Mythology of the British Isles cover art

Mythology of the British Isles

The Geoffrey Ashe Histories

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Mythology of the British Isles

By: Geoffrey Ashe
Narrated by: Jeremy Nichols
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

A brilliant exploration of the legends of the British Isles.

From the dark centuries of British prehistory to the ninth century AD, comes tales of giants and fairy-folk of druids and saints. From King Lear and King Arthur, to Fingal, Beowulf, Gwendolen, and Guinevere legendary characters have shaped the making of the nation.

But who were they? In Mythology of the British Isles, Geoffrey Ashe explores how each of these stories are inter-connected, and how they have taken on fresh significance and meaning as historical and archaeological research has uncovered the truth behind each legend.

He demonstrates, too, how legends from Ireland, such as The Voyages of Bran and Saint Brendan, shed unexpected light on British stories like Arthur’s voyage to Avalon. And modern myths and beliefs are examined and placed in context, from the Glastonbury Zodiac and the interpretation of ley lines, to the possible biblical pedigree of modern royalty.

In Mythology of the British Isles, Geoffrey Ashe uncovers a British mythology, which is comparable to the Greek in its richness and cohesiveness, and which possesses a national genius all of its own.

©2020 Lume Books (P)2021 Lume Books Customs & Traditions Europe Great Britain Social Sciences Royalty Arthurian England King Sailing British History

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Ancient Celts, Second Edition cover art
Dark Folklore cover art
Adventures in Cryptozoology cover art
Mythology: Mega Collection cover art
Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland cover art
Rosicrucian America cover art
The First Ghosts cover art
The True History of Merlin the Magician cover art
Celtic Mythology cover art
Winters in the World cover art
King of the World cover art
In Search of the Dark Ages cover art
The Faded Map cover art
The Anglo-Saxon World cover art
Ghostland cover art
Mythology cover art

Critic reviews

"A 'must-have' for anyone interested in the history and mythology of the British Isles." (Medieval History)
All stars
Most relevant  
Really well read and well articulated. Will be returning to this again soon. Highly recommended

Epic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really enjoyable content, outlining the myths and legends of Britain that we English have overlooked (not always through the fault of our own).

It provides us with a fuller picture of the origins of Britain (so, not just sub-Roman Britain and the Germanic migrations of the 5th Century), explains our indigenous mythology, and generally deepens your enjoyment of the folklore of these islands.

Expect the Arthurian cycle, and much more!

Fascinating insight into our forgotten heritage

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a complex topic with many inter-weaving stories, some evolved from earlier tales, with names that are similar or might be related (or might not) so it needs a very sharp narrator to maintain one's focus. I found the narrator a bit uninspired, as if he was really not very interested in what he was reading - which made the book rather hard going.

The book itself contains a wealth of information - some of it inevitably speculative - and traces some of British mythology from 'were we founded by renegade Trojans?' to 'who might King Arthur have been?'. There is a lot of interesting stuff here but I found it hard to keep hold of - perhaps because of the plethora of similar names, or because of the various digressions covering related myths (or possible origin stories), or perhaps just because mythologies are, by their very nature, all rather evanescent.

I suspect it's a book that is better to read rather than to listen to, so you can pause, glance back a page or two and 'reset' yourself as you go along. Having said that it maintained my interest (despite the rather monotone narration) and there are some interesting nuggets o ponder on.

Not very accessible

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed this book, and totally disagree with reviews that criticise the narration, I found it engaging. I've just purchased his other audible titles after enjoying this so much.

Great content, really interesting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
While I probably don’t have the contextual knowledge to challenge or scrutinise what Ashe offers here, what I did find was a really enjoyable journey through what seems to be the majority of the myth-building of Britain and Ireland. Lots of interesting information and definitely gave me a little more grounding on characters like King Arthur, Tristan and Isolde, Beowulf, etc.

Ashe spends a lot of the book referring back to Geoffrey of Monmouth’s works, so if that’s a particular interest of yours then this would like be even more fascinating to you.

Interesting and thorough

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Quite an amazing listen and very well presented. This was particularly good at sifting factual reality from the fanciful whilst respecting both sides. I learned so much about Arthurian legend and the origins of England. I had no idea that Geoffrey of Monmouth for example could not be taken as a gospel record and that his own considerations overruled historical facts.

Mythology of the British Isles - a Review

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A good presentation of this subject.
The depth of research could not be doubted for this work. In fact it is a little too much to take on at time.
Still, a unique and interesting work.

Good, well worth a read/listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It's probably more a history of mythology in the British but interesting all the same. There is a complexity to defining what is history, what is invented history, and what is myth, especially with the British. It also helps that the narrator was pretty damn good with welsh pronunciation, because often in these audiobooks the butchering of welsh words is painful but this guy managed it!

Alternative fun title: "The roasting of Geoffrey of Monmouth"

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
What could have been a good audiobook is let down by the monotone drone of the reader. It sent me to sleep.

Disappointing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love this audiobook. It covers myth, legend and history together showing its similarities and difference and drawing from writers of ancient history and various stories of the British isles. It was fascinating to me and just what I was looking for. Some have said the narration was dull but I didn’t find this. I preferred this down to Earth, easy to follow narration to some on audible that are American and read as though they are reading a highly dramatised Hollywood movie trailer!

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews