Why Is Studying Celtic Mythology Difficult?
There are a number of factors which make Celtic mythology (and the myths of many cultures) difficult. These are considerations we should keep in mind as we study the myths and try to interpret their meanings. Remember that there was no real unity among the Celts as a whole; they were a tribal society spread out all across Europe. Just as they had no centralised government, they had no standardised mythology. There are bound to be localised versions of myths, which evolved differently and were subjected to different influences. The religious and scholarly elite may have viewed the myths than they were by the people at large. While scholars might have thought of deities as bringers of light and wisdom, popular conceptions of them may have simply been in terms of fertility and prosperity. The myths survived for centuries via oral transmission through bards and poets specially trained to develop perfect memories. Still, it is certain that parts of the myths have been altered, and that the
