From: Ian.Foot@UK.Sun.COM (Ian Paul Foot)
Subject: Re: Celtic creation mythos
Date: 03 Sep 1993 11:33:58 GMT

I can't find much on Celtic Creation myth.  T.W. Rolleston's book on
Celtic mythology says (as far as I remember) that the Celts had a
secret creation myth which they guarded fiercly and refused to commit
to writing.  I don't know how accurate this book is as it was written
at the beginning of this century (but is still in print).  Recent
Celtic research may have discovered more.

I did discover an Anglo-Saxon creation myth.  It's from "The Way of
Wyrd" by Brian Bates.  This is a fictional story written based on
extensive research into Anglo-Saxon paganism.  It's an excellent book
with a 9 page biography on Anglo-Saxon and comparative sorcery and
related subjects (about 170 references).

Anyway, here's a (slightly edited) version of the creation myth.

"The giants are the gods of old.  The world was made from giants, in
the first winter.  A mighty giant was created from hoarfrost.  And
when fire came, he melted.  From the enormous bulk of his body came
the worlds.  From his blood flowed the sea, from his bones the
mountains, from his hair the forests, from his skull the sky.  And
from his lashes, covering the eyes that beheld all was fashioned the
Earth.  In the centre of the Earth, on hills rising high as mountains,
live the gods, and below seethes the Underworld, land of the dead and
all their secrets."

---
Ian