Animals in Celtic Life and Myth

Miranda Green

'Profusely illustrated, and making full use of freshly excavated evidence... her book forms both an excellent introduction to, and a timely round-up of, a complicated and fascinating subject.'
- The Times Literary Supplement

For the Celts, a rural people whose survival depended greatly upon their environment, the sanctity of natural phenomena and of the elements led to extreme respect and veneration of animals. Both wild and domesticated species became the subject of elaborate rituals and formed the basis of profound religious beliefs. Animals in Celtic Life and Myth examines the intimate relationship which developed between humans and animals, in a society in which animals were central to all aspects of life.

Miranda Green draws on evidence from a variety of early Celtic documents, as well as archaeology and iconography, to reveal that the Celts believed many animals to be sacred, either possessing divine status in their own right or acting as mediators between gods and humans. She examines the crucial role of animals in the Celtic economy, in hunting and warfare, in Celtic art and literature, and in religion and ritual. This study covers the important period between 800 BC and AD 400, during which much of Europe was turning to Christianity, with examples ranging from Iceland to Slovakia.

Animals in Celtic Life and Myth will be invaluable to students of archaeology, anthropology and history, and to all those fascinated by the Celts.

Miranda Green is Reader in Archaeology and Head Research in Humanities at the University of Wales College, Newport. She is the author of The Gods of the Celts, Symbol and Image in Celtic Religions Art, The Sun-Gods of Ancient Europe and the editor of The Celtic World.