Comprehensive and cross-referenced, this informative volume is a rich introduction to the world of nature as experienced by ancient peoples around the globe. 51 halftones.

The Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion offers a fully rounded and highly authoritative point of access to all aspects of ancient religious life and thought. Dr Simon Price and Dr Emily Kearns, area advisers for the third edition of the Oxford Classical Dictionary, have come together to select, revise, edit, and in some cases wholly recast, a large number of key entries from OCD to create this handy, accessible reference work on mythology and religion in the Graeco-Roman world. Bringing to the attention of a wider audience the authority and scholarly rigour of OCD, the Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion provides students, teachers, and general readers with an affordable comprehensive, and wide-ranging A-Z reference source. The Dictionary is unique in that in addition to Greek myths and Roman festivals it covers Greek and Roman religious places, monuments, religious personnel, divination, astrology, and magic, and also contains many entries on Judaism and Christianity in Greek and Roman times.

Contains entries on Celtic myth, religion, and folklore in Britain and Europe between 500 BC and 400 AD.

This Dictionary is part of the Oxford Reference Collection: using sustainable print-on-demand technology to make the acclaimed backlist of the Oxford Reference programme perennially available in hardback format.A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology is a comprehensive and accessible survey of one of the world's richest mythological traditions. It covers the people, themes, concepts, places, and creatures of Celtic mythology, saga, legend, and folklore from both ancient pagan origins, and moderntraditions.

Over 1700 entries cover mythology and religion of heathen Germanic tribes: Scandinavians, Goths, Angles and Saxons, 1500 BC-1000 AD.

A comprehensive A-to-Z reconstruction of the oral tradition of the Rom--gypsies--based on sources never before available in English • Presents the origin myths and magical traditions of the gypsies, including their legendary ties to Egypt, animal ancestors, and tree spirits • Examines the three major settings of gypsy folktales--the forest, the waters, and the mountain--and shows how their world is full of spirits • Shows how the religious concepts of the Rom testify to a profound syncretism of the pagan traditions and Christianity Although their own myths and their common name point to Egyptian origins for the gypsies, the Rom, as they call themselves, originated in India, as evidenced by studies of their language. They arrived in Europe in the ninth century and spread across the continent from East to West, reaching England in the 15th century and Scandinavia by the end of the 16th century. A nomadic people, these wanderers were reviled by local populaces wherever they went and regarded as misfits, intruders, foreigners, and thieves. Drawing on a number of sources never before available outside of Eastern Europe, Claude Lecouteux reconstructs the gypsy oral tradition to provide a comprehensive A-to-Z look at gypsy mythology, including their folktales, rites, songs, nursery rhymes, jokes, and magical traditions. His main source is material collected by Heinrich Adalbert von Wlislocki (1856-1907), an ethnologist who lived with gypsies in Romania, Transylvania, and Hungary in the latter half of the 19th century. He presents the origin myths of the gypsies, legends which form the ancestral memory of the gypsy tribes and often closely touch on their daily life. Lecouteux explores the full range of supernatural beings that inhabit the gypsy world, including fairies, undines, ogres, giants, dog-people, and demons, and he examines the three major settings of gypsy folktales--the forest, the waters, and the mountain, which they worshiped as a sacred being in its own right. He also reveals how coexisting with peoples of different religions led the gypsies to adapt or borrow stories and figures from these groups, and he shows how the religious concepts and sacred stories of the Rom testify to a profound syncretism of pagan traditions and Christianity. Complete with rare illustrations and information from obscure sources appearing for the first time in English, this detailed reference work represents an excellent resource for scholars and those seeking to reconnect to their forgotten gypsy heritage.