- Pages: 320
- Book Size: 6 x 9
- ISBN-13: 9780892814138
- Imprint: Inner Traditions
- On Sale Date: April 1, 1993
- Format: Paperback Book
While historians have tended to accord the Celts a place of minor significance in comparison to the Romans, The Celts firmly aligns the Celtic peoples as the primary European precedent to the Greco-Roman hegemony, restoring this culture to its true importance in the development of European civilization. An expert in Celtic studies, Markale regards myth as a branch of history, and explores mythological material to reveal the culture that gave rise to it. The alternative historical vision that emerges is both convincing and exciting.
• One of the most comprehensive treatments of Celtic civilization ever written.
• A cornerstone of Western civilization and the major source of its social, political, and literary values, Celtic civilization occupied the whole of Western Europe for more than a millennium.
• Unlike the Middle Eastern forerunners of the Greco-Roman world, Celtic civilization is still alive today.
Maps
Introduction: Myth and History
1. The Submerged Town or the Celtic Myth of Origins
2. Who Were the Cimbri
3. Rome and Celtic Epic
4. Delphi and Celtic Adventure
5. The Celts Defeated
6. The History Of the Gaels
7. The Ancient Poetry Of Ireland
8. The Celtic Christian Church
9. Britain
10. The Britons and the Bretons
11. Taliesin and Druidism
12. Celtic Mythology
Conclusion
Bibliography
Notes
Index
Parabola
A cornerstone of western civilization and the major source of its social, political, and literary values, Celtic civilization occupied the whole of western Europe for more than a millenium and, unlike the Middle Eastern forerunners of the Greco-Roman world, is still alive today. Historians have tended to accord the Celts a place of minor significance in comparison to the Romans when, in fact, the shamanic, mythical, and spiritual traditions of the Western world have their roots in Celtic culture. Regarding myth as an indispensable branch of history, Markale has thoroughly explored Celtic mythology to reveal the culture that gave rise to it. The Celts, one of the most comprehensive treatments of this subject ever written, firmly aligns the Celtic peoples as the primary European precursor to Greco-Roman sovereignty, restoring Celtic culture to its true importance in the development of European civilization. The new historical vision that emerges is both convincing and exciting.
Jean Markale (1928-2008), was a poet, philosopher, historian, and storyteller, who spent a lifetime researching pre-Christian and medieval culture and spirituality. He was a former specialist in Celtic studies at the Sorbonne and author of more than 40 books, including Merlin, Women of the Celts, and King of the Celts.
