Celtic Myth & legend

Dans les legendes mythologiques Celtes de Bretagne, les Korrigans sont depeints comme un groupe de creatures femelles, associées avec rivières et fontaines.

Elles sont aussi decrites comme des fées dotées de magnifique chevelure dorée. Dans plusieurs contes, on dit qu’elles aurait le pouvoir de changer de forme. De leur beauté, elles savent ensorceller et seduire les hommes mais tomber amoureux d’un Korrigan est fatal.

Les Korrigans sont parfois decrites comme femmes druides qui ont combattus contre la convertion chretienne avec leur domaine supernaturel. Elles sont aussi associées avec Halloween qui tirent ses origines de l’ancien nouvel an celtique du 31 Octobre. En cette nuit il serait dit qu’elles attendraient leurs victimes près des dolmens anciens magalithiques, tumuli et menhirs qu’on trouve en abondance en Bretagne.

Les plus celèbres sont les alignements neolithiques de pierres levées de la region de Carnac du Morbihan et qui datent du cinquieme millenaire avant Jesus Christ.

Using traditional verse, J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, tells the legend of Sigurd and Gudrun. The dragon slayer Sigurd's dramatic exploits are vividly recounted by Tolkien, who combines his skill as an author and academic.

In the Celtic world, there are many Scandinavian influences, particularly Norwegian. Dublin, the Irish capital city, was founded by the Vikings. You can learn more about Dublin's Viking history by visiting the Dublinia Viking and Medieval Museum, which has excellent exhibitions on Viking Dublin.

The Islands of Scotland and the Isle of Man formed the Northern and Southern Isles. The Northern Isles of Shetland and Orkney were known to the Norse as  Norðreyjar. The Southern Isles forming the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles consisting of the Hebrides, the islands in the Forth of Clyde and the Isle of Man were known as Suðreyjar. Geneticist Professor David Goldstein led a fifteen month genetic study which formed the basis of a five part BBC documentary that looked at the Viking heritage remaining in these areas. Concentrations of Norwegian genetic heritage were found.

The Norse influences on the life and peoples of these islands remain clear today. The festival of Up Helly Aa is held in Shetland in January every year culminating in the burning of a Viking galley. The Isle of Man has retained the system of government introduced by the Norse. The Manx Parliament known as Tynwald is the oldest continuous parliament in the world and it is thought the Vikings adapted it from an existing ancient Celtic ceremony dedicated to the Sun-God.

Professor Miranda Green of Cardiff University in Wales is the author of several books related to Celtic Culture including the well known "The World of the Druids".

The Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend by Prof. Green has been widely hailed as an excellent reference text for the expert or layman with an interest in Celtic Mythology. The praise is justified.

In over 200 pages of alphabetized Divinities, Mythological Beings, Sacred Animals, Symbols and Natural Phenomenon, Professor Green provides a masterful reference text to the pre-Christian Celtic world. Richly illustrated, this is an easy and enjoyable read for those of us seeking a lucid presentation of the rich myth and legend of the ancient Celts. The fourteen page introduction, if dutifully read and absorbed, gives the reader a firm grounding in this mesmerizing subject matter.

In the dead of night on Halloween, people living close to the route of the Manx Electric Railway could hear the screech and grind of the tram as it made its way alongside the lower levels of the coastal hills. Those with sense and experience turned in their beds and pulled the covers tightly over themselves. No scheduled tram ever ran so late at this time of year. The sound was unmistakable; metal on metal, the crackling of electricity, straining breaks and the rhythmic pounding of wheel on track. Heard at an incalculable distance but able to pierce through the strong late autumn winds. Mingling with the creaking and straining of branches shedding leaves as the dark steadfast trees prepared for the coming winter. In the background the waves of the Irish Sea crashed against the rocks below. The natural noise of a normal Manx Autumn, with rolling mists and fast moving low clouds sweeping over cliffs, through valleys and into deep cut glens. Accompanied now by something entirely unnatural. At every stop on the tram's route came the shrill squeal of it's hooter. Echoing around the mist bound countryside alternatively sounding like the cry of an abandoned soul and a threatening screech. A bone chilling noise which seemed to convey a clear message 'board this tram if you dare'.