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Title: The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth by Robert Graves ISBN: 0-374-50493-8 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: July, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.81
Rating: 1
Summary: A Misguided Load of Nonsense
Comment: Graves may have been a skilled author and poet, but when it came to understanding and explaining Celtic myth, he was hopeless. Most of this book is based on the fabrications of men like Edward Davies and Iolo Morgannwg, or upon a "fanciful" (read: completely incompetant) reading of the medieval Book of Taliesin, and not on authentic Irish or Welsh tradition. When a tradition doesn't suit Graves, he simple ignores it, or substitues it with his own ideas, or with foreign ideas. He corresponded with true Celtic scholars; in fact, his grandfather was president of the Royal Irish Academy. And yet, Graves seemed to have learned nothing from these men who devoted their careers to translating and iterpreting these medieval texts. As stated in other reviews, Graves makes a habit of combining features and myths which do not necessarily exist outside of his own mind.
The worst thing about this book is its influence. Much of what passes as "Celtic" or "Wiccan" or "Druidic" can be found in this horribly muddled text, such as the idea of a Maiden-Mother-Crone goddess (non-existant in Celtic myth), or the goddess-worship. But what is worse is his idea of a "tree calendar" based on the ogham script. This calendar is almost entirely of his own design (with some help from the 18th and 19th century forgeries and fantasies of men like Davies and Morgannwg). Yet this "Celtic" calendar is touted as a "real" druidic concept. Do a little research on the Celts, and you will soon learn that this is a complete fabrication.
The book is also sexist. It essentially says that women cannot be poets, since poetry is entirely about the worship/love for the White Goddess. Instead, women are to be muses, inspiring male poets, while incapable of actual creation themselves. Well, except for creating children for these men. For all the "Goddess worship" and supposed female empowerment that is seen in this book, the readers are obviously missing what is Graves' core message--that poetry is really about a desire for women. Reductive? Absolutely. But that's Graves' message.
This book is to be avoided except for those who wish to understand the origins of the "neopagan" movement. It's as worthless as that other piece of tripe, "The 21 Lessons of Merlyn".
If you want some descent books on the Celts or druids, check out the works of Ann Ross, P.B. Ellis, Stuart Piggot, and their breed. Read books like The Mabinogion or Trioedd Ynys Prydein. If you want to read the real poems of Taliesin, look for the work of Ifor Williams. Stick to the university presses, like the University of Wales Press or Dublin.
Rating: 1
Summary: Discredited by every credible scholar of Celtic Studies!
Comment:
If you're thinking about buying this book... DON'T waste your money!
Any entertainment value that could otherwise be garnered from this work of fiction is greatly overshadowed by Graves' false claims that the material presented was authentic, and that it came from ancient Celtic culture. This is NOT the case. In fact, nothing presented in this book is authentic, and as it is falsely presented as such, what could have at least been an interesting work of fiction, even fails to entertain.
Amazingly, Robert Graves' "White Goddess" has become a 'classic' upon which many modern "tree Ogham" books and articles have been written, however, in this text lies little, if any, decipherable truths. In fact, the book is so laden with errors and gross misinformation that it was dismissed as fiction by the foremost authorities on both Celtic studies, and the Ogham, at the time it was written (1946), authorities still heavily relied upon today for their foresight and accuracy. In fact, one of those most well respected authorities (and to this day, likely the most knowledgeable scholar on the subject, ever) was Robert Graves' own grandfather, Charles Graves. (More on this in a minute).
Several main components of this text are purely fictional, as is the majority of the supporting "evidence," i.e., heavily denounced, false documents that R. Graves relied heavily upon to make some very poor assumptions, and totally wild claims.
First, Graves' translations of Celtic legend and lore are linguistically shoddy at best, and many of his interpretations are highly obscure. Further, his efforts to paint Celtic legend and lore as stemming from displaced Greeks and Hebrews, and to interpret meaning into these Celtic legends from such a foreign perspective does the area of legitimate Celtic studies a serious disservice. Graves didn't do us any favors!
