Bob Curran's contribution to the increasing market of books on all things Celtic is quite individualistic and at times speculative in its selection of material. It is not a work of academic research, but is rather a medley of imagery, descriptions and curiosities, all being presented in a manner which engages our interest and provides a fundamental challenge to the notion of formal classification. This, of course, need not upset the reader who wishes to be entertained and to acquire a general knowledge of the materials.
The author is obviously fascinated by the strange and unusual ideas encountered in old Celtic tradition and in traditions which he has connected with it. There is something Yeatsian in his approach, as he brings us through a rather loose landscape of other-world islands, forests, seas and underworlds, peopled by such engrossing characters as druids, wizards, giants, saints, fairies and heroes. It follows that the real value of the book is that it whets the appetite and may inspire the poetic imagination. Curran writes concisely and well, and the beautiful illustrations - eclectic as is much of the subject-matter - are very much in tune with the challenging thrust of the book.
An enjoyable read may be marred for more objective researchers by some blatant lapses in chronology, such as for instance the impression given that the Celts spread from Italy into Gaul rather than vice versa, and the confused discussion of Ogham script. The text, however, is never boring, and the discussion increases in accuracy as it progresses to the questions of epical lore and seasonal lore. All in all, the reader of this enthusiastic work from cover to cover will lay it aside with a good basic knowledge of many of the essential features which would be tackled in an in-depth study of Celtic and related myth, legend, and belief. To describe the book as a "Complete Guide" is, of course, far too ambitious. It would be unfair to any author, and in this case a more suitable title might be something such as "Aspects of Old Celtic Lore".
The infectious enthusiasm of Bob Curran is matched by that of Anne Bernard Kearney but, in place of the antiquarian drift of the former we have here a treatment of some famous Irish stories from a contemporary perspective. Kearney's selection is deft and manageable, and provides a good basis for studying one very dramatic aspect of medieval Irish storytelling. The famous women are at once varied and complementary - Meadhbh, Grainne, Deirdre, Eimear, Dearbhorgaill, and Eadaoin.
In the case of each, the author has provided accurate and useful compressed translations, and it is obvious that she has a good feel for the style of the original literary texts. She sets forth her system of analysis in the introduction, and enlarges on this in a short essay attached to each story. The perspective offered is a variant of contemporary feminist interpretation, which has the benefit of making the events and the images real to modern readers.
The general approach is very much in line with the method of French philosophical and literary scholarship in dealing with such old mytho-fictional narratives. The value of this, as is well-known, lies in its original insights, but its weakness lies in lack of background. Some basic facts of cultural history, which could contribute greatly to the analysis, go unmentioned - for instance, that the Eadaoin story is a version of one of the oldest international narrative plots known to exist, or that the Grainne and Deirdre stories are based on an early medieval migratory plot which circulated in these western parts of Europe. It can also be said that a great deal of analytic mining remains to be done on the shift from ritual to drama in the persona of Meadhbh and her fictional cousins.
The present reviewer does not feel competent to comment on the psycho-analytical aspects of the discussion, but it does seem obvious that that discussion would benefit from less repetition and from a broader base. The real charm is in the texts themselves, and in how the author presents them. The book is enhanced greatly by illustrations from the hand of Anne Bernard Kearney herself, and her work is ideally suited as an introduction for young people wishing to have a cultured acquaintance with mediaval Irish literature.
Daithi O Hogain is Associate Professor of Irish Folklore at University College Dublin. He is the author of many books in Irish and English. His most recent work is The Sacred Isle (1999).