Skip to content
Atlas of Myths 0/300
EN
ItalianoEnglishEspañolFrançaisDeutsch

Mythology

Celtic mythology

The Celts lived across much of Europe, but their stories have reached us mainly from Ireland, Wales and Scotland, written down by monks in the Middle Ages. They tell of a divine people, the Tuatha Dé Danann, of heroes such as Cú Chulainn and Finn McCool, of fairy hills where time flows differently and of creatures of the water. Britain also gave us the legends of King Arthur, which spread all over Europe, Italy included.

Who they were, where, and how we know

The Celts were Iron Age peoples who from the 1st millennium BC spread across much of Europe, from Spain to Turkey. In the end they survived on the islands: Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Brittany. Among them were the druids, priests and sages, who according to ancient authors did not write their knowledge down.

That is why almost everything we know comes from Christian monks of the Middle Ages, who in Ireland and Wales wrote down the old stories, for example in the «Book of Invasions of Ireland» or in the «Mabinogion» (kept in 14th-century manuscripts). They are genuine tales, but they passed through a Christian pen: much is reconstruction and scholars still debate it.

At the centre are the Túatha Dé Danann, the «people of the goddess Danu»: the Dagda, the goddess Brigid, the shining Lugh, the Morrígan. Then heroes such as Cú Chulainn, and an Otherworld of sídhe and fairies under the hills.

The cards

The DagdaIreland · father of the gods not scary at allBrigidKildare, Ireland · goddess of fire and poetry not scary at allLughTara, Ireland · god of all the arts not scary at allThe MorríganIreland · goddess of fate scaryCú ChulainnUlster, Ireland · hero a little scaryFinn McCool and the Giant's CausewayGiant's Causeway, Northern Ireland · hero and giant not scary at allThe BansheeIreland · spirit scaryThe SelkiesOrkney and Shetland, Scotland · seal people not scary at allThe LeprechaunIreland · fairy not scary at allKing Arthur and MerlinBritain, Wales and Cornwall · legendary king not scary at allThe Kelpiethe lochs and rivers of Scotland · water horse scaryThe Browniethe homes and farms of Scotland · household spirit not scary at allTír na nÓgbeyond the western sea · land of eternal youth not scary at allThe Púcathe Irish countryside · shape-shifting spirit a little scary

Who comes from whom

Tap a name: its parents and children light up. Names with a medallion open their card (with a finger: tap them twice).

The Dagda
BrigidLughThe Morrígan
Cú Chulainn

Places of the myths

Tara
the hill of the kings of Ireland, where the Tuatha Dé Danann held their court.
Tír na nÓg
the land of eternal youth, beyond the sea, where nobody grows old.
The Giant's Causeway
the basalt columns that, according to legend, were built by Finn McCool.
Avalon
the mysterious island where King Arthur was taken after his last battle.

Main sources

GreekRomanNorseEgyptianMesopotamianHinduJapaneseChineseAztec and MayaAfricanPolynesianAboriginalSlavic

Ciro Simone Irmici

Who's behind this

Ciro Simone Irmici

I build websites, apps and games. I built the Atlas with artificial intelligence and I check every card and every source myself. I am not a scholar of mythology: I tell these legends with respect and always say where they come from. If you know a legend from your town, write to me.

More of my work: free audiobooks on YouTube · ebooks on Gumroad · Apple Books · music on Spotify and YouTube Music

@spartaco_94_ My website Write to me About me LinkedIn