I requested this book because I love to read and learn about other cultures. The Romani have always interested me and I thought this book would be a great way to learn more. The author of this book writes as an academic. I feel like the information would have been much better if it had been arranged by topic rather than alphabetically in order to make the information flow and to tie connected myths together. Also the author uses the term Gypsy a lot which is offensive.

I cannot give a full review, as I wasn't fully able to finish this. What I will say, from what I read, is that the book looks interesting and is a great factual resource for anyone interested in Roma culture. Just as it says, it's a dictionary, which means it's more of a resource than a book you would necessarily sit and read all the way through, which makes it a bit harder to judge. From the portions I read, the information was fascinating and well put together.I'm sorry I couldn't read more.

Dictionary of Gypsy Mythology: Charms, Rites, and Magical Traditions of the Roma was written by Claude Lecouteux, and translated into English by Jon E. Graham. It is a dictionary style guide to the oral tradition of the Rom. This includes some of their folktales, rites, songs, nursery rhymes, jokes, and magical traditions. His main source is material collected by Heinrich Adalbert von Wlislocki (1856-1907), an ethnologist who lived with gypsies in Romania, Transylvania, and Hungary in the latter half of the 19th century. He presents the origin myths of the gypsies, legends which form the ancestral memory of the gypsy tribes and often closely touch on their daily life. Rare illustrations and information from obscure sources appearing for the first time in English, this detailed reference work represents an excellent resource for scholars and those seeking to reconnect to their forgotten gypsy heritage.

Dictionary of Gypsy Mythology: Charms, Rites, and Magical Traditions of the Roma is a good, well organized resource with dictionary style entries. I like how thorough and well researched the information is, and I love learning about different cultures. I have read so much fiction that touches on the culture, but I am never sure just how accurate it is. Having something this well organized would help me look up certain topics or names to see if it is being used correctly. This is not a book to casually read and get full stories and a larger picture of the traditions. This is a book to study or use as a reference when doing research or writing to make sure we use our mentions and terminology correctly. For this, the book is a valuable tool. There are some stories toward the end of the book, but I am greedy and would like more. I am hoping to do more of my own study in the traditions and legends, because I find understanding other people to be important and fascinating- and it frankly makes us better people when we understand things from another point of view. I did not get a whole lot of that, but I did glean some interesting and important information that will help me along as I continue looking for more.
If you have read a wonderful book on legends or mythology of any culture (for children or adults) please let me know. I love the expand my understanding and horizons!

The Roma culture is vast and complex representing the diversity of the people who make up this group. While the term “gypsy” might be considered offensive to the Romani, unfortunately it is the misnomer that is commonly used to refer to this population. I feel that is why Claude Lecouteux used the title The Dictionary of Gypsy Mythology: Charms, Rites, and Magical Traditions of the Roma.

While this book is chiefly a dictionary, there is an interesting introduction and a section at the end of the book which includes relevant folktales (The Great Flood, The White Hind, The Mountain of Cats, the Fiancée of the Phuvus). The content has been thoroughly researched with footnotes and references to substantiate the text. However, much of the information is based on the works of the ethnologist, folklorist Henrich von Wlislocki who traveled throughout parts of Europe in the late 1800s, collecting the oral Roma traditions and then adapting the stories for a Non-Romani audience.

Lecouteux shares with us the belief that the Roma actually came from India, not Egypt, based on the linguistical patterns of their language, although these nomadic people traveled throughout Europe starting in the ninth century reaching Scandinavia by the 1500s. The author, a professor at the Sorbonne specializing in Medieval history, doesn’t deal with the sordid details of the treatment of these people by the residents of the towns they visited or settled, but focuses mainly on the cultural aspects of this society via an alphabetical listing of various relevant terms including lengthier mythological stories. There is a wealth of illustrations, a list of transcriptions and pronunciations, and various songs, nursery rhymes, and magical traditions interspersed throughout. At times the text is choppy but that may be due to the translation by Jon E Graham or by the decision to use “authentic wording”.

An extensive bibliography plus recommendations for books of possible further interest for the reader round out this comprehensive tome.

While I would have appreciated a smoother text and even more of the folklore, this is definitely a much needed addition to the neglected subject of the Romani People so I’m giving it four stars.

A thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Inner Traditions, for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This review also appears on Goodreads and my blog, Gotta Read:
https://ellenk59.wordpress.com/2018/08/08/the-dictionary-of-gypsy-mythology-charms-rites-and-magical-traditions-of-the-roma-by-claude-lecouteux/

Unfortunately my digital copy of this book ran out before I was able to finish it, therefore I won't be able to review it. I will give it an average of 3 Stars, however, because I enjoyed what I was able to read.

Specifically an A-Z dictionary for Gypsy mythology and a good introduction for terms, this work would serve best as a complement book to historical and origin stories in narrative form or a starting place for more in depth research. A helpful student text.

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Whether you know much about the Roma Gypsy or their mythology this book is very interesting. It is not a story or a text book. It is just as the title says a dictionary. The book goes alphabetically of the people, places, items, time all believed in the mythology. Each entry has a short story, legend, or just the place in the myths, or who the person was. There are some drawings and poetry also. This is a very interesting book. It is a short read also only 195 pages. When you have finished reading you will have a better understanding Roma Gypsy mythology, and if you knew nothing abotut it before reading you will be wanting to find out more about the culture afterwards.



I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review.

As a Romanian with almost no knowledge about gipsies besides the stereotypes shared by parents grandparents this was a revealing yet fascinating book. It made me curious to find out more about this culture that is so marginalised in my country. It was both a shock and a delight to see that most myths in traditional Romanian folk stories are actual of gipsy origin.

