Celtic Myths and Legends - Thomas William Rolleston

During the Iron Age, more than 2000 years ago, Celts dominated Europe. In many tribes, bound together only by a common racial stock and the influence of the Druidic religion, they occupied much of the continent. Now their descendents are confined to the Atlantic fringes, and it is here that the mythology of the Celts must be sought. For some four centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, Ireland was the refuge of learning and the source of literary and philosophical culture for half of Europe. Indeed the verse forms of Celtic poetry have probably played the main parts in determining the structure of modern verse, while the myths and legends of the Gaelic and Cymric peoples kindled the imagination of a host of continental poets.