Audrey Becker (1)

Welsh mythology is often overlooked in modern culture, but it exists right alongside traditional Celtic and British mythology. This book shows, through a collection of essays, exactly how integrated Welsh myth and folklore is in our pop culture. The first few essays define Welsh mythology and how the meanings and morals are universal enough to carry through history to today. Then the essays go on to describe specific examples of Welsh myth in things such as music and movies. Popular shows and movies, such as Torchwood, Howl's Moving Castle, and The Black Cauldron, use well known Welsh myths and ideals. This book is an excellent read for anyone interested in the world of Wales.… (más)

This is a collection of literary essays. The book as a whole is likely to be more interesting to a student of Welsh literature than to the general reader. There are thirteen different essays, of varying breadth and depth. I was not familiar with some of the modern world applications of this mythos, but did enjoy those that I was familiar with. The essays I found most satisfying were:
- three essays that discuss the Welsh roots of Evangeline Walton's works,
-- a fascinating short essay on "jumping the broom" as a Welsh and an American slave culture wedding ritual,
-- an analysis of Heather Dale's musical interpretation of King Arthur
-- the problems noted in Disney's adaptation of the Black Cauldron,
-- Torchwood's perspective

Less successful, for me at any rate, were the discussions of an on-line game called Mabinogi, and some of the more specifically Welsh internal mythology discussions

I call this a mixed bag - interesting for some pieces, not for all.… (más)

An Early Reviewer win.
The essays in this book are quite interesting. I'd never really thought how Welsh folklore has influenced popular culture. Some instances are fairly obvious--Evangeline Walton's Mabinogion tetralogy, The Black Cauldron (and the essay about that was quite fascinating). I hadn't realized there was a Mabinogi online game, and given what I learned about it, I certainly won't be playing (seriously, Celtic cultures are not interchangeable). There is a videogame called Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches that I was previously unaware of. I have played it, but I'm a little stuck right now.

The most disappointing essay, to me, was the one on Torchwood. I haven't watched it, but the beginning of the esaay certainly made it sound like something I'd like. However, there were two problems with this essay. One was that it became repetitive about halfway through. The second is a problem with sources. There are plenty of good books on Wicca out there, but they chose to use Edain McCoy. She's a terrible source. She invents her own versions of history. For instance, in one of her books, she states that there was an ancient Irish potato goddess. (The potato didn't make it to Ireland until the sixteenth century--it's a New World crop.) The use of a such a source makes me question every assumption the authors make (unless it's backed up by a different source).

So on the whole, an interesting book, though there are some problems.… (más)