Customer Reviews

Celtic Women: Women in Celtic Society & Literature (Celtic interest)

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(2)
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While Ellis' "Celtic Women" is the best book I have yet read on the subject, it suffers from peculiar inconsistencies, as well as the author's tendency to disregard or dismiss evidence which contradicts his thesis. This work is definitely preferable to Jean Markale's book of the same title, as Ellis seems to be more of a scholar and less of a mystic. Ellis focuses on material from the Classical authors, native Celtic law texts, and vernacular works of literature and history in painting a vivid picture of the many roles of Celtic women and Celtic female divinities. This work is not without flaws, however, for one must ask, would a book about Celtic men include an overview of Celtic male gods? Female divinities are also prominent in Greek mythology, but I find the argument that the stature of goddesses reflects the status of women in the culture which worships them to be, at best, highly speculative. While there is definitely evidence that women could attain high social positions in Cletic societies, Mr. Ellis seems to gloss over the fact that ruling queens and influential female Brehons (judges) were notable exceptions to the rule. In addition, while there is much material introduced from native law regarding women's rights to property and divorce, nothing is said concerning women's rights to child custody. The reader is left to wonder whether nothing is said in these law texts about such an important and revealing point as a woman's right to her own children, or if the author considered it to be of no importance. As a woman, I would love to look to the Celts as an example of the "original egalitarian model" that the book's jacket claims, but as a scholar I feel that Mr. Ellis overstates his case, a failing of many of his otherwise fine works. Perhaps more disturbing, there are sections of the book that strike a strangely discordant note in view of the overall theme. For instance, Mr. Ellis devotes an entire chapter (out of 10) to the subject of personal adornment. In this chapter, he discusses not only the costume and adornments of women, but of men as well. Does this suggest a view on the part of the author that the whole subject of dress is a concern specific to women, or is this material introduced solely by way of comparison? While I would recommend this book as being the best available on the subject, I believe that a truly 5 star book on Celtic women has not yet been written.

Peter Berresford Ellis reveals the important role Celtic women played in their society in his book, "Celtic Women: Women in Celtic Society & Literature." Using historical documents, Ellis offers evidence that women in Celtic society had rights that were protected by law to own property, to choose who and when they wanted to marry, to divorce if they wanted and to take with them the property they owned prior to marriage, as well as half of the property held with their husband (after a certain period of time). The women of the Ancient Celts fought in battles, and trained young warriors. They could be rulers, priests, doctors and lawyers. Ellis reveals how all of these rights granted to Celtic women gradually changed after the introduction of Christianity by the Roman priests. Well written and documented, Ellis makes the history of the Ancient Celts, particularly women, very interesting reading.

Ellis makes interesting points, but seems very uncritical in his use of mythology in a way that's been debunked in Celtic studies for decades. If you want a much more compelling analysis of the real roles of Celtic women at least in early Irish society, I'd suggest *Isle of Women* by Lisa Bitel.

In this book, as in many of his other works, Ellis seeks to portray an "image" of a people and a nation, reflecting a view of the Celts deeply tinged by a romantic view of a long-lost, mystical people. What emerges is sort of an odd duck, an ostensibly scholarly work rehashing old chestnuts about the supposed rights and freedoms of Celtic women even as most scholarship of Irish history has long forsaken them for more in-depth and objective analysis. I have personally not read the entire book - although I have seen numerous excerpts from it - but I have gotten a good sense of what it contains, what Ellis's basic arguments are, and how he sets out to prove these arguments. I will discuss my issues with this book as well as point out some of the more recent scholarship and the ways in which it differs from Ellis's claims.

Ellis has long been known by his followers (and he has a considerable body of followers) as a "Celtic scholar": to many, he is the foremost authority on Irish and Welsh history. Certainly, he has a natural ability to entertain. His most famous works are the "Sister Fidelma" mystery series, which he publishes under the pseudonym of "Peter Tremayne." No matter what one's opinion of Ellis's academic rigor might be, one can't help but be enthralled by these works. Peter Tremayne's fan base has become so huge that a Sister Fidelma society has organized in South Carolina. Many of Ellis's faithful followers were people who were introduced to him through his Sister Fidelma series.

