Sacred and Mythological Animals - (McFarland Myth and Legend Encyclopedias) by Yowann Byghan (Paperback)

About the Book

"From the common household cat to horses that can fly, a surprisingly wide range of animals feature in religions both ancient and modern and in mythologies all across the world. The same animal can take on different roles depending upon the sacred tradition. For example, the raven can be a symbol of evil, a harbinger of death, a wise messenger, or a shape-changing trickster. In Norse mythology, Odin's magical ravens Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory) come to perch on his shoulders and bring him news. This informative and entertaining compendium draws upon religious texts and myths to explore the different ways that sacred traditions incorporate animal images, themes, and associations into rituals, ceremonies, texts, myths, literature, and folklore from across the world. Sections are organized by the main animal classifications such as mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians, and insects. Within each section, each chapter covers one significant grouping such as dogs, cats, and horses. Each chapter first describes the animal scientifically and details the general mythological attributes. Then the chapter provides numerous examples, citing the text or myth. A final section provides additional coverage of references to animal hybrids, animal monsters, and mythical animals. An appendix about "animals in the sky" covers stars, constellations and Zodiac symbols named after animals. Another appendix lists and describes basic details of the religions and mythologies covered in the book. A glossary defines uncommon religious terms and offers explanations of scientific animal names."--

Book Synopsis

From the household cat to horses that can fly, a surprisingly wide range of animals feature in religions and mythologies all across the world. The same animal can take on different roles: the raven can be a symbol of evil, a harbinger of death, a wise messenger or a shape-changing trickster. In Norse mythology, Odin's magical ravens perch on his shoulders and bring him news.

This compendium draws upon religious texts and myths to explore the ways sacred traditions use animal images, themes and associations in rituals, ceremonies, texts, myths, literature and folklore across the world. Sections are organized by the main animal classifications such as mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians and insects. Each chapter covers one significant grouping (such as dogs, cats or horses), first describing an animal scientifically and then detailing the mythological attributes. Numerous examples cite texts or myths. A final section covers animal hybrids, animal monsters and mythical animals as well as stars, constellations and Zodiac symbols. An appendix describes basic details of the religions and mythologies covered. A glossary defines uncommon religious terms and explains scientific animal names.

Review Quotes

"Many animal books center around animal behavior and physical description; a small minority deal with hunting and animal husbandry. Byghan has written an animal book with a twist: his subject is the sacredness of animals. ...Byghan provides a worldwide taxonomy of animals and their sacredness. ...Each entry is concisely written and well documented...thought-provoking comments...recommended"-Choice

About the Author

Yowann Byghan is an author, poet, playwright and a practicing Druid for 50+ years. He is a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedh, and speaks fluent Cornish. His knowledge of Scottish Gàidhlig, Irish Gaeilge and Welsh, as well as Latin, has allowed him to research source texts in the original languages as well as in translation. He lives on a small island in the Inner Hebrides in Scotland.