What do we mean when we say that Celtic goddesses like Rhiannon and Macha are medieval variations of an older, original horse goddess? What are we missing out in that apparently simple statement? You can listen to this episode as a podcast.
Category Archives: Celtic Studies
Eternally Fruitful Questions
What questions should we ask when investigating Celtic myths? There are plenty we could ask, but I’ve tried to hone it down to three eternally fruitful questions. You can listen to this episode as a podcast here. I’ll talk through these three questions on the courses this coming season, and introduce you to the manyContinue reading “Eternally Fruitful Questions”
Taliesin Origins (my own and his)
There’s not many folks who end up in my line of work, and I often reflect on how I’ve ended up here, why I’m still following the path of Celtic myth. It all began with Taliesin, and I have a very distinct set of memories from my youth about those first tentative steps. This videoContinue reading “Taliesin Origins (my own and his)”
Modern Paganism’s Translation Problem?
Do books on modern paganism have a translation problem when it comes to Celtic sources? A discussion with Kris Hughes on an important subject. Or listen to this episode as a podcast:
A 5th branch of the Mabinogi?
What would a 5th branch of the Mabinogi look like? By following the recurring themes of The Four Branches of the Mabinogi, is there a way of guessing what a 5th branch would contain? Here’s a short lecture I gave a few years back at the Aberystwyth Storytelling Festival:
The Life of Stories (Part 6)
In this addendum to our long rangeing conversation about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, poet and storyteller Tom Hirons talks about what brings some poems and stories to life. You can listen to this episode as a podcast here.
Sir Gawain and Men’s Mysteries (Part 5)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight isn’t just an old poem about chivalry and codes of honour, it also appears to be a meditation upon different types of masculinity. Which story about the sacred masculine is being told here? In this fifth part of a long rangeing discussion between myself and the poet and storyteller,Continue reading “Sir Gawain and Men’s Mysteries (Part 5)”
Sir Gawain and the Pagan Goddess (Part 4)
In this fourth part of the series we venture into the pagan wilds of the English classic. Many scholars have commented on the mixture of Christian and Pagan beliefs in the poem, but why did the anonymous author contrast the two types of belief so explicitly? You can listen to this episode as a podcastContinue reading “Sir Gawain and the Pagan Goddess (Part 4)”
Sir Gawain, Woman and Wild God (Part 3)
In this third part of the series, Tom Hirons and myself talk through his poem ‘Sometimes a Wild God’ and some of it’s connections to the Green Knight. The following discussion explores Sir Gawain’s relationship with Lady Bertilak and what this can tell us about medieval and modern ideas of sexuality. You can also listenContinue reading “Sir Gawain, Woman and Wild God (Part 3)”
Sir Gawain, Desire and Death (Part 2)
In this second part of the conversation between the poet Tom Hirons and myself we explore the different tensions in Sir Gawain, initially between desire and death, and then between the different types of morality that can be read in the poem. Listen to the podcast episode here.