Scan barcode
rileyreviews's review
4.0
Nearly perfect, but lacks Scottish representation (compared to Welsh and Irish). Great read though, I do feel like I understand a lot more about the topic then before which is the point.
salderson's review
5.0
I wrote my thesis on how Welsh bardic culture (and mythology) and warrior culture worked together during the Norman invasions in the Middle Ages. During the classes I took on the mythology, medieval literature, and the Middle Ages in general (there were so many), I read the historical background needed for this book, and I read most of the mythology in this book - although I think we skipped Finn Mac Cool. This book underlined a lot of the conclusions I came to in my thesis - the myths may have some ancient ties - perhaps some of the heroes are representative of some long-lost deities. However, these stories are medieval and they have medieval implications. They tell use all about what the learned cultures believed were important to tell, as well as what these societies thought of themselves and their own history. They also have some older pieces, but those are hard to really sift out of the medievalisation of the stories. I think that Mark Williams really did a great job illustrating this - we want these stories to represent the real mythology because it is fun, but we actually have little information to go one. The writing was engaging and kept me interested through the entire book. It is easy to understand, and the pronunciation guide at the back is super handy!
hadeda's review
4.0
An excellent book, covering a broad subject area with nuance and colour. There is a small blemish which is a rather strange commentary on Patrick Pearse—I don't think the author meant to equate homosexuality with predatory behaviour, but maybe that section could have done with the editor's closer scrutiny.