Balder Ex-Libris

Author : Markale Jean
Title : The epics of Celtic Ireland Ancient tales of mystery and magic
Year : 1984

Link download : Markale_Jean_-_The_epics_of_Celtic_Ireland.zip

Foreword. More than twenty years have passed since this work first appeared, and for the public, Ireland is no longer a complete unknown. Tourism, the European Community, and various other ties have all helped open the door to this strange island lost in the Atlantic, at the farthest western limits of the Old World. But isn’t this a somewhat superficial vision of a country that retains its mystery - and especially of a people whose behavior runs the risk of seeming as disconcerting as it is paradoxical ? Heirs to a very ancient civilization, engaged now more than ever in rebuilding a modern society, the Irish find themselves at the juncture of two universes. And they convey this perfectly in their traditional narratives, in which they speak about the constant interpenetration of the visible and the invisible, the real and the imaginary, that which can be communicated and that which remains ineffable. Converted to Christianity at the very beginning of the Middle Ages under conditions that remain astonishing, they made their country into the crucible in which a new civilization was spawned. This civilization they helped disperse and establish over a whole continent letting itself be devoured by its own violence. Ireland reconverted Europe to Christianity; that is a historical reality. But Ireland is also where the culture of classical antiquity has been preserved, and, not the least of its merits, it has salvaged the great oral tradition of the Celts - thanks to its monks, who were careful to preserve the memory of all that had been their ancestors’ special treasure. ...