Peter Berresford Ellis

This is an enchantingly told collection of the stirring sagas of gods and goddesses, fabulous beasts, strange creatures, and such heroes as Cuchulain, Fingal, and King Arthur from the ancient Celtic world. Included are popular myths and legends from all six Celtic cultures of Western Europe—Irish, Scots, Manx, Welsh, Cornish, and Breton. Here for the modern reader are the rediscovered tales of cattle raids, tribal invasions, druids, duels, and doomed love that have been incorporated into, and sometimes distorted by, European mythology and even Christian figures. For example, there is the story of Lugh of the Long Hand, one of the greatest gods in the Celtic pantheon, who was later transformed into the faerie craftsman Lugh-Chromain, and finally demoted to the lowly Leprechaun. Celtic Myths and Legends also retells the story of the classic tragic love story of Tristan and Iseult (probably of Cornish origin—there was a real King Mark and a real Tristan in Cornwall) and the original tale of King Arthur, a Welsh leader who fought against the invading Anglo-Saxons. In the hands of Peter Berresford Ellis, the myths sung by long-dead Celtic bards come alive to enchant the modern reader. "The casual reader will be best entertained by ... the legends themselves ...colored with plenty of swordplay, ... quests, shape-shiftings, and druidic sorcery."—Publishers Weekly

Celtic Myths and Legends

Developed from an early oral storytelling tradition dating back to the dawn of European culture, this is one of the oldest and most vibrant of Europe's mythologies. From all six Celtic cultures - Irish, Scots, Welsh, Cornish, Manx and Breton - Peter Berresford Ellishas included popular myths and legends, as well as bringing to light exciting new tales which have been lying in manuscript form, untranslated and unknown to the modern general reader. The author brings not only his extensive knowledge of source material but also his acclaimed skills of storytelling to produce an original, enthralling and definitive collection of Celtic myths and legends - tales of gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines, magical weapons, fabulous beasts, and entities from the ancient Celtic world.

The Mammoth Book of Celtic Myths and Legends

Traces the colorful early history and culture of the Celtic peoples, celebrating their accomplishments in the fields of agriculture, engineering, metalwork, jewelry, stone carvings, glassware, philosophy, medicine, and more. Original.

A History

The Celts

Shrouded in legend, the mysterious cult of the ancient Druids continues to fascinate, inspiring latter-day imitators who often are only a poorly researched and romantic reflection of Druidic lore. In this compelling and readable history, respected Celtic scholar Peter Berresford Ellis explores who the Druids really were and what role they played in the Celtic world. Ellis provides a fresh and convincing interpretation of the facts, based on both archaeological and etymological findings. "Remarkable ... offers much for the academician as well as the general reader. Fascinating reading!"—Joseph A. King, author of Ireland to North America

A Brief History of the Druids

The Druids

History of the Irish Working Class

At the same time, you'll find vivid portraits of everyday life in Ireland throughout the centuries as chronicled in everything from St. Patrick's confessions to heartrending accounts of the famine of 1848 to the letters, diaries, and memoirs of a vast and multifarious array of authors."--BOOK JACKET.

Eyewitness to Irish History

For centuries the Celts held sway in Europe. Even after their conquest by the Romans, their culture remained vigorous, ensuring that much of it endured to feed an endless fascination with Celtic history and myths, artwork and treasures. A foremost authority on the Celtic peoples and their culture, Peter Berresford Ellis presents an invigoration overview of their world. With his gift for making the scholarly accessible, he discusses the Celts' mysterious origins and early history and investigates their rich and complex society. His use of recently uncovered firnds brings fascinating insights into Celtic kings and chieftains, architecture and arts, medicine and religions, myths and legends, making this esesntial reading for any search for Europe's ancient past.

A Brief History of the Celts

In this compelling and highly reliable study of the Druids, respected Celtic scholar Peter Berresford Ellis sifts through the historical evidence and, with reference to the latest archaeological and etymological findings, gives the first authentic account of who the mysterious Druids were and what role they played in Celtic society. The Druids emerge as the intellectual caste of ancient Celtic society. They were the doctors, the lawyers, the ambassadors, the advisers to kings. They also had a religious function. Ellis describes the special Druidic training, their philosophy, their belief in auguries, and their intriguing origins. He also shows that the current "New Age" image of the Druids as benevolent wizards comes from a woefully inadequate interpretation of the facts.

Looks at the history of women in Celtic folklore, society, and civilization

Women in Celtic Society and Literature

Celtic Women

The Cornish Language and Its Literature

Seumas Mac a'Ghobhainn

Recapturing the desperation of the people & the extraordinary heroism of the radical leaders, this book offers an incisive analysis of the Scottish Insurrection of 1820 & the events that led up to it.

The Scottish Insurrection of 1820

Dictionary of Celtic Mythology

Takes readers on a journey to the ancient world of the Celts by tracing the lives of Ireland's noble families who profoundly impacted Irish culture.

The Gaelic Noble Dynasties of Ireland

Erin's Blood Royal

A comprehensive pan-Celtic primer surveying the histories and cultures of all six Celtic nations and examining their current political prospects.

A Study in Anti-imperialism

The Celtic Revolution

A collection of the stirring sagas of gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines, magical weapons, fabulous beasts and strange entities from the ancient Celtic world. Included are popular myths and legends from all six Celtic cultures - Irish, Scots, Manx, Welsh, Cornish and Breton.

New Tellings of Their Myths and Legends

The Chronicles of the Celts

A Dictionary of Irish Mythology

MacBeth, High King of Scotland, 1040-57

Seumas Mac a' Ghobhainn

An astonishing book' – Observer 'Read this book . . . it should affect you to pity and admiration' – Guardian Glasgow, April 1820. The last armed uprising on British soil, intent on severing the Union and establishing a radical Scottish republic, ended in executions, imprisonments, transportations and 85 trails for high treason. Yet despite its political and social importance, the story of this working-class revolution vanished from the historical record. This book restores the radical rising to its rightful place in history, offering an incisive analysis of the rising itself and the events which led up to it, vividly recapturing the extraordinary heroism of its leaders, John Baird and Andrew Hardie, and the savagery with which the movement was crushed by the forces of the British state.

The Radical Rising

Peter Berresford Ellis charts the amazing history and survival of the ancient royal Gaelic dynasties of Ireland, acknowledged as some of the most ancient in Europe.'

Peter Berresford Ellis

About

Books

Join the club