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IMAGINING THE CELTIC PAST IN MODERN FANTASY
Edited by Dimitra Fimi and Alistair J.P. Sims
London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023
https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_misc/mj.20249729
ANDREA VALEIRAS FERNÁNDEZ
Universidade da Coruña
andrea.valeiras@gmail.es
<https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9694-5428>
Imagining the Celtic Past in Modern Fantasy, edited by Dimitra Fimi and Alistair J.P.
Sims and published by Bloomsbury in 2023 is part of the Perspectives on Fantasy series.
This title reflects the conciliatory approach that this collection has regarding Fantasy
Studies. As Attenbery, Fimi and Sangster state in the Series Editors’ Preface, there is
not a unique definition or set of rules, but infinite ways to understand it, since this
genre evokes “different meanings at different times for different people” (2023: x).
As Fimi explains in the Introduction, defining what or who is “Celtic” is complex,
since researchers choose distinctions depending on their fields and context, and in
popular culture the delimitation becomes a hodgepodge (2023: 1-2). Concerning this
book, the diversity is well reflected, since different fantasy writers had re-imagined their
own “Celts” (Iron age, medieval, cultural crossovers with similar languages, etc.). Ten
researchers analyze representations of a variety of fantasy narratives that take elements
from the Celtic tradition and culture, and their works explain the reasons beyond those
choices and the deep lore that is created along the worldbuilding and the plot.
The book is divided in four parts, designed to encapsulate the different subgenres
of the essays. The first part, “Celticity as Fantastic Intrusion”, includes three
chapters. The first of them is “Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know: The Celtic Fairy
Realm in Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell”, written by Dr. K. A.
Laity, and it analyzes the complex relationship between Englishness and Celticity,
regarding the sense of “otherness”, in terms of geography, language and tradition,
as the key to Clarke’s story. It must be considered that this novel is historical
fantasy, taking place around the Napoleonic wars and focusing on the fall of the
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use of magic. With this essay, Dr. Laity explains how defining “Celticity” and
choosing the aspects to include in the text is an ideological act itself, with Clarke
offering some restoration of magic and, at the same time, warnings about it. All of
this can be related to the Celtic past and the complex cultural and political visions
around it, a theme that will be shared by most of the texts cited in this book. The
second chapter verses on “The Evolution of Alan Garner’s Celticity in Boneland”.
In this work, Gwendolen Grant explains that Garner’s narratives and vision of the
myths has not only inspired his world-building, but has also contributed to the
fields of History, Archaeology and Anthropology, due to the author’s interest in
the subjects. The interrelation between tradition and fantasy was clear for Garner,
who declared that, even if he lacked the chance to learn the language, hearing
Welsh felt like remembering, like “hearing the knights, who lay in the cave with
their king under the hill behind our house” (Garner 1997: 196). Grant also revises
how, as the author was writing the Widerstone trilogy, the Jungian ideas he was
implementing in the narrative evolved, making it necessary for the reader to
undertake personal research in order to understand the references. The first section
of the book closes with Kris Swank’s work “Woman as Goddess in the Irish
Fantasies of Jodi McIsaac”. This scholar analyzes how McIsaac subverts the
medieval vision of the Tuatha Dé Danann and the interconnection between Celtic
deities and saints. For example, the figure of Brigit / Brigid is a subject of allegories
and symbolism related to fire, crosses and death (which, for Swank, is what a trip
to Fairyland could mean). This essay explores how Irish legend can set the basis for
feminine-empowerment and revolution but also humane qualities and values such
as love and self-sacrifice, through the McIsaac powerful yet compassionate heroines
whose morality can be adapted to reflect the Christian virtues and standards.
The second part, “Celtic Fantasy Worlds and Heroes” is divided into three chapters.
In “The Heroic Biographies of Cú Chulainn and Connavar in the Rigante Series”,
Alistair J. P. Sims develops a study of the depiction of the heroes of the saga, inspired
by the Cú Chulainn and different Roman and Gallus warriors and rulers, such as
Vercingetorix. Following methods such as the Heroic Biography Pattern, Sims
analyzes their deeds and ethos in David Andrew Gemell’s stories. The same narrative
universe is revised in “Classical Ethnography and the World(s) of the Rigante”, by
Anthony Smart, who portrays another point of view: the classical Greek and Roman
basis for Gemell’s imagery when it comes to barbarians and how Rigante’s world
could be considered a Romanized perspective of Celtic history. In contrast to the
kind of warriors and the heroes studied in the previous essay, Smart explains how
the depictions of the Germanic barbarians from the Roman perspective present
them as a menace to their identity and culture, representing their otherness as
dangerous and corrupt. The sixth chapter of the book is a literal change of universe:
“Celts in Spaaaaace!”, by Cheryl Morgan. This researcher explores how sci-fi and
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mythological fantasy intertwine in Patricia Kennealy’s Keltiad book series, where
the mythical Celtic past and Arthurian legend narratives are combined, creating a
utopian magical and technologically advanced society. Morgan explains the
complexity of this depiction, since the Keltic race is not only inspired by the Tuatha
Dé Dannan, but also contains references to the Atlanteans, relating them to the
Great Pyramids of Egypt and the Peruvian Machu Picchu and Nazca Lines. This
essay explores how the myth of Atlantis is extrapolated to the Irish past, building a
combination of speculative fiction and mythology.
