Focusing on representations of Celtic motifs and traditions in post-1980s adult fantasy literature, this book illuminates how the historical, the mythological and the folkloric have served as inspiration for the fantastic in modern and popular culture of the western world. Bringing together both highly-acclaimed works with those that have received less critical attention, including French and Gaelic fantasy literature, Imagining the Celtic Past in Modern Fantasy explores such texts as Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Alan Garner's Weirdstone trilogy, the Irish fantasies of Jodi McIsaac, David Gemmell's Rigante novels, Patricia Kennealy-Morrison Keltiad books, as well as An Sgoil Dhubh by Iain F. MacLeòid and the Vertigen and Frontier series by Léa Silhol. Lively and covering new ground, the collection examines topics such as fairy magic, Celtic-inspired worldbuilding, heroic patterns, classical ethnography and genre tropes alongside analyses of the Celtic Tarot in speculative fiction and Celtic appropriation in fan culture.
Introducing a nuanced understanding of the Celtic past, as it has been informed by recent debates in Celtic studies, this wide-ranging and provocative book shows how modern fantasy is indebted to medieval Celtic-language texts, folkloric traditions, as well as classical sources.
List of Illustrations List of Contributors Series Editors’ Preface Acknowledgements Note on Spelling Introduction, Dr Dimitra Fimi (University of Glasgow, UK) Part 1: Celticity as Fantastic Intrusion 1. Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know: The Celtic Fairy Realm in Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Dr K. A. Laity (College of Saint Rose, USA) 2. The Evolution of Alan Garner’s Celticity in Boneland, Gwendolen Grant (Independent Scholar) 3. Woman as Goddess in the Irish Fantasies of Jodi McIsaac, Kris Swank (Pima Community College, USA) Part 2: Celtic Fantasy Worlds and Heroes 4. The Heroic Biographies Of Cú Chulainn and Connavar in the Rigante Series, Alistair J. P. Sims (Independent Scholar) 5. Classical Ethnography and the World(s) of the Rigante, Anthony Smart (York St John University, UK) 6. Celts in Spaaaaace!, Cheryl Morgan (Independent Scholar) Part 3: Celtic Fantasy Beyond the Anglophone 7. From Vertigen to Frontier: The Fate of the Sidhes in Léa Silhol’s Fiction, Viviane Bergue (Independent scholar) 8. ‘Chaidh e nas doimhne agus nas doimhne ann an seann theacsaichean’: Gaelic history and legend in An Sgoil Dhubh by Iain F. MacLeòid, Duncan Sneddon (University of Edinburgh, UK) Part 4: Fantastic Perceptions of Celticity 9. The Celtic Tarot in Speculative Fiction, Juliette Wood (Cardiff University, UK) 10. Celtic Appropriation in Twenty-First-Century Fantasy Fan Perceptions, Angela R. Cox (Ball State University, USA) Index
Dimitra Fimi is Senior Lecturer in Fantasy and Children’s Literature at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. She has published monographs on J.R.R. Tolkien and Celtic-inspired children’s Fantasy, as well as articles and essays on myth and Fantasy, medievalism, world-building, adaptation, artlangs and visual culture. She has co-edited Tolkien’s manuscripts on invented languages, and has won awards for her books and essays. She sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Tolkien Research and co-edits the Perspectives on Fantasy series. Alistair J. P. Sims is an independent scholar, bookseller and publisher at Books on the Hill, Clevedon, with a PhD in archaeology from Bangor University (2014). He has published on fantasy literature and archaeology in Fantasy Art and Studies (2019) and Proceedings of the 2nd European Symposium in Celtic Studies (2017).
Reviews for Imagining the Celtic Past in Modern Fantasy
A really interesting new collection, up to date in coverage, which links two major scholarly fields of major importance in popular culture: Celtic Studies and modern fantasy. * Professor Ronald Hutton, Professor of History, University of Bristol, UK *
