The Mammoth Book of Celtic Myths and Legends
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PETER BERRESFORD ELLIS is a foremost authority on the Celts and the author of many books in the field including The Celtic Empire (1990), Celt and Saxon (1993), Celt and Greek (1997), Celt and Roman (1998) and The Ancient World of the Celts (1998).Under the pseudonym Peter Tremayne he is the author of the bestselling Sister Fidelma murder mysteries set in Ireland in the seventh Century. Praise for Celtic Myths and Legends ‘For those interested in our Celtic past this selection will be a tremendous source of enjoyment and instruction.’ Contemporary Review ‘The introduction is the most comprehensive and lucid explanation of Celtic lore.’ Alan Lambert, The New Humanity ‘Peter Berresford Ellis brings to bear not only his extensive knowledge of the source material but also his acclaimed skills of storytelling to produce an original and enthralling collection.’ Ipswich Evening News Also available The Mammoth Book of Awesome Comic Fantasy The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 2000 The Mammoth Book of Best New Science Fiction 14 The Mammoth Book of Bridge The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens The Mammoth Book of Chess The Mammoth Book of Comic Fantasy The Mammoth Book of Endurance and Adventure The Mammoth Book of Erotica (New Edition) The Mammoth Book of Erotic Photography The Mammoth Book of Fantasy The Mammoth Book of Gay Erotica The Mammoth Book of Great Detective Stories The Mammoth Book of Gay Short Stories The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories The Mammoth Book of Hearts of Oak The Mammoth Book of Historical Erotica The Mammoth Book of Historical Whodunnits The Mammoth Book of How It Happened The Mammoth Book of How It Happened in Britain The Mammoth Book of International Erotica The Mammoth Book of Jade the Ripper The Mammoth Book of Jokes The Mammoth Book of Legal Thrillers The Mammoth Book of Lesbian Erotica The Mammoth Book of Lesbian Short Stories The Mammoth Book of Life Before the Mast The Mammoth Book of Locked-Room Mysteries and Impossible Crimes The Mammoth Book of Men O’War The Mammoth Book of Murder The Mammoth Book of Murder and Science The Mammoth Book of New Erotica The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures The Mammoth Book of Private Lives The Mammoth Book of Pulp Action The Mammoth Book of Puzzles The Mammoth Book of SAS & Elite Forces The Mammoth Book of Seriously Comic Fantasy The Mammoth Book of Sex, Drugs & Rode ’n’ Roll The Mammoth Book of Short Erotic Novels The Mammoth Book of Soldiers at War The Mammoth Book of Sword & Honour The Mammoth Book of the Edge The Mammoth Book of The West The Mammoth Book of True Crime (New Edition) The Mammoth Book of True War Stories The Mammoth Book of UFOs The Mammoth Book of Unsolved Crimes The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women The Mammoth Book of War Correspondents The Mammoth Book of Women Who Kill The Mammoth Book of the World’s Greatest Chess Games The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Science Fiction The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Unsolved Mysteries Constable & Robinson Ltd 3 The Lanchesters 162 Fulham Palace Road London W6 9ER www.constablerobinson.com First hardback edition published in the UK as The Chronicles of the Celts by Robinson, 1999 This paperback edition published by Robinson, an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2002 Copyright © Peter Berresford Ellis 1999, 2002 The right of Peter Berresford Ellis to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 All rights reserved. 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 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. A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library ISBN 13: 978-1-84119-248-2 ISBN 10: 1-84119-248-1 eISBN: 978-1-78033-363-2 Printed and bound in the EU 10 9 8 7 6 5 Contents Introduction 1 The Ever-Living Ones Ireland: Preface 2 The Sons of Tuirenn 3 The Children of Lir 4 The Love of Fand 5 Lochlann’s Son 6 The Poet’s Curse 7 Cellachain of Cashel Isle of Man: Preface 8 Island of the Ocean God 9 Y Chadee 10 The Ben-Varrey 11 Poagey Liaur jeh Caillagh 12 The Lossyr-ny-Keylley 13 Gilaspick Qualtrough Scotland: Preface 14 The Shadowy One 15 Princess of the Fomorii 16 Maighdean-mhara 17 Conall Cròg Buidhe 18 The Kelpie 19 Geal, Donn and Critheanach Wales: Preface 20 Bran and Branwen 21 Math fab Mathonwy 22 Llyn-y-Fan-Fach 23 Bedd Gellert 24 The Quest for Olwen 25 The Dream of Rhonabwy