Women in Celtic Myth: Tales of Extraordinary Women from the Ancient Celtic Tradition

In Women in Celtic Myth, Caldecott develops on the stories of Rhiannon, Bloeduwedd, Deirdre, and others. She then analyzes the stories and offers her interpretation of the symbolism in these myths. I enjoyed her retellings a great deal, but the analysis that follows each story is dense and difficult to get through at times. Overall, this is a great book for anyone interested in learning more about the stories of the Celtic Goddesses. It is well researched and thorough, but just occasionally a bit dry.

I read this book a number of years ago, and I still love it. Each goddess is given a new myth, based in the old, and written from a new, feminist perspective. If you are into Celtic spirituality at all, I highly recommend this book. If you are a student of Celtic mythology, I also recommend this book, for the different perspective it will give you. It is an easy read, and great introduction to the central goddesses in Celtic mythology.

This book takes each of the Celtic goddesses (Irish, Welsh, and Scottish) and devotes a little fictional short story to her. Chapters include "Arianrhod and Bledouwedd," "The Three Etains," and "Emer and the Women Who Loved Cu Chulaind," as well as chapters (or stories) on Maeve, the Morrigan, Grania, Macha, and many others. The stories are based on elements of the actual myth, but because they are new short stories crafted by the author they flow smoothly and are so interesting you can't put the book down.. I have found that learning about the myths this way has helped me to understand them much better. Caldecott also has a good introduction discussing the Celts and their myths, and a commentary after each story with added info about each myth and listing her sources for further reading.

Ms. Caldecott offers interesting history on the Celts in her introduction and also offers insightful interpretations and analysis of Celtic mythological tales after retelling these great stories from the point of view of the main female characters. A great book -- I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the genre.