Celtic Mythology

February 1, 2008
Gr 5-8-These titles examine both the culture and the mythology of various groups with mixed success. Ramen's book is the best of the three, skillfully reducing vast amounts of Indian history, religion, and mythology into this introductory volume. Nearly half of it is devoted to retellings of stories of Hindu gods and heroes, including brief synopses of the main plots of both the "Ramayana" and the "Mahabharata". Brezina begins with a description of Celtic history and culture as we know it. She then sketches what we know about the religion of the Celts, with descriptions of the role of druids and bards as well as holidays. Along with Irish tales of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Cú Chulainn, and Finn mac Cumhaill, she also includes tales drawn from the Welsh "Mabinogi" and the later Arthurian tales. She describes the Celtic myths as much as she tells them, giving this a more scholarly and less appealing feel than Ramen's book. Roza gives a brief history of the Incan empire and culture. In his description of myths of creation, origin of the Inca people, and assorted natural phenomena, he is careful to mention variations from different locales. The back matter is a weak point for these latter books with the one on Celts including a Web site for a Neopagan Druidic order while the Incan volume includes some very general sites, such as that for the National Geographic Society. Ramen is clearly the best of the lot, with a nod to Roza for a topic that is scarcely represented."Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI"

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