Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology by James MacKillop ISBN: 0-19-280120-1 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: November, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.89 (9 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Best one out there
Comment: This is the best, most comprehensive, and best researched reference of its type. There are a very few errors, but such are inevitable in any reference work. They do not detract from the book's value, or the quality of MacKillop's scholarhsip.
Rating: 3
Summary: Useful but flawed
Comment: Quite frankly, if this is the best reference work on Celtic legends and culture, this only goes to show how very bad the rest are. Other reviewers have pointed out the irrelevant English items and very bad etymology; I would like to add that the book is infuriatingly uneven in its references. Some I have been able to track down; other entries have no origin listed at all, which has resulted, in one case, in a desperate and completely unavailing trawl through EVERY TITLE in the Brittany bibliography - and that for a reference which is absolutely fundamental to my research. I know this particular character and folk-tale exist; they must, because other facts I encountered confirm that they must; but because Mr. MacKillop has not given his source for his description, I am unable to proceed. And that is not the only case in which the entries let me down. It is pointless to write a reference dictionary if you are not going to give references!
Rating: 3
Summary: Mostly Good
Comment: There is much in this book that is useful about Celtic folklore and mythology. However, the etymologies are usually incorrect. This may not matter to some. It does to me.
The back cover claims that this book has "authoritative...etymologies for Celtic names..." when they are in fact neither authoritative nor correct.
For example, MacKillop gives for the entry Deva an etymology from Latin meaning goddess "[L. goddess]." However, the Latin for Goddess is _diva_ not _deva_. The word _Deva_ is transparently Brittonic from (Proto)-Celtic *_deiwa_.
Especially annoying for me is the etymology of English words used as headings, which are out of place in a Dictionary of Celtic Mythology (I believe).
So, while the entry for "Stag" is indeed useful, giving the etymology of 'Stag' from "[OE stagga]," (while at least correct in this instance), is just absurd.
As for careerist motivations and cut and past "druidical" names: ...
Lastly, my motivations were not careerist, but one of informing others. A book that claims to be authoritative in Celtic etymologies, I belive ought to live up to that claim. Unfortunately, this one doesn't, and others should be aware of that.
 |
Title: Celtic Gods and Heroes by Marie-Louise Sjoestedt ISBN: 0486414418 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 18 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
 |
Title: Celtic Myth and Legend: From Arthur and the Round Table to the Gaelic Gods and the Giants They Battled--The Celebrated Comprehensive Treasury of Celtic Mythology, Legend, and Poetry by Charles Squire, Sirona Knight ISBN: 1564145344 Publisher: New Page Books Pub. Date: March, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.99 |
 |
Title: The Tain: Translated from the Irish Epic Tain Bo Cuailnge by Thomas Kinsella, Louis Le Brocquy ISBN: 0192803735 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: November, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
 |
Title: The Mabinogi, and Other Medieval Welsh Tales by Patrick K. Ford ISBN: 0520034147 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: April, 1977 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
 |
Title: Celtic Gods, Celtic Godesses by R.J. Stewart ISBN: 0713721138 Publisher: Sterling Publishing Pub. Date: 30 June, 1992 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
