Recommended Reading Lists

General Note About What’s Included

These are not exhaustive bibliographies, by any means. I’ve listed standard books that are relatively easy to find and generally respected by Celticists, linguists, folklorists and medievalists. There are lots of excellent books I haven’t listed, and lots I don’t know about. Every book here that is specifically Celtic in scope is by an author who reads at least one of the Celtic languages. All of the books have a brief annotation, and I’ve linked longer reviews of some of the books.

Most of these books are available in paperback; itÆs increasingly common to find scholarly and academic Celtic studies books in ebook form too. Many of these are available at your local independent or national chain bookstore, at Barnes and Noble.com, or at specialist book sellers for Celtic scholars and students, like Books for Scholars, or via the international UK/US scholarly book store Oxbow Book/David Brown Books, also listed on the Where to Buy Books FAQ.

Book Retailers

I have included links to Amazon as well Barnes and Noble and Powell’s catalog pages should you want to order a book online (I am an affiliate of all three sites; a purchase using a link from this site won’t affect your price, but it does help with site expenses). In many cases you’ll find it is cheaper to purchase books from your local independent book seller; I’ve tried to post ISBNs for all the books listed here.

• I’ve written some longer, more detailed reviews linked on the book reviews page.
• The reading list for Celtic cultural histories includes titles about Celtic mythology in general.
• The Medieval Irish and Medieval Welsh booklists include titles about myths and texts in the specified language.
• These are opinionated; I’m not listing a book I don’t know, haven’t read, or find poorly researched.

Celtic Studies Books: A Starter Kit

Opinionated reviews of books in Celtic Studies

Celtic Cultural Histories

Medieval Irish Literature and Irish Myth

Medieval Welsh Literature and Welsh Myth

Arthurian Literature (with a Celtic bias)

Celtic Shamanic Behaviors

Celtic Inspired SF and Fantasy

Bog Bodies

Druids

Ogham