Cheap The Celts - Rich Traditions & Ancient Myths (Video) (Celts-Rich Traditions & Ancien, Frank Delaney) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Celts - Rich Traditions & Ancient Myths

Celtic history comes alive...
What Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" was to science, Frank Delaney's "The Celts" is to Celtic history and legacy. Historian Delaney takes us on a journey through the colorful and ultimately tragic history of the Celts, and presents his arguments in an accessible and engaging manner. For those of us who always thought of the Celts as being limited to their Irish or Scots roots, Delaney opens up a much broader Celtic world, and explores customs, rituals, and history still alive in the then-modern world of 1987.

If there is a drawback to this set, it would have to be the lack of updated material. While I appreciate that the series is on DVD in an unmolested format, and while most of the material does not require any changes, there are some points that could have been given a follow-up segment. Chief among these is the phenomenon of the broadcasts in Welsh and Breton, which were completely in the native languages. Does the practice continue, or has funding and viewership declined since 1987? Are young people still interested in trying to learn their native tongues and customs? Are the parades and festivals that celebrate Celtic heritage still being held? Do the Irish storytellers still wander the countryside spinning tales? The series today leaves too many questions unanswered since the episodes originally aired in 1987, despite the excellent description of the historical Celtic world.

For many, the whole point of owning the series is the music of Enya, which was released as a separate soundtrack album, and was her first official solo effort. Enya herself is featured in an 80's music video at the end of one installment, and appears personally in another. The balance of her contribution is to the soundtrack that is still beloved among fans.

Included with the series are several interesting and vintage features from the BBC. One is what amounts to a 30 minute music video montage of an Irish weekend, from 1981. There are two interviews with Enya, related to the release of "Watermark", and there is another BBC documentary featurette on Celtic peoples taken from a late 80's news program.

Sadly, without any kind of revision, the series takes on a quaint, even dated, quality. Even so, you're less likely to find a better or more intelligent attempt to explain Celticism than Frank Delaney's "The Celts".

Excellent documentary on the Celts
For those who are a fan of Enya, then you're going to want this three videotape collection. The Celts was a BBC production from 1987, and the music from Enya's debut is featured here (as well as an original version of "The Longships" that never appeared on album, but was later re-recorded for Watermark). But what really matters here is this is a useful series documenting Celtic history, with its beginnings in the Austrian Alps and spreading everywhere up to Ireland all the way eastwards to Turkey. And while most people associate Celtic with Irish and Scottish, the documentary goes out of the way to let everyone be aware of Breton, Welsh, and other culture. I do like the episode regarding about Celtic religion and spirituality, how it made a transition from Paganism to Christianity. They even state how many of the Pagan rituals never really disappeared even during the rise of Christianity. It's not without its flaws. For one thing, there are a few boring spots (like the one with a school teacher lecturing the kids about the Celts, and the kids seem absolutely bored). Don't expect digital, DVD quality picture. Although from the late '80s, it has that '70s-style grainy footage quality, and it obviously looks like it wasn't made during the last few years. But despite some flaws, and the fact I find some uneven spots, this three videotape set is still worth having.