Dictionary of Gypsy Mythology is an interesting reference book that catalogs various myths, creatures, and deities from Romani culture in dictionary format. It's fairly extensive in that it details various myths from various cultures (those who settled around Romania, for example, have different myths than those who settled in Hungary). I also liked the illustrations that accompanied it, though I would have liked to see more information about why they were included and what they were from.

Because of its format, I would not recommend this book for those unfamiliar with Rom mythology. I don't have a great foundation in it to work from, and I found it a bit dense and hard to delve into. Once I started glancing at it every once in a while.While you can learn a lot from it, the dictionary format doesn't lend itself well to really connecting to the myths and experiencing them as a story. It also must be noted that the author is non-Romani, so it's important to look at these with that lens in mind. However, I really enjoyed how comprehensive this is and learning a little about the various types of Romani culture. 

Definitely pick this up if you're interested. I found it intriguing and informational, if not a "thrilling" read. I'm interested to read more into Romani mythology now that I've been introduced to it.

I have always been interested in the culture of the Roma Gypsy. This is a comprehensive dictionary from A to Z with legends and stories included.. There was a lot of research done obviously to be able to have so much pertinent information. I am very excited to be able to read this book. I received this book from Net Galley for an honest review.

It feels a little harsh giving this a three-star rating and faulting it for doing exactly what it set out to do in the title. This is a dictionary of Roma mythology, but I was expecting something a little more than a purely factual recording, however.

All of the entries were brief, with some only a sentence or two in length, and I would have preferred perhaps less topics and a larger discourse on each, instead. This was certainly interesting and a good introduction to the fascinating mythology recorded, but just as my interest was piqued in a certain subject I found the entry cut off, which left me feeling like I had been given too little information about two many subjects.

A very interesting books about some aspects of a quite unknown culture.
Really interesting and informative.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Inner Traditions

An interesting read for those interested in gypsy culture.

I requested this book as someone with Roma heritage coming from the Greek and Moroccan tribes. Culturally, since the Roma are a wide and diverse group, I think it would be categorically impossible to really get all the symbolism, all the mythology, etc. etc. into one book, but this tome does a good job.

Lots of this mythology however, is as relevant to modern Roma as ancient Greek mythology is to modern Greeks, so it shouldn't be read as "this is what they believe now," because they mostly don't. It is, however, a fascinating study of a people who are often marginalized, ignored, and until recently, often killed and relocated with impunity. Books like this help to see these people as more than just obscure traveling groups and more as humans with a rich culture.

My one complaint stands with the title of this book. While I do not personally believe that the word is as offensive as say, the N-word, it is still offensive and probably would be best suited to being changed to avoid controversy so that readers can focus on the book instead of the terminology.

A fascinating peek into a culture that our modern society has romanticized but that we really know little about. Origin myths, causes and cures for ailments and illnesses, celestial myths, folktales and more are all presented here in very readable dictionary-style entries, followed by a few actual folktales. Very interesting read!

This is a really cool book. Will be a fun reference book for our library.

A compendium of hermetic knowledge that’s as good as Gypsy gold for those outside of Eastern Europe…

Dictionary of Gypsy Mythology by Claude Lecouteux is a comprehensive guide of Romani mythologies and beliefs, containing stories from Roma authorities and a variety of tribes. It is a valuable source for those who wish to learn more about these mysterious people, their history, and culture. The information contained within this book is sourced from a 19th century Ethnologist who spent time living with the Romani peoples. The Roma do not have their own alphabet or written records, thus, all of their stories are based on the oral tradition, which makes this dictionary an invaluable curated archive of their culture.

A discussion on the Egyptian and Indian origins of the Roma is featured throughout, as well as an exploration of the pagan and Christian symbology that has weaved itself into their lives. What I loved is that every god, goddess, animal, mythological creature, folktale, rite, song, and joke was explained within the Roma’s cultural context. This helps the reader understand why they have such beliefs in the first place and how this informs their lifestyle and choices. There are plenty of footnotes and citations listed to support the content of the book, making it both a credible academic resource and an enlightening read.

I am so happy that I got to review this book! My Mother’s side of the family is Romani so I grew up with a lot of stories about their folklore. To this day we still practice bits and pieces of domestic magic and fortune telling, although none of it has been documented. Both me and my Mom started to record it a few years ago so we will always have a record to be able to pass down through the generations. My Romani heritage is not something we as a family like to “advertise” because the stigmas are still extremely strong……not even my Dad who doesn’t have Romani blood approves of my Mom’s heritage. It’s a culture that is misunderstood and is still ostracized to this day. I’m always hunting for the next book about the Roma, and this one was the most in depth and interesting one that I’ve read.

I would only recommend this book to readers who already have a solid knowledge of Romani history and culture for two reasons. First, the book draws heavily from the work of "Gypsologists" like Heinrich von Wlislocki who, despite collecting stories firsthand from Roma, nevertheless interpreted and presented the information through a gadje/non-Romani lens -- this is not unexpected in studies of largely nomadic groups that rely on oral history, but the methodology must be acknowledged. Second, it would be very easy for less-informed readers to generalize various dictionary entries and tales as applying to all Romani groups, whether living in modern or medieval times; on the contrary, Wlislocki's work, for instance, comes from a group of nineteenth-century Transylvanian Roma and cannot be assumed to reflect the culture of Roma in other places or times. However, with these points in mind (and Lecouteux clearly cites the sources for each entry, making awareness of the provenance easy), this is a valuable resource for those interested in Romani folklore and culture in a historical context.