T. W. Rolleston

T. W. Rolleston's lengthy compendium of Celtic mythology and ancient lore is a wide-ranging source scarcely paralleled. Painstakingly assembled from years of research into the surviving manuscripts, this exceptional collection of Celtic stories dating to earliest antiquity is as formidable, valid and impressive today as it was on publication in 1911. An ambitious and embracing work, Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race offers up a rare combination of historical insight and lively storytelling. Rolleston explains each and every myth in a simple but salient manner. The stories are summarized, and an explanation of their significance in terms of plot devices, tone, and the wider Celtic culture explained. Rather than be bogged down in dry or overly ponderous narratives, the author breezes through the vast body of work, providing accurate summaries which seldom feel dull or impenetrable.

T. W. Rolleston's lengthy compendium of Celtic mythology and ancient lore is a wide-ranging source scarcely paralleled. Painstakingly assembled from years of research into the surviving manuscripts, this exceptional collection of Celtic stories dating to earliest antiquity is as formidable, valid and impressive today as it was on publication in 1911. An ambitious and embracing work, Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race offers up a rare combination of historical insight and lively storytelling. Rolleston explains each and every myth in a simple but salient manner. The stories are summarized, and an explanation of their significance in terms of plot devices, tone, and the wider Celtic culture explained. Rather than be bogged down in dry or overly ponderous narratives, the author breezes through the vast body of work, providing accurate summaries which seldom feel dull or impenetrable.

Reproduction of the original: Sea Spray by T. W. Rolleston

Reproduction of the original: Sea Spray by T. W. Rolleston

Celtic origins, heroes, and stories spring to life in T. W. Rolleston's classic work, Celtic Myths and Legends. Spanning thousands of years and across thousands of miles, these myths and legends offer a glimpse into worlds long gone that continue to influence modern culture. The book includes classical accounts of Celtic tribes in Europe that describe their lives, the ancient gods and world of nature that they worshiped during and after their migrations to Britain and Ireland.

The High Deeds of Finn And Other Bardic Romances of Ancient Ireland by T. W. Rolleston. Many years have passed by since, delivering the Inaugural Lecture of the Irish Literary Society in London, I advocated as one of its chief aims the recasting into modern form and in literary English of the old Irish legends, preserving the atmosphere of the original tales as much as possible, but clearing them from repetitions, redundant expressions, idioms interesting in Irish but repellent in English, and, above all, from absurdities, such as the sensational fancy of the later editors and bards added to the simplicities of the original tales. The romantic tales here retold for the English reader belong neither to the category of folk-lore nor of myth, although most of them contain elements of both. They belong, like the tales of Cuchulain, which have been similarly presented by Miss Hull, to the bardic literature of ancient Ireland, a literature written with an artistic purpose by men who possessed in the highest degree the native culture of their land and time. The aim with which these men wrote is also that which has been adopted by their present interpreter. I have not tried, in this volume, to offer to the scholar materials for the study of Celtic myth or folk-lore.

Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was probably born a slave at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present day Pamukkale, Turkey), and lived in Rome until his exile to Nicopolis in northwestern Greece, where he lived most of his life and died. His teachings were noted down and published by his pupil Arrian in his Discourses. Philosophy, he taught, is a way of life and not just a theoretical discipline. To Epictetus, all external events are determined by fate, and are thus beyond our control, but we can accept whatever happens calmly and dispassionately. Individuals, however, are responsible for their own actions which they can examine and control through rigorous self-discipline. Suffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power. As part of the universal city that is the universe, human beings have a duty of care to all fellow humans. The person who followed these precepts would achieve happiness.... Thomas William Hazen Rolleston (1857-1920) was an Irish writer, literary figure and translator, known as a poet but publishing over a wide range of literary and political topics. He lived at various times in Killiney in South Dublin, Germany, London and County Wicklow; settling finally in 1908 in Hampstead, London, where he died. His Killiney home, called Secrora, subsequently became the home of tennis player Joshua Pim. He was born in Glasshouse, Shinrone, County Offaly, the son of a judge. He was educated at St Columba's College, Dublin and Trinity College, Dublin. After a time in Germany he founded the Dublin University Review in 1885; he published Poems and Ballads of Young Ireland (1888), and a Life of Lessing (1889). As the first managing director of the Irish Industries' Society, he helped preserve from extinction many Irish handicrafts, such as lace-making, handmade tweeds and glass-making. In London in the 1890s he was one of the Rhymers' Club and a founder-member of the Irish Literary Society. He was to cross paths several times, and sometimes to clash, with W. B. Yeats, who described Rolleston in his memoirs as an "intimate enemy". He was also involved in Douglas Hyde's Gaelic League. He also spent time as a journalist, and as a civil servant involved with agriculture. He had eight children, from two marriages. Works: Approximately 168 books are associated with Rolleston, some as writer or editor. These are the more prominent works; publication dates listed if known. The Teaching of Epictetus (1888) Life of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1889) Tannhauser: a dramatic poem by Richard Wagner; translated by T. W. Rolleston; illustrated by Willy Pogany. (1900) A Treasury of Irish Poetry in the English Tongue by Stopford A. Brooke & T. W. Rolleston (1900) Parallel Paths: a study in biology, ethics, and art (1908) The High Deeds of Finn Mac Cumhail (1910) Celtic Myths and Legends also entitled Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race (1911, reprinted 1917, 1990) The Illustrated Guide to Celtic Mythology. London: Studio Editions, 1993 (Based on Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race) Parsifal or, The Legend of the Holy Grail, retold from ancient sources with acknowledgement to the "Parsifal" of Richard Wagner (1912) The tale of Lohengrin, knight of the swan by Richard Wagner and T. W. Rolleston; illustrated by Willy Pogany (1913).............

