The Mythology of the British Islands: An Introduction to Celtic Myth, Legend, Poetry, and Romance

This 1905 work was among the first to bring the complete tapestry of Celtic mythology to English-speaking readers. Squire wrote during a period of renewed fascination with indigenous British traditions, when scholars and poets were seeking alternatives to the exhausted well of Graeco-Roman classical sources. His aim was audacious: to demonstrate that the Celtic tradition offered not merely quaint folklore, but a profound literary and spiritual heritage worthy of serious study. The book moves through the major cycles of Celtic myth, the Ulster heroes, the Finn legends, the Matter of Britain, while illuminating how these stories became woven into the fabric of English literature itself. For modern readers, Squire serves as an invaluable guide to understanding how the mists of Avalon became the Grail romances, how Cú Chulainn influenced the Irish literary revival, and why the Celtic imagination still haunts contemporary fantasy. Whether approaching these myths for the first time or seeking to understand the Victorian-era foundations of Celtic scholarship, this volume remains essential.