So, You Wanna Study Irish Mythology?
One of the questions I get hit with a lot is âIf Iâm getting into Irish Mythology, what sources do you recommend?â Itâs a sad, sad truth about the field that a lot of really valuable info is kept locked away in books and journals that the lay person wouldnât know about (and then we wonder why information about the field is so bad.) So, I decided to compile a list of sources that Iâve personally used and found helpful in my time. Itâs not a complete bibliography because, frankly, that would take up a TREMENDOUS amount of space and youâd be scrolling forever to find what you wanted, and I donât AGREE with every single thing they say, and itâs by no means exhaustive (keep in mind: scholars from all over the field use mythological texts to study things as diverse as law, geography, tribal names, material culture, etc. and here Iâm mainly focusing on sources that are JUST mythological-focused) but theyâre a good starting point to forming your own opinions. The journal articles are, tragically, generally kept confined to academia, butâŠ.perhapsâŠ.if you were to ask around, someone might be able to provide you with a copy. As a whole, Celticists tend to be quite generous when it comes to sharing articles.Â
List subject to change, check back as time goes on to see if Iâve added anything. Also, as always, feel free to either drop me an ask or a pm if youâre curious about digging further into a given text/figure. I canât act as a consultant on a religious question; Iâm a very firm atheist with all the spirituality of a dull spoon, except with the existence of ghosts. My interest in the Tuatha DĂ© is purely scholarly; all that I can say is what I know about these topics from the perspective of the medieval sources, but I can definitely do my best on that one front, and I wonât reject anyone who has a different interest in the Tuatha DĂ© from contacting me.Â
This list only deals with the Mythological Cycle, not the other strands of the literary tradition that is generally if not uncontroversially referred to as âIrish Mythologyâ. For Fenian Cycle traditions, a similar bibliography has been compiled by Dr. Natasha Sumner of Harvard, here.Â
Editions/Translations of Texts (many of these are available at UCCâs CELT archive or on Irish Sagas Online):Â
Tochmarc ĂtaĂne, Osborn Bergin and Richard BestÂ
Cath Maige Tuired, Elizabeth Gray (If you can and youâre serious about the field, I highly recommend getting the actual Irish Text Society Edition, which includes a wonderful index of every time a given figure shows up in other sources. An absolute must for a mythographer.)Â
Lebor GabĂĄla Ărenn, J.R.S Macalister, 5 vols. (The entirety of this is available on archive.org. PersonallyâŠwhile the rest of it is obviously important and worthy of study, if youâre interested in just the mythological stuff, I recommend Volume IV, which includes both the Fir Bolg and the Tuatha DĂ©. Unless you really, really want to read five volumes of medieval Irish pseudohistory, the last volume of which was finished posthumously.) i ii iii iv v
The Metrical Dinshenchas, Edward Gwynn. (5 vols.) (These are difficult, with many scholars outright ignoring them except when absolutely necessary. These are in a later form of Irish, which means that, while some of the contents in them could very well be Pre-Christian in nature, they very much do reflect a later medieval world. Some of them are just as much about contemporary politics as they are about mythology, and many of them also bring in content from the Ulster Cycle and the Fenian Cycle. My personal favorites to look up are Tailtiu, Carn Hui Néit, Duirgen, and Carmun, though there are MANY others.) i ii iii iv v
âThe First Battle of Moyturaâ, John Fraser (Note: Itâs a VERY late text, with the question of the Fir Bolg/Tuatha DĂ© battle and how far the tradition really goes back being one thatâs very important to keep in mind. Itâs a personal favorite of mine. But itâs very late.)
Baile in ScĂĄil, Kevin Murray (Thurneyson also did an older edition thatâs more readily accessible, hence why I linked it here, but Murray is the most recent and up to date.)Â
âHow the Dagda got his magic staffâ, Osborn BerginÂ
Oidheadh Chloinne Tuireann, Richard Duffy (This is an Early Modern Irish text, so it was written down comparatively late. That doesnât mean that thereâs NO mythological content here, itâs a personal favorite of mine, but it means that it very much reflects the cultural context of aroundâŠ.the 15th-17th century or thereabouts. Itâs very chaotic, very violent, and the heroic figures areâŠ.notâŠ.heroic.)Â
Scél Tuåin Meic Chairill, John Carey
Echtra Nerai, itâs available in a fairly recent translation by John Carey in Celtic Heroic Age (pub. 2003) , listed below, though Kuno Meyer also did an edition/translation for it that Iâve linked to here.Â
Books:Â
Proinsias Mac Cana, Celtic Mythology (Personally, Iâd recommend this one first - Itâs designed for someone who isnât a specialist and, while a lot of what heâs saying has been disputed back and forth, itâs still a handy primer and will get you into the myths.)
John Koch and John Carey, The Celtic Heroic Age (Once you have an idea of what youâre looking at, I recommend this one, since itâs a sourcebook. A TON of material from across the Celtic world, featuring classical sources, medieval Irish sources, and Welsh, all of it in one place.)Â
Mark Williams, Irelandâs Immortals (I personally recommend you read this one after you read CHA, giving you a bit of context for what Williams is saying here.)
OâRahilly, Early Irish History and Mythology (note: A lot of what he says here is no longer considered recent in the field, but his knowledge of his own sources is, frankly, without any other peer. Use with a grain of salt)
John Carey, The Mythological Cycle of Medieval Irish Literature
Kim McCone, Pagan Past, Christian Present
Koch, Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia
Articles:Â
John Carey, âMyth and Mythography in âCath Magh Tuiredââ
John Carey, âDonn, Amairgen, Ith and the Prehistory of Irish Pseudohistoryâ
Proinsias Mac Cana, âAspects of the theme of King and Goddess in Irish LiteratureâÂ
MĂĄire Herbert, âGoddess and king: the sacred marriage in early Ireland.â
Gregory Toner, âMacha and the invention of mythâÂ
Elizabeth A. Gray, âCath Maige Tuired: myth and structureâ
Thomas Charles-Edwards, âTochmarc ĂtaĂne: a literal interpretationâ
TĂłmas OâCathasaigh, âCath Maige Tuired as Exemplary MythâÂ
Joseph Nagy, âClose encounters of the traditional kind in medieval Irish literatureâÂ
Mark Scowcroft, âLeabhar GabhĂĄla. Part I: the growth of the textâÂ
Mark Scowcroft, âLeabhar GabhĂĄla. Part II: the growth of the traditionâ Â
Joseph Nagy, ââTalking mythâ in medieval Irish literature.â
John Carey, âThe Location of the Otherworld in Irish TraditionâÂ
MĂĄire Bhreathnach, âThe sovereignty goddess as goddess of death?â
John Carey, âNotes on the Irish war-goddess.âÂ
Veronica Philipps, âExile and authority in Lebor gabĂĄla ĂrennâÂ
Kevin Murray, âSources of Irish mythology. The significance of the dinnáčĄenchasâÂ
