Women in Celtic Myth: Tales of Extraordinary Women from the Ancient Celtic Tradition

I bought this book as a required text for one of my classes and it is surprisingly good. The stories are interesting with a focus on women and it read more like a book of fairy tales than a text book. The commentary by Moyra Caldecott after each story is complementary, insightful, and helpful and really helped to illuminate the common themes and symbols in Celtic mythology. I recommend this book for anyone with an interest in Celtic myth.

I wanted to learn more about the celtic life, where wormen were in this life and how I could use information to empower women to exceed I have a celtic background and also used the book to delve into my traditions. The book is not hard to read and in a story format, which allows imagination as well as visualization. I would recommend it highly

I LOVED this book. Can't say enough about what this book meant to me as a woman of Celtic/Gaelic heritage!

Women in Celtic Myth: Tales of Extraordinary Women from the Ancient Celtic Tradition This work by Moyra Caldecott addresses the traditions of women in ancient Celtic culture. She uses eleven stories: Rhiannon, Arianrod and Blodeuwedd, The Three Etains, Emer and the Women who Loved Culchulain, Macha, The Morrigu, Deidre, Findabair an Maeve, Grania, The Farmer's Youngest Daughter and The Sea Maiden. In these stories Caldecott shows the strength of ancient women on the domestic scene and on the battle field. Celtic women were warriors. They trained warriors and were the source of incredible spiritual strength as well. They were not demure women waiting for someone to take care of them. She uses these stories to prove her thesis.My favorite story has always been that of Deidre. Caldecott does it justice. I had always known the ending of the story, but she told it so beautifully and with such flair. I had to read it again. She adds commentary to each story at the end. The commentary of Deidre I found quite useful for my own work. It is Caldecott who showed me after reading this story by so many authors that the conclusion had a second meaning as well. A society bound by fate and Deidre's life planned out before she was born: No one saw that she would end it with a suicide. I had always looked at it on the surface. The heroes, the king and Deidre life being manipulated. She could never have the man she wanted, the life she wanted or the self she wanted she killed herself. Some stories are vivid. Some are softer. Caldecott is rough: "...smashed her brains in..."You will not want to put the book down and you will certainly learn something if you are interested in ancient Celtic History. Buy it.

This book takes each of the Celtic goddesses (Irish, Welsh, and Scottish) and devotes a little fictional short story to her. Chapters include "Arianrhod and Bledouwedd," "The Three Etains," and "Emer and the Women Who Loved Cu Chulaind," as well as chapters (or stories) on Maeve, the Morrigan, Grania, Macha, and many others. The stories are based on elements of the actual myth, but because they are new short stories crafted by the author they flow smoothly and are so interesting you can't put the book down.. I have found that learning about the myths this way has helped me to understand them much better. Caldecott also has a good introduction discussing the Celts and their myths, and a commentary after each story with added info about each myth and listing her sources for further reading.

I read this book a number of years ago, and I still love it. Each goddess is given a new myth, based in the old, and written from a new, feminist perspective. If you are into Celtic spirituality at all, I highly recommend this book. If you are a student of Celtic mythology, I also recommend this book, for the different perspective it will give you. It is an easy read, and great introduction to the central goddesses in Celtic mythology.

Ms. Caldecott offers interesting history on the Celts in her introduction and also offers insightful interpretations and analysis of Celtic mythological tales after retelling these great stories from the point of view of the main female characters. A great book -- I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the genre.

This is an insightful and enjoyable collection of Celtic stories where women are not only at the forefront of the story but are also shown to be independent, strong and more than capable of running their own lives and making their own decisions. Each tale shows a different character ranging from warriors and queens to farmers and homemakers, all of whom take the lead and show themselves to be decisive and determined. Caldecott also provides her own interpretations for each of the stories which allow the reader to think about the deeper meaning behind each one as well as enjoying each as a story in its own right