Myth and History in Celtic and Scandinavian Traditions explores the traditions of two fascinating and contiguous cultures in north-western Europe. History regularly brought these two peoples into contact, most prominently with the Viking invasion of Ireland. In the famous Second Battle of Moytura, gods such as Lug, Balor, and the Dagda participated in the conflict that distinguished this invasion. Pseudohistory, which consists of both secular and ecclesiastical fictions, arose in this nexus of peoples and myth and spilled over into other contexts such as chronological annals. Scandinavian gods such as Odin, Balder, Thor, and Loki feature in the Edda of Snorri Sturluson and the history of the Danes by Saxo Grammaticus. This volume explores such written works alongside archaeological evidence from earlier periods through fresh approaches that challenge entrenched views.

This volume includes “Milesians and Alans in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula and the Mythical Invasion of Ireland,” by Manuel Alberro; “The Breton Compositions of Jean Cras,” by Paul André Bempéchat; “The ‘Gallic Disaster’: Did Dionysius I of Syracuse Order It?,” by Timothy Bridgman; “Dangerous Liaisons,” by Marion Deane; “Cernunnos: Looking a Different Way,” by David Fickett-Wilbar; “Epic or Exegesis? The Form and Genesis of the Táin Bó Cúalnge,” by John J. Fisher; “Introducing King Nuadha: Mythology and Politics in the Belfast Murals,” by Alexandra Hartnett; “‘Gaelic Political Scripture’: Uí Mhaoil Chonaire Scribes and the Book of Mac Murchadha Caomhánach,” by Benjamin James Hazard; “Voice, Power, and Narrative Structure in Orgain Denna Rig,” by Bettina Kimpton; “Cú Chulainn: God, Man, or Animal?,” by Erik Larsen; “The Celtic Seasonal Festivals in the Light of Recent Approaches to the Indo-European Ritual Year,” by Emily Lyle; “The Date and Provenance of Vita Prima Sanctae Brigitae,” by Laurance Maney†; “Spirit and Flesh in Twentieth-Century Welsh Poetry: A Comparison of the Works of D. Gwenalt Jones (1899–1968) and Pennar Davies (1911–1996),” by D. Densil Morgan; “Joseph Cooper Walker’s Historical Memoirs of the Irish Bards (1786): Significance and Impact,” by Lesa Ní Mhunghaile; “Old Irish *desgabál and the Concept of Ascension in Irish Religious Texts,” by Brian Ó Broin; “Oenach Aimsire na mBan: Early Irish Seasonal Celebrations, Gender Roles, and Mythological Cycles,” by Sharon Paice MacLeod; “Literature Reviews in An Claidheamh Soluis: A Journalistic Insight to Irish Literary Reviews in the Revival Period 1899–1932,” by Regina Uí Chollatáin; and “Celtic Ornament, Irish Gospel Book Decoration, and the Illustrated Prose Lancelot of Yale 229,” by Elizabeth Moore Willingham.