The Celtic Heroic Age (None) |  | Creator: John T Koch
Publisher: Celtic Studies Publications
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
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Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 164527
Media: Paperback
Edition: 4
Pages: 488
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.6 x 1
ISBN: 1891271091
Dewey Decimal Number: 820
EAN: 9781891271090
ASIN: 1891271091
Publication Date: August 1, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
This is the fourth edition of an invaluable collection of literary sources, all in translation, for Celtic Europe and early Ireland and Wales. The selections are divided into three sections: the first is classical authors on the ancient Celts-a huge selection including both the well-known - Herodotos, Plato, Aristotle, Livy, Diogenes Laertius, and Cicero-and the obscure -Pseudo-Scymnus, Lampridius, Vopsicus, Clement of Alexandria and Ptolemy I. The second is early Irish and Hiberno-Latin sources including early Irish dynastic poetry and numerous tales from the Ulster cycle; and the third consists of Brittonic sources, mostly Welsh. This edition includes three new early Irish tales, translated by Máirín Ní Dhonnchadha: The Birth of Áed Sláine; Fingal Rónáin, and the Story of Mis and Dubh Rois.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
 Good literal translations, many source texts in one central place December 25, 2005
Raven (Seattle, WA)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
"The Celtic Heroic Age" is billed as an introductory text for Celtic studies, but I would be nervous about that without more of an understanding of the world in which it's set. It's a series of translations of Celtic texts and references to them in Classical lore. In almost all cases, it's just English, though some of the shrine inscriptions have the original tongues side by side. The translations are very prosaic, as far as I can tell. They convey the information just fine, but for poetic resonance, Kinsella eats them for breakfast. The focus here seems to be on rendering the text as literally as possible, not in telling a good story. That's fine by me -- the book is intended as a reference, and it's often extremely useful to have a minimally interpreted version.
Reading the Classical sources, it helps *immensely* to have an understanding of the biases and agendas of the Classical world, and to have read some of the archaeological references. It helps you separate historical fact from Roman propaganda. The text does not do this for you; it's your job to figure out that Caesar was trying to conquer Gaul, and that these missives were his newsletters to home. There's no background on what the Greeks thought of barbaroi in general, or what qualities they esteemed before they condemned people in entirely unflattering terms. Knowing these things will help set the texts in perspective.
I enjoyed rereading new (to me) translations of many familiar stories. I still have a hard time wading through all the repetitive descriptions of each warrior's clothes, chariot, leg hair, etc., but it's at least less dull now that I catch some of the allusions and intended associations/meanings each time through. I would recommend this book as a reference to Celtic geeks -- it is damn handy to have so many source texts in one place. It's predominantly Irish texts, so it's most useful to insular Celtic folks, but there are Welsh texts and a scattering of Continental inscriptions and references in there too.
An Interesting Read December 29, 1999
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
Although I don't have any formal academic background in Celtic Studies, I found this book to be very approachable. It gives easy-to-follow translations of the original text alongside fascinating insights on ancient Britain and Ireland. For the hobbyist it can be hard to find books on Celtic lore which both are readable and have substance -- this does both nicely.
The Celtic Heroic Age June 2, 2000
catubrannos (Alcluta Nouiaselandia)
9 out of 13 found this review helpful
This book is a brilliant kick off point for anyone interested in the real ancient celts. It consists in the main of translations of historical texts. Most people are reasonably au fait with the insular texts thanks to the romantic movement, but fully half the book is dedicated to the comments that the ancient Greeks and Romans made about them. These "first hand" accounts are otherwise difficult for the beginner to find which is sad as I feel that they show what these great people were really like. A great read.
 An invaluable resource for students of Celtic history October 3, 1998
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
I studied under Prof. Koch in college and was among the "guinea pig" group who used the first printing of this book in class. I wisely kept the book after I graduated, and it has come in very handy for personal research and reference when arguing minutiae of Celtic history with other dilettantes. There is a wealth of uncommon and obscure information in the book, all free of editorialization and personal biases or opinions by the editors.Readers looking for books to curl up with, be warned: this isn't a straight narrative, but consists instead of fragments and annotations from primary and secondary sources dating back 2,000 years, from the first encounters with the people from mainland Europe whom the Greeks called "Keltoi" to Medieval stories about the Cornish King Arthur and his knights.
THE sourcebook for serious Celtic studies March 19, 1999
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
I have used this book in my classes on Celtic literature and mythology, and have found nothing else comes close for classical and medieval sources on the Celts. It is a collection of translated original material to be used by those interested in real, as opposed to fanciful, Celtic studies.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
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