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Marie-Louise Sjoestedt (1900–1940)

Author of Celtic Gods and Heroes

2 Works 255 Members 5 Reviews

About the Author

Includes the name: Marie-Louise Sjoestadt

Works by Marie-Louise Sjoestedt

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Canonical name
Sjoestedt, Marie-Louise
Legal name
Sjoestedt-Jonval, Marie-Louise
Birthdate
1900-10-20
Date of death
1940-12-26
Gender
female
Nationality
France
Birthplace
Saint-Thomas, Aisne, France
Place of death
Paris, France
Places of residence
Paris, France
Riga, Latvia
Dunquin, County Kerry, Ireland
Education
Sorbonne
École pratique des Hautes Études
Collège de France
École des Langues Orientales
Occupations
linguist
literary scholar
Celtic scholar
author
journal editor
philologist
Short biography
Marie-Louise Sjoestedt-Jonval was born in Saint-Thomas, Aisne, France, where her Swedish-French family spent their holidays. Her father Erik-Valentin Sjoestedt was a Swedish diplomat stationed in Paris and the author of numerous Francophile articles. Her mother Léonie Bernardini wrote essays and novels. Marie-Louise was educated at home and obtained a baccalauréat in 1918. She then enrolled at the Sorbonne, where she earned her degrees and qualifications to teach, including the licence, diplôme d'études supérieures, and agrégation de grammaire. She also attended many other lectures on comparative grammar and on Latin linguistics at the École des Hautes Études and in the Collège de France, and she began to study Slavonic languages at the École des Langues Orientales. She decided to specialize in Celtic studies, especially Irish language, and earned a degree in 1926 after doing research in Ireland. In 1928, she became a lecturer in Greek at Rennes University, and was the first woman to be appointed to such a post in classics. The following year, she was elected to the post of directeur d'études in Celtic languages at the École des Hautes Études. With her former teacher Joseph Vendryes and colleague Joseph Loth, she co-edited the journal Revue Celtique.
In 1931, she published Phonétique d'un parler irlandais de Kerry, one of the most original descriptions of Irish dialects. A subsequent book, Description d'un parler irlandais de Kerry (1938) was remarkable for its innovative systematization. In 1932, she married Michel Jonval, a fellow linguistics scholar who specialized in Lithuanian and Latvian. She studied Caucasian languages together with him in 1934–1935 and they lived for a short while in Riga, Latvia. Michel Jonval died at the end of 1935. Marie-Louise returned to Celtic studies with Dieux et héros des Celtes (1940), with vivid insights into the social significance of heroic themes. She suffered from depression, which was exacerbated by Nazi Germany's invasion of France in World War II. She died by suicide shortly after her newly-married second husband was arrested by the German army. In 1949, Dieux et heros des Celtes was published posthumously in an English translation by Myles Dillon as Gods and Heroes of the Celts.

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Reviews

Recensione sul blog : https://thereadingpal.blogspot.com/2017/11/recensione-144-celtic-gods-and-heroes...

Non ho nessun tipo di esperienza con gli dèi celtici: non ricordo di aver mai letto romanzi con questi dèi, né non-fiction. Però volevo farlo, e così ho letto Celtic Gods and Heroes. La Sjoestedt esplora la religione celtica, non raccontando ogni singolo mito ma esaminando le caratteristiche generali degli dèi, che sono diverse a seconda del fatto che siano divinità femminili o maschili, e degli eroi, fornendo degli esempi provenienti dai miti quando necessario.
Ora, come vedete è molto breve, quindi non si è andati molto nel dettaglio, ma personalmente l'ho trovato conciso e facile da seguire.
È un testo piuttosto accademico, sia nel linguaggio che nella suddivisione degli argomenti. Sono fornite delle note per esplorare di più alcune questioni ed è presente una bibliografia che provvederò, prima o poi, a recuperare.
Per quanto mi riguada non ho affatto trovato noioso il tipo di linguaggio che comunque necessita di una buona conoscenza dell'inglese (e del linguaggio accademico), ma so che non è una cosa per tutti. Non conoscendo l'argomento, ho trovato comunque sorprendentemente facile seguire il discorso dell'autrice mentre si addentrava nei vari discorsi. La parte che ho trovato più interessante in assoluto è stata The Feast of the First of November, ma anche le due parti riguardanti gli eroi mi hanno attratta. La religione celtica è completamente diversa da quella greco-romana, sia nella visione degli dèi, sia nelle caratteristiche che distinguono un eroe dalle persone comuni. È una cosa che mi è risultata davvero strana, ma che ha un senso se lo si inserisce nella cultura dei popoli celtici. Per non parlare poi degli dèi: cercare di paragonarli e dei greci o romani è rischioso e neanche tanto sensato, per quanto mi riguarda. Sono troppo distanti.
Ho trovato sicuramente un po' difficile leggere i nomi degli eroi e degli dèi, a me così poco familiari, ma l'autrice a volte fornisce la radice da cui provengono e quindi parole latine e greche simili che secondo me possono aiutare.
Essendo così corto (95 pagine, più la bibliografia e gli indici, non so bene cos'altro dire. È una specie di mini recensione, ecco. Però mi sento di consigliarvelo, in quanto è una lettura interessante e ben scritta che mi ha portato a conoscere un po' meglio un ambito sconosciuto.
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thereadingpal | 4 other reviews | Jun 14, 2022 |
Some good points but cloyingly academic

Despite its relative brevity, this was a bit of a chore to muddle through. While it referenced certain familiar Celtic tales, there was perhaps not enough analysis of the texts themselves. Still, the author makes clear points: that the Gods of the Celtic world are not relegated to heavens but dwell on this earth; that The Greek pantheon shares certain like characters but there is far from a one-to-one correspondence; that "outsiders" (whether foreigners or odd folks within the tribe) could find a place through initiation that was both a service to the tribe but also outside its most rigid constrictions.… (more)
 
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Bostonseanachie | 4 other reviews | Dec 14, 2016 |
This does read like a published thesis but is still engaging. It follows some fo the details about what is known about celtic mythology and where it comes from and then moves into looking specifically at Irish mythology and the relationship with the people. Apart from some minor niggles (the usual translation is Red Branch, rather than Branch Red) I found it interesting and it made me curious about looking at some of the other texts. The fact that she looks at the relationship between French and Irish Celts is quite understandable as she is French herself and most of the classical sources about the celts were written about the French.

The translator also includes an expanded bibliography, books written since 1940 when this was originally published and which add to the scholarship.

Overall it's one of the best I've read in this area, while scholarly it's also quite readable. A good starting point for research in this area.
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1 vote
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wyvernfriend | 4 other reviews | Apr 5, 2008 |
This is the book I recommend to anyone who is new to Celtic mythology. It is very short (about 90 pages) so it is a very brief overview. What it does cover however, is accurate and easy to understand.
I wish that I had read this book first as it explains a lot of the basics of Celtic myth. The chapters are the mythological period, the mother goddesses, the gods of the continental Celts, the chieftain gods, the hero of the tribe, the heroes outside the tribe, and the feast of November.
The information is basic enough for someone without prior knowledge of Celtic myth or history to follow, yet what is covered is discussed in enough depth to give the reader a good understanding of the material.
This is an excellent choice for a first read on the subject and one that will provide a solid base for future reading.
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1 vote
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rosekey | 4 other reviews | Mar 16, 2008 |

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