The Music of His Sword: Martial Arts of the Pagan Celts Paperback – September 20, 2013

This book is written by a fellow polytheistic devotee of Brighid, and as a HEMA student besides, I absolutely had to read it. I didn't have the opportunity until recently, and it was worth the wait, as I was not at all disappointed.With the sparse information we have on martial arts in the Iron Age Celtic world (they didn't make illuminated manscripts before Christianity, to our knowledge) the author makes a good case for various battle stances and guards with a full explanation of how he came to that conclusion, while also acknowledging in which parts assumption had to prevail. This is really all one can ask for in a scholarly treating of any subject, and with the consistent citation of this work, I was elated.The especially juicy stuff comes towards the end, in which Mr. Thompson theorizes at some of the more unique legendary combat feats, such as CuChulainn's "warp spasms". Still, the subject is treated with good scholarship.I highly suggest that whether it be for stage combat, LARPing, historical reenactment, or for comptetive sport, this book is a great companion for anyone who wants to add an ancient Celtic flair to their craft.

Mr. Thompson has compiled what must be called the seminal work on this subject. Through an exhaustive collection of evidence gleaned from the mythic texts, archeological artifacts, and later (but culturally related) martial sources, scrupulously cited, the experimental framework proposed is a very reasonable interpretation. The religious elements which infom the martial reconstruction(s) are also a worthwhile focus of research, which would almost certainly be an interest to the audience this work is geared towards.Mr. Thompson is under no illusions that his interpretaion is just that, and never overstates or argues that "this is surely the way that it was", only how it may have been.I do wish that more detail could have been provided relating to ideas for training and sparing tools, albeit thus may just be something we are left to research for ourselves.Overall an excellent work, by a respected voice in the HEMA community.