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (22 January 1729 - 15 February 1781) was a German writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the development of German literature. He is widely considered by theatre historians to be the first dramaturg in his role at Abel Seyler's Hamburg National Theatre. LIFE: Lessing was born in Kamenz, a small town in Saxony, to Johann Gottfried Lessing and Justine Salome Feller. His father was a Lutheran minister and wrote on theology. Young Lessing studied at the Latin School in Kamenz from 1737 to 1741. With a father who wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, Lessing next attended the F rstenschule St. Afra in Meissen. After completing his education at St. Afra's, he enrolled at the University of Leipzig where he pursued a degree in theology, medicine, philosophy, and philology (1746-1748)...... John Parker Anderson (1841-1925)... Thomas William Hazen Rolleston (1857-1920) was an Irish writer, literary figure and translator, known as a poet but publishing over a wide range of literary and political topics. He lived at various times in Killiney in South Dublin, Germany, London and County Wicklow; settling finally in 1908 in Hampstead, London, where he died. His Killiney home, called Secrora, subsequently became the home of tennis player Joshua Pim. He was born in Glasshouse, Shinrone, County Offaly, the son of a judge. He was educated at St Columba's College, Dublin and Trinity College, Dublin. After a time in Germany he founded the Dublin University Review in 1885; he published Poems and Ballads of Young Ireland (1888), and a Life of Lessing (1889). As the first managing director of the Irish Industries' Society, he helped preserve from extinction many Irish handicrafts, such as lace-making, handmade tweeds and glass-making. In London in the 1890s he was one of the Rhymers' Club and a founder-member of the Irish Literary Society. He was to cross paths several times, and sometimes to clash, with W. B. Yeats, who described Rolleston in his memoirs as an "intimate enemy". He was also involved in Douglas Hyde's Gaelic League. He also spent time as a journalist, and as a civil servant involved with agriculture. He had eight children, from two marriages. Works: Approximately 168 books are associated with Rolleston, some as writer or editor. These are the more prominent works; publication dates listed if known. The Teaching of Epictetus (1888) Life of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1889) Tannhauser: a dramatic poem by Richard Wagner; translated by T. W. Rolleston; illustrated by Willy Pogany. (1900) A Treasury of Irish Poetry in the English Tongue by Stopford A. Brooke & T. W. Rolleston (1900) Parallel Paths: a study in biology, ethics, and art (1908) The High Deeds of Finn Mac Cumhail (1910) Celtic Myths and Legends also entitled Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race (1911, reprinted 1917, 1990) The Illustrated Guide to Celtic Mythology. London: Studio Editions, 1993 (Based on Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race) Parsifal or, The Legend of the Holy Grail, retold from ancient sources with acknowledgement to the "Parsifal" of Richard Wagner (1912) The tale of Lohengrin, knight of the swan by Richard Wagner and T. W. Rolleston; illustrated by Willy Pogany (1913)........

Stopford Augustus Brooke (14 November 1832 - 18 March 1916) was an Irish churchman, royal chaplain and writer. He was born in the rectory of Glendoen, near Letterkenny, Donegal, Ireland, of which parish his maternal grandfather, Joseph Stopford, was then rector. He was the eldest son of the Rev. Richard Sinclair Brooke, later incumbent of the Mariners' church, Kingstown (now D n Laoghaire), and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. 2] He was ordained in the Church of England in 1857, and held various charges in London. From 1863 to 1865 he was chaplain to the Empress Frederick in Berlin. In 1869 with his brother Edward he made long tours of Donegal and Sligo, and spent much time at Kells studying Irish antiquities. 2] Between 1866 and 1875 he was the minister at St James's Chapel, a Proprietary Chapel, and after it closed he took services at Bedford Chapel, Bloomsbury where he continued to attract large congregations. In 1875, he became chaplain in ordinary to Queen Victoria. But in 1880 he seceded from the Church, being no longer able to accept its leading dogmas, and officiated as an independent preacher for some years at Bedford chapel, Bloomsbury..... Thomas William Hazen Rolleston (1857-1920) was an Irish writer, literary figure and translator, known as a poet but publishing over a wide range of literary and political topics. He lived at various times in Killiney in South Dublin, Germany, London and County Wicklow; settling finally in 1908 in Hampstead, London, where he died. His Killiney home, called Secrora, subsequently became the home of tennis player Joshua Pim. He was born in Glasshouse, Shinrone, County Offaly, the son of a judge. He was educated at St Columba's College, Dublin and Trinity College, Dublin. After a time in Germany he founded the Dublin University Review in 1885; he published Poems and Ballads of Young Ireland (1888), and a Life of Lessing (1889). As the first managing director of the Irish Industries' Society, he helped preserve from extinction many Irish handicrafts, such as lace-making, handmade tweeds and glass-making. In London in the 1890s he was one of the Rhymers' Club and a founder-member of the Irish Literary Society. He was to cross paths several times, and sometimes to clash, with W. B. Yeats, who described Rolleston in his memoirs as an "intimate enemy". He was also involved in Douglas Hyde's Gaelic League. He also spent time as a journalist, and as a civil servant involved with agriculture. He had eight children, from two marriages.....