#online sources

[gawrkin]

Hello, I hope you're doing well.

I've been following you for a while, and found your blog whilst searching obsessively for Welsh mythology.

Due to the rise in AI generated slop, I want authentic Celtic mythology to write my book. I'm not Celtic, though I am English, and have always been fascinated with folklore in general.

Do you know any websites where I can find such? I would really love to learn more, please! And because I'm aware that the Welsh, Scottish, and Irish are distinct cultures, so do you know any websites where I can study these folklores too? I would really appreciate that, since your blog was the first that came across my search.

Hello there and thank you for asking!

One of my old (and still somewhat reliable) online sources is the Celtic Literature Collective (or otherwise, the maryjones.us site) (LINK to the site). It has Welsh sources as well as the other Celtic texts. It's not perfect and is lacking/lost many links and texts, but it's served me very well, especially for information on Welsh Myth.

Another useful site is Internet Sacred Texts Archive or Sacred-Texts.com (LINK to the Celtic section of the site). It has some old material that may not be up-to-date anymore, but if you're looking to escape the AI flood, this may be where you can get a foot in whilst looking for stronger sources.

One site of note to my knowledge is Emerald Isle (LINK to site), a site exclusively centered on Irish Myth.

And finally, there is The Arthurian Preservation Project site (LINK to Medieval Literature list), headed by L/@queer-ragnelle. Normally a place for Arthurian media, it also contains some Irish and Welsh texts as a compliment.

As a bonus, I'll throw in two additional links:

Link to a new translation of the Book of Taliesin on Google Books

Link to a lost online translation of Culhwch and Olwen, found on Waybackmachine/web archive

Hope this helps!

[brutus-marsh]

A friendly reminder for ALL parties involved:

NOT ALL SOURCES ARE REPUTABLE.

Sure, you can get information from anywhere on the internet. HOWEVER, there are some places that you shouldn’t be citing when engaging in online debates/discourse. So here’s my general rule of thumb for identifying which sources are valid and which ones are not.

Valid: .org, .gov, .edu or .mil

In order of appearance, these domains are:

- organization (.org)

- government (.gov)

- Education (.edu)

- military (.mil)

These domains are the most commonly used by professionals in any field of study. Education is peer reviewed in ways that .com domains aren’t, as they’re most usually research papers (same can go for .org) These domains are used by nonprofit organizations and government agencies.

Slippery slope: .com

Commercial domains (aka .coms) are used by companies and can be influenced by whoever is advertising/funding them. Some can provide good background knowledge and base level context, but it’s advised to take these sources with a grain of salt.

Invalid: carrds, strawpages, ai summaries/chatgpt, reddit forums, google documents

This should go without saying, but most if not all information from any of the listed sources are NOT peer reviewed and should NOT be taken as fact, unless legitimate studies are cited. I will NOT handle your sources as fact if any of them come from these sources.

[writingcissy]

so i can’t find anymore the post i was looking for but it was something like “for some people ao3 is the only place for available reading”

HERE ARE SOME LOW-BUDGET / COMPLETELY FREE ALTERNATIVE YOU MIGHT CONSIDER 

public libraries: almost every city, from small town to metropolis, has one. so please, check online if there is any public library close to you. most of the times you won’t need to pay even a dollar to have free access to their sources (sometimes there is a small registration fee, in the worst case 5 euros a year)

online sources:this can be applied expecially and esclusively to “classics”.PLEASE DON’T READ PIRATE COPIES OF BOOKS WITH STILL ACTIVE COPYRIGHTS.most classics have been published more than 70 years ago, this means (at least in europe) that copyright are no more active = the author or their family are not having a profit from that book. this means that you may find free online copies of the book. some websites on which you may find free copies of the classics: liber liber, gutenberg project, MLOL

second hand stores: they are almost everywhere and with little luck you will able to find interesting books at very, very low prices. for italian readers: please have a look on libraccio website, you’ll find second hand books at a discounted price.

hope that this can help someone! READING IS NOT A PRIVILEGE, IT’S A RIGHT.

[goldenpolar]

I can't remember if I linked to this before, and I'm still trying to post links to sources. Although limited to what is decided to be posted by the webmaster, this site is a good digital archive of documents. Scans of sources are provided as well as transliterations. Also included are some journal articles.

[gawrkin]

Do you do folklore in terms of historical myths, or even whimsical ones? If both, are you aware of any no-ai websites where I can study such lore (obviously pertaining to British myths and folklore as a whole) for my WIP? Because I've been reading quite the few fantasy books, and I'm really sick of seeing the fae and elves mischaracterised as sexy winged men who have mates and are just there for the smut. I've read only 3 books where the folklore creatures are actually folklore-like---dangerous and untrustworthy, yet can be defeated. I'm aware you focus on Welsh mythology (I too adore the culture's myths and legends), but if this isn't much trouble? I genuinely have no idea where I'm supposed to start. Thank you!! <3

Any and all folklore, even the tiniest and miscellaneous ones, is welcomed on my blog, of course, even if I focus on the Arthurian Matter.

I have already made an answer post to another anon providing links to sites I've used and consider trustworthy. I would in particular recommend Celtic Literature Collective [LINK] and SacredTexts.com [LINK] to you, particularly the latter site, since there's more complete stuff that covers the relevant Welsh, Scottish, Cornish and English myths, as well as Fairy lores. Here's a direct link to the English Folklore page of SacredTexts, since I've already covered the Celtic side of things.

Another site is Fordham University's, although I'm not sure they have material on the smaller, oral side of things. LINK HERE. Also, as an Arthurianist, I would like to link you to an online document by Thomas Green on Arthurian Oral Folklore.

Regarding fairies, I would suggest looking for an online access to Katharine Mary Briggs' body of work. Two of her books are on Internet Archive, but sadly it's restricted on my end.

[gawrkin]

Someone: "In a lot of Arthurian legends..."

Me: *Looks inside*

*Its just stuff from Idylls and TOaFK*

[gawrkin]

(Source: pawilds.com) (LINK)

I was recently informed of this curious article. It says there's this supposedly hundred year old folk story, retold by a man named Hiram Cranmer, about King Arthur being laid to rest in Pennsylvania of all places.

According to the story, Arthur and his knights travelled to Pennsylvania to search for a magic spring to heal their wounds. When Arthur died, his knights temporarily diverted the local stream and buried him in the riverbed.

The author postulates this strange story may have come about because there once lived a weathly lumberer in the area named Charles King, who's last name may have contributed to the confusion.

Otherwise, it would seem just as likely this tall tale may have just originated with Cranmer alone.