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The Guises of the Morrígan: The Celtic Irish Goddess of Battle & Sovereignty: Her Myths, Powers and Mysteries
The Morrígan is the pre-eminent and most powerful of the Celtic Goddesses. She is the Bestower of Sovereignty, and it is she who shapes the land and rules the faery as Queen. She is a Goddess of both sex and battle, and she uses her potent magic and sorcery to shapeshift, assuming the forms of numerous wild animals. In this book the many parallels between The Morrígan and other Goddesses and figures from both British and Gallic folklore, including Morgan Le Fay, the Banshee, Black Annis, Danu, Epona, Grian, Modron, Nantosuelta and Rhiannon are explored.
Her manifold roles, titles and guises weave a rich and colourful tapestry showing the continued dominion of The Morrígan in mythology, folklore and literature. She was the tutelary Goddess to the ill-fated hero Cu Chulainn; she was the Faery Queen and the Washer at the Ford. She was also the wise crone the Cailleach, and the battle crow Badb, the frenzied Nemain and the Warrior Queen Macha.
Her roles and guises which are brought together for the first time in this carefully researched volume, the work of many years of study, demonstrate clearly the significant status that she held in the ancient Celtic world and continues to enjoy today.
180 pages, Paperback
First published April 13, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 23, 2012
Some of you maybe familiar with the British tales of King Arthur, and hence youare familiar with is evil half sister Morgana La Fey. She is the one who plots against Arthur, seduces him and bears a son named, Mordred, who is raised to kill Athur and take the throne. Of course this is not the real Morrigan or Morgana.
Authors, David Rankine and Sorita D’Este, give us a short but information packed book on Morrigan that takes us back all the way to her Celtic roots. Be prepeared to read this one over mopre than once because you will not want to miss any of the detail. Morriogan’s various guses and forms are analyzed in various literature in which she appears.
Morrigan is the Goddess of Love and War. He a name that she more than lives up to. Morrigan if broken down means “coming from the sea”. She is also called Queen of the faeries and queen of the witches. Through out the Mabinogion and other Irish myths she is identified with three other names. Those names are Nemain, Badb and Macha. Morrigan is sort of a monstrous aspect as depicted by the Lamia at a Roman for in the north. This refers to goddess in the triple form. The Lamia seduce me and then kill them.. As Nemain she is the Goddess of War who is married to the war God Neit. As Badb she is connected to the crows who eat away the dead remains after the battle. This clears the way for the new to be born. As a death Goddess it is also interesting to note that she is sometimes called Danu, the mother of the Tuatha D’ Danan. This creatix being opne of her guises is married to the God of Death. As Macha she claims her spoils of war which is severed heads.
Through out Celtioc mythology she is associated with such motifs as the Bean Sidhe, the Caileachs and the Glastig. Bean Sidhe are often washer women who scream when someone is about to die, especially if they are from a royal family. Glastigs are half female half goat and tend to feed on human blood. The Caileach is a bestower of sovereignty, shaper of land.
The Morrigan is a very complex Goddess more complex then we ever knew, Looking at her variety of guises she could very well fit into the mold. All Goddesses are one Goddess. For she has aspects of mother hood, bestower of sovereignty, warlike aspects and destroyer. This book gets five stars out of five stars.
Authors, David Rankine and Sorita D’Este, give us a short but information packed book on Morrigan that takes us back all the way to her Celtic roots. Be prepeared to read this one over mopre than once because you will not want to miss any of the detail. Morriogan’s various guses and forms are analyzed in various literature in which she appears.
Morrigan is the Goddess of Love and War. He a name that she more than lives up to. Morrigan if broken down means “coming from the sea”. She is also called Queen of the faeries and queen of the witches. Through out the Mabinogion and other Irish myths she is identified with three other names. Those names are Nemain, Badb and Macha. Morrigan is sort of a monstrous aspect as depicted by the Lamia at a Roman for in the north. This refers to goddess in the triple form. The Lamia seduce me and then kill them.. As Nemain she is the Goddess of War who is married to the war God Neit. As Badb she is connected to the crows who eat away the dead remains after the battle. This clears the way for the new to be born. As a death Goddess it is also interesting to note that she is sometimes called Danu, the mother of the Tuatha D’ Danan. This creatix being opne of her guises is married to the God of Death. As Macha she claims her spoils of war which is severed heads.
Through out Celtioc mythology she is associated with such motifs as the Bean Sidhe, the Caileachs and the Glastig. Bean Sidhe are often washer women who scream when someone is about to die, especially if they are from a royal family. Glastigs are half female half goat and tend to feed on human blood. The Caileach is a bestower of sovereignty, shaper of land.
The Morrigan is a very complex Goddess more complex then we ever knew, Looking at her variety of guises she could very well fit into the mold. All Goddesses are one Goddess. For she has aspects of mother hood, bestower of sovereignty, warlike aspects and destroyer. This book gets five stars out of five stars.
November 1, 2016
Very good in places, with lots of interesting references to lesser-known myths, but the really terrible editing distracted me - several parts of the book were just repetitions of what had been said before. The reconstructionist in me wanted more on the lesser-known goddesses/myths, and it was a bit frustrating to have almost every Irish/Scottish mythological figure assumed to be an aspect of the Morrigan. But there's some fantastic work on the myths here, including ones you won't encounter much.