The book’s third part, “Celtic Fantasy Beyond the Anglophone” contains two
essays. The first of them is titled “From Vertigen to Frontier: The Fate of the
Sidhes in Léa Silhol’s Fiction”. There, Viviane Bergue offers a perspective of how
magical beings like fairies have been traditionally linked to Celtic culture,
underlying the sense of otherness that relies on those visions. As Bergue explains,
the author not only got inspiration from Celtic and Greek mythology, but her lore
crossed paths with Christianity, including angelic legends, since Silhol’s portrays
the faeries as former fallen angels who did not join Lucifer’s army. As many other
essays contained in this book, the connection between religion and previous Irish
myths is common and serves to reinforce the imagery of fantasy literature.
Narratives like this one fall into the category of “mythopoesis”, as the transformation
of pre-existent myths inspire the reader to examine their own spirituality and
morals (Mythopoetic Society). The other chapter from this section is “‘Chaidh e
nas doimhne agus nas doimhne ann an seann theacsaichean’: Gaelic history and
legend in An Sgoil Dhubh by Iain F. MacLeòid”, written by Duncan Sneddon. The
researcher analyzes the way in which fantasy often revolves around certain clichés
such as mythical swords. This work explains how the different folklores and myths
influence and complete MacLeòid’s narration, finding models and references to
Irish Medieval stories and Norse literature. As Sneddon explains, basing these
narratives about Gaelic culture on legends and traces of Norse settlements on the
islands and implementing them in a fictional present builds an alternative Gaelic
history with a very deep and interesting lore. It must also be said that, as the
scholar remarks, MacLeòid’s worldbuilding is also connected to well-established
tropes from fantasy literature, such as J.R.R.Tolkien and Terry Pratchett’s stories,
which include elves, dwarves, among other popular creatures, confirming their
strong presence as part of the popular culture’s version of Celtic myths.
Finally, the fourth part, “Fantastic Perceptions of Celticity” includes the last two
chapters of the book. In “The Celtic Tarot in Speculative Fiction”, Juliette Wood
explains how tarot magic has been associated with the Celtics (despite the fact that
their texts did not explicitly mention anything about that matter) in order to build a
narrative that links folklore and magic through esoteric practices. In this work, Wood
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makes a recapitulation of several fantasy novels and poems where tarot imagery is
essential and explains how the authors relate the cards and motives not only to Irish
legends, but also to Arthurian stories and even the Templars, since the grail quest
could be related to the modern Tarot seeker (2008: 110). Lastly, in “Celtic
Appropriation in Twenty-First-Century Fantasy Fan Perceptions”, Angela R. Cox
examines how readers and audiences in general perceive the inclusion of Celtic
mythology in fictional narratives. This essay analyzes how certain patterns and tropes
(druids, fairies, etc.) are so intricately linked to fantasy genres that the association
between Celticity and fantasy is inevitable. Through ethnographic research based on
collective online discussion from two online fantasy-fan communities, Cox explains
that, even if the genre contributes to the popularization of mythology, the apparently
homogeneous mixture between Irish and Welsh traditions and Arthurian legendary
could end up diminishing the meaning of the folklore itself in popular culture.
In conclusion, this book offers different perspectives about Celticity in fantasy
texts, presenting a wide variety of study cases. Although the authors review very
different texts and narratives, there are certain common subjects, such as the early
Christian imagery infused by Celticity, the Arthurian legend as complement to
many of the myth-based stories, and the importance of Norse settlements regarding
culture and tradition within the previous idiosyncrasy of the Islands. Through the
different studies with a very practical approach and a fair quantity of examples
analyzed, the reader (whether scholar or not) can understand how Irish mythology
and folklore have been linked to new fantasy stories, the role they play in
worldbuilding, and the evolution of these Celtic-inspired narratives through time.
Works cited
gARnER, Alan. 1997. The Voice That Thunders. London: Harvill Press.
Mythopoetic Society. About the Society. <https://www.mythsoc.org/about.htm>. Accessed 26
September, 2024.
wOOD, Juliette. 2008. Eternal Chalice: The Enduring Legend of the Holy Grail. London and New
York: I.B.Tauris.
Received: 05/10/2023
Accepted: 04/10/2024
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