Cornwall: Preface 26 Tewdrig, Tyrant of Treheyl 27 The Lord of Pengersick 28 The Bukkys 29 Jowan Chy-an-Horth 30 Nos Calan Gwaf 31 An Lys-an-Gwrys Brittany: Preface 32 The Destruction of Ker-Ys 33 N’oun Doaré 34 The Anaon 35 Koadalan 36 The King of Bro Arc’hant 37 Prinsez-a-Sterenn Recommended Further Reading Index This volume is respectfully dedicated to the memory of my good friend, mentor and guide in matters Celtic – Pádraig O Conchúir (1928–1997). I was a listener in the woods, I was a gazer at the stars, I was not blind where secrets were concerned, I was silent in a wilderness, I was talkative among many, I was mild in the mead-hall, I was stern in battle, I was gentle towards allies, I was a physician of the sick, I was weak towards the feeble, I was strong towards the powerful, I was not parsimonious lest I should be burdensome, I was not arrogant though I was wise, I was not given to vain promises though I was strong, I was not unsafe though I was swift, I did not deride the old though I was young, I was not boastful though I was a good fighter, I would not speak about any one in their absence, I would not reproach, but I would praise, I would not ask, but I would give. Cormac Mac Cuileannáin King and Poet of Cashel, AD 836–908 Introduction The mythology, legends and folklore of the Celtic peoples are among the oldest and most vibrant of Europe. The Celts were, in fact, the first European people north of the Alps to emerge into recorded history. They were delineated from their fellow Europeans by virtue of the languages which they spoke and which we now identify by the term “Celtic”. This linguistic group is a branch of the greater Indo-European family. The Indo-European family of languages encompasses most of the languages spoken in Europe, with a few notable exceptions such as Basque, Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian. The Indo-European group also covers Iran and northern India. Since the old classical language of India, Sanskrit, was identified in the eighteenth century, the concept of linguistic evolution and language relationships has become a science. What this means is that we can see from the linguistic relationship of the Indo-European languages that, at some point in remote antiquity, there was a single parent language, which we call Indo-European, for want of a better designation. This parent language diversified into dialects, as its speakers began to migrate from the geographic location where it was originally spoken. These dialects then became the ancestors of the present major European and Northern Indian language groups – Italic or Latin (now called Romance), Germanic, Slavonic, Baltic, Celtic, Iranian, Indo-Aryan and so forth. Even today, there remain relative forms of construction and vocabulary among the Indo-European languages which are not found in other languages: features which help us identify them as such. Features common to Indo-European include clear formal distinction of noun and verb, a basically inflective structure and decimal numeration. An experiment which demonstrates the relationship is to note the cardinal numbers – one to ten – in each Indo-European language and one will find the same sound values indicating the common parent. Where was the Indo-European parent originally spoken and when did it begin to break up? It is probable, and only probable, that the speakers of the parent tongue originated somewhere between the Baltic and the Black Sea. It also seems probable that the parent tongue was already breaking into dialects before waves of migrants carried them westward into Europe and eastward into Asia. The first Indo-European literature that we have records of is Hittite, a language spoken in what is now eastern Turkey. The Hittites formed an empire which eventually incorporated Babylonia and even briefly exerted authority over Egypt. Hittite writing emerged from 1900 BC and vanished around 1400 BC. Hittite literature survives on tablets written in cuneiform syllabics which were not deciphered until 1916. Scholars argue that the Celtic dialect of Indo-European, which became the parent of all Celtic languages, emerged at about 2000 BC. The Celtic peoples began to appear as a distinctive culture in the area of the headwaters of the Danube, the Rhine and the Rhône. In other words, in what is now Switzerland and South-West Germany. A study of early place names of this region show that rivers, mountains, woodland and even some of the towns, still retain the Celtic original. The three great rivers we have mentioned retain their Celtic names.