The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore (repost)

From Booklist
Celtic mythology is a mystery even to the experts. Trying to sort out what is purely Celtic and what has been altered by the Greeks, Romans, and Christians is an impossible task. Trying to reconcile written records with archeological evidence is difficult if not impossible. The reader is then left with a jumble of names, stories, traditions, and places under the rubric "Celtic mythology."

This latest attempt to bring order out of chaos is an encyclopedia of approximately 1,000 entries covering individuals both mythological and quasi-historical, epics, themes, religious concepts, places, and artifacts. Irish mythology predominates, but continental Celtic figures, even those who are only a name in a local region, such as Britovius, are included.

Organized alphabetically, the entries range in size from several sentences to more than a page. Many end with a short list of sources. The work concludes with a seven-page bibliography and an index with major entries in boldface. An introduction explains Celtic history and culture and describes how the author has handled the entries, especially in regard to spelling.

Other dictionaries and encyclopedias have tackled this topic. An Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology (Contemporary, 2000) uses a thematic approach, with chapters on druids, fairies, etc. Dictionary of Celtic Mythology (ABC-CLIO, 1992) uses alphabetical entries and has a bibliography but does not include sources with each entry. Another volume, Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend (Thames and Hudson, 1992), has 400 entries. The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore has more entries and provides sources for many of them. In libraries with a high demand for or interest in Celtic mythology, this would be a worthwhile purchase. For libraries with moderate interest that already own one of the earlier encyclopedias or dictionaries, this would be an optional purchase. RBB