However, leaving aside his imaginative and inventive popular novels, his scope as a scholarly and serious historian is somewhat more limited. For one thing, his sources are often highly questionable. Although, as one reviewer correctly pointed out, Ellis's work is free of some of the New Agey mysticism that characterizes other popular work in this field (which makes it more readable in my opinion), nevertheless he frequently uses Celtic spiritualist and neo-druidic authors as sources, probably more often than he ought. In general, his work appeals to the same generation of readers who clung to popular novels like "Mists of Avalon" during the 1980s. His work is profoundly bound up in the theory that Celtic society was by nature matriarchal and matrilineal, but that over time Christianity, and later, English/Norman influence, eroded the status of women, until in the 20th century there was nothing but a dim memory of this glorious past. To prove this, he uses the sagas and narratives of the Mythological, Ulster, and Fenian Cycles and the Brehon Laws, conveniently passing over anything contained in these sources that does not fit his worldview (or else attributing it to the negative effects of Christianity). However, most mainstream scholars no longer view the sagas as evidence of a pre-Christian survival into modern times, but rather as basically constructs of a later era, much as the Arthurian legends could not be said to actually date to the time of the legendary King Arthur. Ellis attempts to prove that Celtic women enjoyed great sexual freedom by referring to the many promiscuous women in Irish literature like Medb, but has little to say about women in the literature who were prized for their modesty and virginity. When he gets into talking about Brehon law, the line between reality and fantasy becomes especially blurred. We hear only one side of the story. Irish women could hold property on their own (much like women in other northern European societies), demand divorce (again, like women in other northern European societies), and hold free citizenship and public office (whoa...where in the Brehon laws do they talk about that?). If there is anywhere in the laws where women seem to be disadvantaged (and trust me, people, there are plenty of instances), it must be the fault of evil Christian patriarchy. How about the dire-text's insistence that a woman cannot make a contract without the approval of her male superior? Christian infiltration. The statement in Bretha Crolige that a man is not liable for abusing a promiscuous woman? Christian prudery. The laws of tanistery which bar a woman from participating in political assemblies? Errr...some evil Christian thing. This is the way the book is written. If the author likes something, he attributes it to the mystical, ethereal Celtic race; if he dosen't, it's Christianized, Romanized, and wholly anti-Celtic.

For those who are looking for actual scholarship in this field, I would recommend several works. The Land of Women, by Lisa Bitel, probably the best work in the field of Irish women's history; A Guide to Early Irish Law, by Fergus Kelly (curiously, Ellis refers in some of his work to Kelly's book, although the two fundamentally disagree on important issues); Cattle Lords and Clansmen, by Nerys Patterson, which looks at the status of women in regard to farming and agrarian social structure; A Woman's Words, by Joanne Findon, which reassesses the way scholars view female literary characters from the Ulster cycle; Women in a Celtic Church, by Christina Harrington, which compares the Irish status of nuns and abbesses with their continental counterparts; and Slaves and Warriors in Medieval Britain and Ireland, by David R. Wyatt, which includes lengthy discussion on the role of women in regard to slavery, not only in Ireland, but in Wales, Scotland, and England as well. All of these are very useful and informative, much more so than Ellis's restatement of previously debunked cliches.

There are many non-fiction books written on the Celts, but only a few on the subject of Celtic Women. This book is well-written and researched with care. Most interesting to this reader, was the chapter on a Celtic woman's legal status during different times of history. If you like this book I would also suggest the Mr. Ellis' book on the Druids, aptly named, "The Druids".

After researching for years and looking desperately for a good resource on Women in the Celtic times, this book was an amazing find. I was thrilled by the information I found here. I learned things about Celtic Women that I had never imagined could be true. I know that I will be using this book for many years to come.