Celtic Mythology and the Religion of the Ancient Celts by Charles River Editors

Author:Charles River Editors
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Charles River Editors
Published: 2014-05-24T16:00:00+00:00

Lady Charlotte Guest

At the same time that true antiquarians like Lady Charlotte Guest were working hard to find the authentic remnants of the Celtic past, others sought to bolster the truth with their own creations. While fabrications of this type have haunted nationalist movements, the Celts have had two forgers of particular infamy: James Macpherson and Edward Williams. James Macpherson was an 18th century Scottish poet who published a cycle of epic poems called Ossian, which he claimed were written by a blind bard of the same name. Macpherson even claimed Ossian was the son of Fionn mac Cumhaill, an important figure in Irish mythology. The tales, which told of tremendous tragedy and loss and were set in a land of mists and mystery, caught the imaginations of poets and readers across Europe and added fire to the incipient Romantic movement. Today, it is known that Ossian was a fabrication, but it continues to be a work of remarkable quality and imaginative power.

To the south, Welshman Edward Williams also sought to re-create ancient traditions while working in the late 18th century. Giving himself the bardic name Iolo Morganwg, he fabricated a series of medieval texts which claimed to document in great detail the religious rites of the ancient druids, as well as a series of new poetic forms he attributed to the great medieval Welsh bard Taliesin, who was already known for texts like the Book of Taliesin. Like Macpherson, his work continues to resonate today despite the fact he’s a known fraud; the poetic forms he invented have been given widespread use, and his rituals are still used by Druidic organizations in Wales and beyond.

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