دانلود کتاب Gods and Heroes of the Celts

Translated by Myles Dillon.

First published in France in 1940, and then re-published in English translation in America in 1982, "Gods and Heroes of the Celts" holds the key to an essential structure of the Celtic world, one which gives rise to a complicated and richly textured mythology. Magic is alive here, as is ritual — but this is a magic and a ritual that belong to a culture whose understandings are vastly different than our own.

For the linguist Sjoestedt, the mythologies of Ireland contain the proofs of an underlying difference of mind, a way of thinking that is characterized by a continuous engagement between the natural and supernatural worlds. Here, within the oral and written traditions of early Ireland, the two worlds interpenetrate, reflect, and continue each other, with this constant communication ensuring a single, organic unity, and the continued survival of the tribe.

Sjoestedt’s splendid gifts of interpretation and syntheses are an essential contribution to an understanding of the unique balance of female and male powers found in Celtic mythology. Within her clear analysis of myth and tradition, Sjoestedt explores the underlying elements of early Celtic religion, as that religion was formed in careful companionship with the world of social and civic order. Much like the work of her contemporary, Marija Gimbutas, Sjoestedt approaches her subject with a seriousness honed by an extensive scholarship and a true sense of wit. The essential matrix of thinking that Sjoestedt defines is a clear outline for future studies of Celtic mythology — a wonderfully open and engaged writing filled with the grace of both a storyteller and a scholar.