Books on Balts
Unfortunately, most work in this area is being published in Lithuanian.
The following are useful, however:
Gimbutas, Marija. The Balts.
Written before she went off the deep
end into Goddess studies, still a classic in the field.
Greimas, Algirdas J. Of Gods
and Men: Studies in Lithuanian Mythology.
Good survey of the field.
Books on Celts
Caesar. The Conquest of Gaul.
First hand report by the conqueror.
Its accuracy has been questioned, but it is coming back into favor.
My personal take is that there were so many Romans in Gaul Caesar couldn't
have stretched the truth too far without being caught out.
Carmichael, Alxander (tr. and ed.).
Carmina Gadelica. A collection
of prayers and incantations collected in the Hebrides and Highlands of Scotland
late in the 19th. century. How much they are truly the work of
the peasant of the area, and how much Carmichael "improved" his
sources are a question that is being debated. (It is certain that he
did some "improving;" the question is how much.) Still, they
are beautiful and at least partly authentic.
Chadwick, Nora. The Celts.
Gerald of Wales. The History
and Topography of Ireland. Gerald
travelled through Ireland in the 12th century and recorded a variety of folk
legends and customs. Our only source for the Irish horse sacrifice and
the practices surrounding Brighid at such an early date.
Gantz, Jerffrey (ed. and tr.).
Early Irish Myths and Sagas.
A representative sample of what is available.
Green, Miranda. The Gods of
the Celts. A little indiosyncratic
(she seems to be looking for sun gods everywhere) but still a good source.
Green, Miranda (ed.). The Celtic
World. A large compendium of articles
by Celticists in a variety of fields. Not much about religion, but a
lot about society.
Hutton, Ronald. The Pagan Religions
of the Ancient British Isles. Not
strictly Celtic, although it does cover that period, but the book is too good
to leave off this list, and I had to put it somewhere. Read it.
Koch, John (ed. and tr.) The
Celtic Heroic Age. A compendium
of Celtic sources from all of the Celtic lands.
MacCana, Proinsias. Celtic Mythology.
Good introduction, lavishly illustrated,
and available at many public libraries.
The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh
Tales. tr. Patrick K. Ford.
The Mabinogion. tr. Jeffrey
Gantz. Welsh primary source material.
Ford's translation is more recent and reliable, and I love his notes.
He also included a tale ("Hanes Taliesin") that is not in Gantz.
Gantz, on the other hand, contains a number of tales not found in Ford.
My recommendation is that if you just wish an overview, then buy Ford; if
you want to go deeper, buy them both.
MacNeill, Maire. The Festival
of Lughnasa. Exhaustive study of
the surviving customs surrounding this Irish holiday, with a speculated reconstructed
ancient ritual. Now if only someone will do the same with the other
Irish holidays.
Piggot, Stuart. The Druids.
A little dry, but considered the best
introduction to the subject.
Rees, Alwyn, and Rees, Brinley.
Celtic Heritage. The Celts from
an Indo-European point of view.
Ross, Anne. Pagan Celtic Britain.
Her attempts to link up continental
iconography with medieval Irish tales are a bit ambitious, but the book is
still well worth reading. Great pictures, too.
Trioedd Ynys Prydrin. tr.
Rachel Bromwhich. Very important primary
source material if you intend to study the Celts in any depth, and the notes
are very useful. Don't bother with it if you are just skimming the Celts,
though.
Wait, G. A. Ritual and Religion
in Iron Age Britain. Might be hard
to find, but I found it worth it.
