The New Book of Goddesses & Heroines

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Summary: Lives of Goddesses & Heroines
Review: As a reference tool, The New Book of Goddesses & Heroines is unmatched. As a collection of stories, it is entertaining and enlightening. Look up a Goddess for factual information and you are treated to a well written account that makes the facts come alive.

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Summary: one of the most complete books on goddesses that I have read
Review: I have long been fascinated by the goddess mystique, and I was delighted to find this book. It is one of the most informative books on the female role in mythology I have ever found.

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Summary: excellent reference resource
Review: In the burgeoning publishing area of women's mythology and spiritual systems, it is important to find such exhaustive, scholarly and time-proven works. This updated edition of The Book of Goddesses and Heroines is particulary appreciated. Earlier editions and printings and have guided women and men for years, in discovering mythology long hidden from scholarship. Entries are arranged clearly, with many new and updated entries, and the language describing each goddess and heroine is poetic and concise. An excellent bibliography leads readers to primary sources of information, and to related works by other scholars. Indexes and cross-indexes are a particularly useful feature for readers drawing comparisons cross-culturally. A truly excellent resource.

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Summary: Don't Look for Historically Accurate Celtic Info Here
Review: My area of expertise is Celtica so my comments pertain specifically to those entries in the book. If you are looking for a book with wonderful pictures and beautifully written descriptions, then you may enjoy this book. However, if you are looking for accurate information about the Celtic goddess figures named here, please look somewhere else, such as Mac Killop's _Dictionary of Celtic Mythology_ or, better still, read the myths--the Ta/in (as translated by Thomas Kinsella) or the Mabinogi (as translated by Patrick Ford) for yourself. In addition, Monaghan makes significant errors or repeats notions that are not accepted by recent scholarship. For example, Monaghan conflates several distinct figures into one without justification, such as presenting the figure of Bridget as a pan-Celtic goddess of primary importance when she was probably only one of many local deities. Some of her statements are essentially speculative, such as "Some rituals and legends suggest that Brigid's history may date back even beyond the era of the Celts." Monaghan's etymologies of "Celtic" goddess names are sometimes incorrect; for example, she gives the meaning of Bridget's name as "'bright arrow' or simply the 'bright one.'" In fact, the name means, "high one." "Sheela na gig" does not mean "hag." In her description of Morgan le Fey, Monaghan confuses various theories--such as one set that associates Morgan with an earlier figure named Muirgein vs. those that associate Morgan with the medieval figure of the Mo/rrigan. More importantly, Morgan le Fey is a figure of late medieval tales, not a goddess figure. My largest criticism of Monaghan's work is that she works on an assumption that is widespread among modern Wiccans but doesn't seem to reflect pre-Christian attitudes or practice; this assumption views goddesses in various cultures as variations on a handful of themes. For example, Monaghan repeatedly lumps together goddesses from several cultures. In doing so, she glosses over the differences that make each goddess--and the culture who venerated her--unique. She also lumps together Irish and Welsh figures as if the two cultures were a single "Celtic" group, ignoring the unique histories and approaches of these two groups. In the process, I think her approach leads to misunderstandings of the figures and the cultures. This approach almost certainly does not reflect belief and practice in pre-Christian Celt cultures.

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Summary: Good reference
Review: This book is a fairly good who's who of the Goddess realms. While some information is not exactly accurate, most of it is good for a quicky look up for the female deity you haven't heard of! Most blurbs of the deities are 1/4 to 1/2 page, while some are over a page long, again, not a true encylopedia, but still good reference.