Further, his claims concerning the Ogham and the Celtic Tree Calendar are also blatantly false, and have lead to a great deal of misinformation on the ancient writing system of the Celts, and ancient Celtic culture, in general that persists even today.
Robert Graves relied very heavily upon the thoroughly discredited manuscript written by Roderic O'Flaherty in the early 17th century, that first claimed that Ogham markings were correlated with trees, which is linguistically inaccurate. At best, only seven of the Ogham characters can be interpreted as having any correlation with tree names.
Secondly, and more amazingly, is his "discovery" of what he labeled the "Celtic Tree Calendar." Graves makes a far leap out into space, purporting that the Ogham was made up of five vowels and 13 primary consonants, which he claims equate to 13 months in a "Celtic Tree Calendar," when it was already well known that there are not 13, but 15 primary consonants in the Ogham (in addition to the five vowels, and another five supplemental characters) . How he managed to string together an imaginary Calendar "system" based upon O'Flaherty's manuscript, and upon which he claims Celtic culture operated, is completely beyond me.
This text has been a continuous thorn in the side of Celtic scholars and academia since its writing. Robert Graves had access to the two foremost scholars on the Ogham of all time, and chose to completely dismiss them both. Although it also appears that the author wrote this book out of spite, due to very a strained relationship with both his father and grandfather, Robert Graves' further dismissal of R.A.S. Macalister (a well known and highly respected expert on the Ogham) is appalling. (Robert wrote Macalister seeking corroboration of his ideas and when they were challenged by the scholar, he blew him off!)
As for Charles Graves, Robert Graves' grandfather was not only a very credible scholar, and THE foremost authority on the Ogham at the time, but was also the President of the Royal Irish Academy. He was the first scholar to discover a cryptic element to the Ogham markings, and was well received for his many contributions on the subject. Both the elder Graves and Macalister (who himself cited the work of Charles Grave's in his own research) had heavily denounced the false works of O'Flaherty, and further scoffed at Robert Graves' text, discrediting it as pure fallacy.
For more useful texts on the Ogham, I highly suggest R.A.S. Macallister's Corpus Inscriptionum Insularum Celticarum and The Secret Languages of Ireland (both which include work by Charles Graves), and George Calder's "Auriacept Na n-Éces - The Scholar's Primer." Some of Charles Graves' exceptional work on the Ogham can be found on-line, for free. Just do a search for: "On the Ogam Inscriptions," Hermathena, Vol. 3, c.19 C. His work on the Ogham was purely outstanding.
For more on the fallacy known as "The White Goddess," be sure to read the excellent review written by the modern Celtic scholar and author, Peter Berresford Ellis, at: http://cura.free.fr/xv/13ellis2.html
Best of luck!
Rating: 5
Summary: Inspired and inspiring
Comment: I found The White Goddess very early on my Pagan path, and instantly fell in love. It was far more original and evocative than anything I had read up to that point, and was decisively influential on my developing spiritual views. Now, years later I still hold this book and its author in high esteem, although I am aware of the problems and shortcomings of Graves and his work. Graves isn't a rigorous acedemic, but he does have a wide knowledge and, more importantly, a poetic sensibility. He does get off-topic, and The White Goddess does drag at times, but that can only be expected of a book of this breadth and scope. And yes, Graves has created in The White Goddess a personal religion, with all the idiosyncracy which that implies - but this is the work of a thoughtful and informed individual with a passion for the Goddess. Though I do not share Graves's outlook on many things - I quickly weary of the sacrificed king theme - The White Goddess is an inspired and inspiring work, and one of profound impact on modern Pagan thought.
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Title: King Jesus by Robert Graves ISBN: 0374516642 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: October, 1981 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: Aradia: Gospel of the Witches by Charles Godfrey Leland ISBN: 0919345107 Publisher: Phoenix Publishing, Inc. Pub. Date: April, 1990 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: The Greek Myths by Robert Graves ISBN: 0140171991 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: April, 1993 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today by Margot Adler ISBN: 014019536X Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: March, 1997 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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