December 12, 2008
Was a terrific read...full of myth, stories and comparisons about The Morrigan, her gusies and the Dark Goddess in general.
March 30, 2012
This is a wonderful collection of research on the Morrigan, as well as other goddesses whose myths and stories are mixed up with hers. The authors provide a great deal of source material and that is one of the great things about their work which shines through every time.
This book remains to be the only one of its sort focussing entirely on the Morrigan and her stories and myths and history.
This book remains to be the only one of its sort focussing entirely on the Morrigan and her stories and myths and history.
April 17, 2012
I'm so glad that alot of information on the Morrigan is all in one book. It's hard to find such an amount all in one place and the authors have taken the time to do a bit of research (unlike others for another publishing house).
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July 9, 2012I wish I had this actual book on paperback as I only was able to attain it through Kindle. This is a wondrous read.
September 6, 2012
Great book on my patroness...
March 19, 2015
An interesting read, but takes some pretty large leaps to distinguish the guises of the Morrigan.
August 29, 2023
I've owned this for a while, and read it several times, so I figured I'd better write something.
It's an interesting book, well researched and referenced pulling on threads from multiple pantheons and mythologies.
The only thing that lets it down is the poor editing, that leads to several ideas being repeated.
It's an interesting book, well researched and referenced pulling on threads from multiple pantheons and mythologies.
The only thing that lets it down is the poor editing, that leads to several ideas being repeated.
June 18, 2019
Difficult book to read due to the way it is edited and put together (there is a lot of repetition!) but with perseverance there is no denying the research put into it by the authors which gives a fascinating insight into The Morrigan and her many faces.
January 13, 2021
Very dry
It took me over a few days to read this because I kept hoping for new information but it repeats 60%of it throughout the book. Very boring and not worth it.
It took me over a few days to read this because I kept hoping for new information but it repeats 60%of it throughout the book. Very boring and not worth it.
May 2, 2013
Overall, "The Guises of the Morrigan" is a great book. It is informative, covers many different interconnected myths and legends, and contains numerous recommendations for more reading, many of which I have added to my reading list. All in all, great information, great book.
I do have to knock off one star for three issues I have with the book:
1: The book really needs a pronunciation key. The many different Celtic, Welsh, Irish, etc. names have no indication of their pronunciation, which can be particularly confusing when several of the people have extremely similar names.
2: The book could really use a visual "family tree", as it were, to map out the numerous historical connections to the Morrigan posited in the book. It's hard to keep track of the players without a scorecard, as they say.
3: Since the book deals with a particular Goddess - Morrigan - and the Morrigan has many archetypal aspects to her, some of the posited "guises" are a bit tenuous. Archetypes often appear in totally unrelated societies because they contain such common symbolism. While many of the "guises" are obviously related, the connections become more tenuous the further away from the Morrigan's time the "guises" are. A few posit they are "guises" of the Morrigan solely due to the appearance of crows or a tripartite nature to the myth being discussed.
These three caveats not withstanding, I highly recommend the book, especially to history and mythology buffs, and seekers along the pagan or Wiccan paths.
I do have to knock off one star for three issues I have with the book:
1: The book really needs a pronunciation key. The many different Celtic, Welsh, Irish, etc. names have no indication of their pronunciation, which can be particularly confusing when several of the people have extremely similar names.
2: The book could really use a visual "family tree", as it were, to map out the numerous historical connections to the Morrigan posited in the book. It's hard to keep track of the players without a scorecard, as they say.
3: Since the book deals with a particular Goddess - Morrigan - and the Morrigan has many archetypal aspects to her, some of the posited "guises" are a bit tenuous. Archetypes often appear in totally unrelated societies because they contain such common symbolism. While many of the "guises" are obviously related, the connections become more tenuous the further away from the Morrigan's time the "guises" are. A few posit they are "guises" of the Morrigan solely due to the appearance of crows or a tripartite nature to the myth being discussed.
These three caveats not withstanding, I highly recommend the book, especially to history and mythology buffs, and seekers along the pagan or Wiccan paths.
February 5, 2015
Very interesting book about a goddess I hadn't given a lot of thought to before. I've always wanted to learn more about Irish mythology, and it was really interesting to see how the Morrigan linked up with seemingly unrelated goddesses like the cow-goddess Boann and the horse-goddess (among other things) Macha. Recommended.
December 9, 2012
As other reviewers mentioned, this book seems terribly repetitive at times and there are issues with editing, which is a big red flag when considering its use as an academically sound resource. That being said, the information that was provided was interesting although overall credibility suffered from poor editing, question of tone and integration of reputable sources.
January 4, 2014
Wonderful Overview
This book is a great resource for anyone who wants to dive into Morrigan-centric celtic mythology. It was a wonderful jumping off point for my own research.
This book is a great resource for anyone who wants to dive into Morrigan-centric celtic mythology. It was a wonderful jumping off point for my own research.
July 16, 2015
This book has some interesting background on a range of dark goddess / spirit modes but is overly focused on tying them into the core Morrigan.
March 29, 2020
Very good
Enjoyed this book learned a lot in this book and was a page turner for me and would recommend it
Enjoyed this book learned a lot in this book and was a page turner for me and would recommend it
May 2, 2013
Fascinating... though better as a reference book than read cover to cover.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews