Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings. Today’s post is a review of the book Finding Elen: The Quest for Elen of the Ways edited by Caroline Wise. I have had this book on my to-read list for the last few years. It had been out of print for quite a while, so I had not had the chance to read it. I found it recently brand new on ThriftBooks, so I was able to finally read this book!
What I did not quite expect was that this is actually a collection of essays, and reads a bit like the collections of devotional anthologies which I enjoy greatly. I knew that Caroline Wise was simply listed as an editor, but it never clicked that this title would be essays. It was lovely to get to read Caroline Wise’s own recollections of researching Elen of the Ways in the 1980s and 1990s, during a time when not many people believed in a Deer Goddess of the Celts.
Each of the other contributors had such a large amount of love, respect, and reverence for this often misunderstood Goddess. There are also several lovely illustrations throughout the book, adding to its loveliness. All of that being said, I think that my favorite thing about the book was actually the comparative mythology points. I loved the idea of discussing Elen of the Ways as she related archetypically to other mythic ladies and Goddesses including Helen of Troy and Goddesses of the Hunt. Later in the book, there is much discussion of Elen as a Green Woman Goddess of the Woods and a Sovereignty figure. In this section, we see her compared to the different Elaine’s of Arthurian legend, and to Guinevere herself! I found the comparative mythology parts to give a lot of depth to my understanding of Elen, plus it helps me get in touch with her archetypes. This made me so intrigued because I love archetypes, as my regular readers will know, given all of my posts about archetypes!
Overall, I very much enjoyed this book, and I am so glad that I read it finally. I also believe that this book would be a great read for anyone who is interested in Elen of the Ways and her misty mythological origins! I hope you have enjoyed this short review. Have you read this book? Do you want to read it now? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is the cover. I found the image on https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Elen-Quest-Ways/dp/1508644039.
Tarot Note: I have a page offering tarot and oracle readings for those interested in these services! I am very happy to be offering these readings to my treasured readers at White Rose of Avalon! Link to page: https://whiteroseofavalon.life/tarot-and-oracle-readings/
Further Reading
- Finding Elen: The Quest for Elen of the Ways edited by Caroline Wise