Myths and Legends of the Celts

426 Pages·2006·19.15 MB·English

by  James MacKillop

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‘Fascinating ... one of the best accounts
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James MackKillop
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PENGUIN REFERENCE
MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE CELTS
Dr James MackKillop is an eminent scholar of Celtic history and
culture, having been Visiting Fellow in Celtic Languages at
Harvard University, Professor of English at the State University
of New York, Visiting Professor at the Université de Rennes and
President of the American Conference for Irish Studies. His many
publications include the Dictionary of Celtic Mythology (1998),
Fionn mac Cumhaill (1986) and Irish Literature: A Reader (1987,
2005). He is based in Syracuse, New York.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2022 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/mythslegendsofce0000mack
JAMES MACKILLOP
Myths and Legends of the Celts
PENGUIN BOOKS
For Molly E. and Colin K.
PENGUIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London wc2R oRL, England
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
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First published 2005
Published in paperback 2006
2
Copyright © James MacKillop, 2005
All rights reserved
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Set in 10.5/14 pt PostScript Linotype Sabon
Typeset by Rowland Phototypesetting Ltd, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Printed in England by Clays Ltd, St Ives ple
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject
to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent,
re-sold, 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 this
condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
ISBN-13: 978—O—141-01794-5
ISBN-10: O—14I—01794-5
Contents
Acknowledgements Vil
Introduction
PART ONE
Contexts
Names in the Dust: Searching for Celtic Deities
Remnants of Celtic Religion
Sacred Kingship in Early Ireland
Goddesses, Warrior Queens and Saints
Calendar Feasts
Otherworlds 107
—Wn on
PART TWO
Irish Myths
7 Irish Beginnings: the Lebor Gabdla Erenn 127
8 The Irish Mythological Cycle 150
9 The Ulster Cycle, Part I 168
ste) The Ulster Cycle, Part I]: Cachulainn and the Tain 191
Li The Fenian Cycle 219
The Cycles of the Kings 243
I2
CONTENTS
PART THREE
Welsh and Oral Myths
13 British Roots and Welsh Traditions 261
14 Survivals in the Oral Traditions of Celtic Lands 284
Select Bibliography gOS
Leading Names and Terms in Celtic Mythology StS
Index
550
vi
Acknowledgements
Two valued friends read the typescript as it was being prepared and
made countless useful suggestions. They are James E. Doan of Nova
Southeastern University and Richard Marsh of Legendary Tours in
Dublin. Lucy McDiarmid of Villanova University provided vital infor-
mation at the inception of the project. Linda McNamara of Inter-
Library Loan services at Onondaga Community College found obscure
volumes even when they were not stocked by the Widener Library or
the Library of Congress. David Lloyd of LeMoyne College gave critical
advice on Welsh pronunciation.
The author and publisher would like to thank the following for per-
mission to reproduce illustrations: Maiden Castle, Tara, The Uffington
Horse (plates 1, 2, 13), copyright reserved Cambridge University
Collection of Air Photographs; The Coligny Calendar (plate 3), Cliché
Ch. Thioc, Musée gallo-romain de Lyon, France; Hallstatt Exca-
vations, The Battersea Shield, The Gundestrup Cauldron, Miniature
wagon from Mérida, Heads at Entremont (plates 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14,
16), copyright © akg-images/Erich Lessing; The Book of Durrow
(plate 5), copyright © The Board of Trinity College Dublin; The god
Sucellus (plate rr), copyright © The Art Archive/Centre Archéologique
de Glanum Saint-Rémy-de-Provence/Dagli Orti; The goddess Epona
(plate 12), copyright © The Art Archive/Musée Alésia Alise Sainte
Reine France/Dagli Orti; and Sheela-na-gigs in Kilpeck (plate rs),
copyright © English Heritage.
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