The Celts: Uncovering the Mythic and Historic Origins of Western Culture

by Jean Markale

Overview

While historians have tended to accord the Celts a place of minor significance in comparison to the Romans, The Celts firmly aligns the Celtic peoples as the primary European precedent to the Greco-Roman hegemony, restoring this culture to its true importance in the development of European civilization. An expert in Celtic studies, Markale regards myth as a branch of history, and explores mythological material to reveal the culture that gave rise to it. The alternative historical vision that emerges is both convincing and exciting.

• One of the most comprehensive treatments of Celtic civilization ever written.

• A cornerstone of Western civilization and the major source of its social, political, and literary values, Celtic civilization occupied the whole of Western Europe for more than a millennium.

• Unlike the Middle Eastern forerunners of the Greco-Roman world, Celtic civilization is still alive today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780892814138
Publisher:	Inner Traditions/Bear & Company
Publication date:	04/01/1993
Edition description:	1st U.S. ed
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Poet, philosopher, historian, and storyteller, Jean Markale has spent a lifetime researching Celtic civilizations. He is the author of forty books on pre-Christian societies, including Merlin, Women of the Celts, and King of the Celts.

Table of Contents

Maps

Introduction: Myth and History

1. The Submerged Town or the Celtic Myth of Origins
2. Who Were the Cimbri
3. Rome and Celtic Epic
4. Delphi and Celtic Adventure
5. The Celts Defeated
6. The History Of the Gaels
7. The Ancient Poetry Of Ireland
8. The Celtic Christian Church
9. Britain
10. The Britons and the Bretons
11. Taliesin and Druidism
12. Celtic Mythology

Conclusion

Bibliography
Notes
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A comprehensive study of European culture that traces the shamanic, mythical, and spiritual traditions of the Western world to their roots in Celtic civilization."

Editorial Reviews

"A comprehensive study of European culture that traces the shamanic, mythical, and spiritual traditions of the Western world to their roots in Celtic civilization."

Parabola

"A comprehensive study of European culture that traces the shamanic, mythical, and spiritual traditions of the Western world to their roots in Celtic civilization."

From the Publisher

"A comprehensive study of European culture that traces the shamanic, mythical, and spiritual traditions of the Western world to their roots in Celtic civilization."

Parabola

A paper edition of the 1978 Celtic Civilization, first published in French in 1976. Markale, best known for his Celtic Women, delves into the mythological underpinning of Celtic civilization, showing how it impacted the people's history (or at least their account of it) and argues that it has influenced modern Europe much more than scholars admit. Unfortunately, the latter chapters degenerate into dreary comparisons based on Dumezil. Available from Inner Traditions, One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews