Celtic Mythology and Religion

by Alexander MacBain

Awe inspiring in scope and critical rigor, this is a comprehensive overview of the Celtic belief system. A momentous work from the golden age of Gaelic intellectualism, it includes chapters on the character of myth, Elysium, British religion, worship and rites. It is best known for its supplementary essays on Druid circles and Celtic burials. Alexander Machain was born in Glenfeshie in the Scottish Highlands in 1855, Gaelic was still widely spoken and Machain knew no English until the age of eight or nine. "His craving for knowledge of every kind was intense, his means of gratifying it were slender; but he never lost an opportunity." He is generally regarded as one of the greatest Scottish-Celtic scholars. He died in 1907. Cover shows detail from the Gundestrup cauldron (c. first century B.C.E.)

Genres: Nonfiction, Mythology, History, Paganism, Reference, Spirituality, Research

265 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1885

About the author

Alexander MacBain (1855 - 1907)...

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

MacBain does a decent job of running down the little we know about Celtic deities, but the majority of this book consists of speculation about connections between these gods and other Indo-European gods, and Celtic religion and other pagan religions, and a whole host of other things, most of which seems to be completely wrong. MacBain also displays the prejudices of his time regarding women and other cultures.

[Miriam]

I cannot recommend the book if you are looking for a recollection of myths/deities associated with archaeological evidence.

It is more about challenging some of the theories that arouse from the romantic/esoteric approach to ancient remains, and written in the 19th century, there are misconceptions and clear colonialist views.

There are some decent ideas and it is not bad scholarly give that he uses the information available then about linguistics, anthropology, history and archeology, but many of those are out of day.

What I take from it is similar to Alice Roberts’ assertions: we have to be careful with Roman and Greek sources as they are more often than not biased, an old type of propaganda. Also liked the assertion that classic writers would only write about what was different from their system, therefore making the celts a very similar civilisation in some regards. This would indeed fit with the archaeological evidence in terms of technology and artistic expression of the period.

[Arnika]

i will likely read this later in my life. idk anything about celtic mythology atm and it was written in 1917 and i’d rather read it after i’ve read a more up to date introductory text on it because i keep getting the sense that what this book is telling me isn’t accurate go what modern research has told us, especially considering the whole emphasis on aryans. i don’t know enough to dispute it but it feels false. i will figure this out at some point in the future when i return with more of a foundational understanding.

[Ulvhud · Rating 3 out of 5]

Senza infamia, senza lode. Ottimo lavoro di raccolta di miti, folklore e fonti circa le credenze spirituali dei Celti. Ritengo possa essere una lettura adatta a chi è nuovo all'argomento. Allo stesso tempo, pecca della presunzione di voler fare collegamenti, a tutti i costi, con mitologie e realtà differenti da quella celtica.
Se si sorpassano alcune inaccuratezze, colpevoli del periodo in cui il libro stesso è stato redatto, è un buon testo.

[Kevin Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not terribly interesting. Basically tries to say that all Celtic myths and legends are adapted from the Greco-Roman tradition.

[Tiamat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very scientific, very serious. Basically it's a very vague overview of Celtic beliefs, with applauding this respectable researcher or critisizing that one. Almost nothing on the myths themselves, only speculations about which Celtic god corresponds with that Roman one, or what Druids did, or which real race the Fomorians represent, stuff like that.

I liked it though, it felt very nostalgic, reminded me of my philological studies at the univerisity. There had been so much books written the same way.

[Colton Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly difficult to follow without a semi-advanced prior knowledge to Celtic mythology.
It is a very advanced set of knowledge.
Alexander MacBain's prestigious scholarly status was represented in his writing.

[Misty Kaiser]

Awesome if you're interested Celtic Mythos, probably pretty boring if you're not.