the Morrigan, a sinister war-goddess. Symbols — the
boar, the spoked wheel, the cauldron — effigies and
numerology all featured in the battery of motifs and
rités that embodied their world-view.
The Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend contains
entries on every aspect of Celtic myth, religion and folk-
lore in Britain and Europe between 500 Bc and ab 400.
In parallel with the fruits of archaeological research —
shrines, images of deities, inscriptions and votive
objects — the testimony of Classical writers and the ear-
liest recorded versions of the pagan oral traditions of
Wales and Ireland provide us with a complete overview
of Celtic lore. This all-embracing reference guide pre-
sents that fund of knowledge in over 400 copiously
illustrated articles, together with a comprehensive
historical Introduction.
Here is a fascinating volume for anyone with an
interest in the extraordinary world of the pagan Celts.
With 243 illustrations
On the jacket: detail of the Gundestrup Cauldron,
silver (originally gilded), probably 4th — 3rd c. Bc.
Published by permission of the Danish National Museum.

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Dictionary of Celtic
Myth and Legend
243 illustrations
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THAMES AND HUDSON
‘ PUBLIC LIBRARY
rent Collinge, Ceteraco
For Eunice, Stephen and Ann
Frontispiece
Drawing by Jen-Delyth, entitled The Keltic
Mandala. This is a symbolic illustration of
the Celtic year, with its seasonal cycle, in
the form of a wheel. The mandala
incorporates many motifs found in Celtic
art and mythology, such as the stag, the
bull, birds, the solar wheel, oak leaves and
the Tree of Life.
Any copy of this book issued by the publisher as
a paperback is sold subject to the condition that
it shall not by way of trade or otherwise be lent,
resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without
the publisher’s prior consent in any form of
binding or cover other than that in which it is
published and without a similar condition
including these words being imposed on a
subsequent purchaser.
© 1992 Thames and Hudson Ltd, London
First published in the United States in 1992 by
Thames and Hudson Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue,
New York, New York 10110
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number
91-65265
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or any other
information storage and retrieval system, without
prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Printed and bound in Singapore
Contents
Acknowledgments
6
Reader’s Guide
a
Introduction
9
Subject Index
23
THE DICTIONARY
26
Bibliography
229
Sources of the Illustrations
239
‘Events which can be dated and analysed, and placed at a proper distance from the
present, can also at some stage begin to appear far away; can fade. Myths are
fresh; they never lose their force.’
V.S. Naipaul
Acknowledgments
I should like to express my gratitude to the following people, who have helped me
on this project in many ways: Wynne Lloyd, for teaching me Welsh; Brian Ramsden,
for helping to get me computerized; Paul Barrett; Dr Sioned Davies; Frank Delaney;
Professor Geraint Gruffydd; Dr Brynley Roberts; Dr Terry Thomas; Dr Graham
Webster. Finally, I want to say a special word of thanks to Stephen, whose
encouragement acted as my Cauldron of Regeneration!