Abstract
The vernacular literary traditions of Ireland and Wales are among the oldest in Europe, with some of the earliest extant Irish manuscripts dating back to the sixth century ad. While there has been no shortage of studies and anthologies making this material available to the general public, reliable translations that would also help the reader to appreciate the complex nature of this material are still relatively few. In this regard, it is unlikely that the present volume will surpass other similar collections such as the Early Irish Myths and Sagas (1981) or The Mabinogion (1976) by Jeffrey Gantz, although it will undoubtedly reach its target audience in the wider market.
Philip Freeman has a background in both Classics and Celtic Studies, and he has previously published several volumes on topics related to these fields, including a contemporary retelling of some of the most renowned Greek and Roman myths (Oh my Gods, 2013). His Celtic Mythology continues in the same vein, offering a selection of eminently readable modernised renderings of early tales, from heroic Ulster Cycle narratives to Otherworld voyages and stories related to the famous outlaw Finn mac Cumhaill. Compared with the range of Irish texts covered, the Welsh tales are arguably underrepresented in the volume, as only two chapters are devoted to them. Despite the general claim that the origins of the Welsh stories ‘stretch back into ancient Celtic traditions and have much in common with early Irish literature’ (p. 165), these connections are not otherwise very clearly articulated.
The inclusion of a chapter titled ‘Christian mythology’ seems somewhat incongruous in a volume of this kind, and it could be argued that the author’s decision to frame the early hagiographies of Saint Patrick, Brigid, and Brendan primarily as repositories of ‘pagan survivals’ is problematic to say the least. By relegating three of the most important Irish saints into the mythical pre-Christian past in this manner, the author, perhaps unwittingly, reinforces some of the most persistent misconceptions about the idiosyncrasies of the so-called Celtic Church, and undermines all the important work that has been done on early Irish Christianity in recent decades.