Early History of the Celts

8/16/2019 Early History of the Celts

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Early History of the Celts

Introduction

The Ancient Celts were not an illiterate people, but they transferred their knowledge orally. They had analphabet of twenty letters called Ogham. Each letter was named after a tree from the land where theylived. Ogham was used on standing stones, primarily on graves and boundary markers.

The primary sources of information about the Celts are, in that light, the texts written by the omans whowere in touch with them and Christian monks, who lived in !rish monasteries in the "iddle Ages. Caesar,#ivy and Tacitus, wrote about their contemporaries who lived in a way different than themselves andtherefore were considered $barbarians%, but even though they did not have a positive attitude towardsthem, they still left some useful information about Celtic society, religion, way of life, and so on.

One of the problems that arises from this is that many things in these writings are romanised, e.g. Caesarinterprets Celtic gods and calls them by the names of their oman e&uivalents' $They worship as theirdivinity, "ercury, in particular, and have many images of him, and regard him as the inventor of all arts,they consider him the guide of their (ourneys and marches, and believe him to have great influence over

the ac&uisition of gain and mercantile transactions. )ext to him they worship Apollo, and "ars, and*upiter, and "inerva+ respecting these deities they have for the most part the same belief as othernations' that Apollo averts diseases, that "inerva imparts the invention of manufactures, that *upiterpossesses the sovereignty of the heavenly powers+ that "ars presides over wars.%

The second type of sources are the books written from th - /th century on by Christian monks in !relandand Celtic 0ritain. These books were written several centuries later, so the oral tradition might havechanged and much of the information was under Christian influences. The Celts were one of the mostsignificant and powerful peoples in Europe from fourth until first century 0C, and their culture one of themost influential. 1rom then on they had a turbulent history, and their legacy continues to live even today.

Main Section

Today, Celtic is a family of languages of the !ndo 2 European group. The Celts are, by definition, all thepeople who spoke or speak one of the Celtic languages. A unifying Celtic language existed probablysomewhere between 344 and 564 0C, in the 0ron7e Age, when 8rnfield culture was at its peak. Thispeople spoke a language that would later develop into Celtic. Their $ur- Celtic% developed in two dialects,first 9oidelic :or ; 2 Celtic< and later 0rythonic :or = 2 Celtic; differentiation came from thediverse pronunciations of an !ndo 2 European sound >kw>. !n 9oidelic it became >k>, in 0rythonic >p>.9oidelic transformed into the languages spoken in !reland, !sle of "an and ?cotland+ 0rythonic into@elsh, Cornish and 0reton.

The next period of Celtic history is connected with allstatt culture, which existed approximately from 544to 644 0C. The later !ron Age phase of Celtic culture is called #a TBne, after a site in western ?wit7erlandand dates from 6th to st century 0C. The Celts almost certainly began to expand to the 0ritish !slesduring this period. Their influence extended from what are now 1rance, ?pain, and 0ritish !sles to theshores of the 0lack ?ea from the 8kraine to Turkey. @hen the omans came to these territories, theyended the #a TBne culture, but in the places they did not occupy, like as !reland and ?cotland, the #aTBne culture prospered until about 344 A .

The word Celt comes from Deltoi, the name that 9reek writers gave to these people. To the omans, theContinental Celts were known as 9alli and 9alatae, or 9auls and they called those in 0ritain =ritanni. !nthe th century 0C the Celts invaded the world in possession of the 9reeks and omans, con&ueringnorthern !taly and sacking ome, while also con&uering "acedonia and Thessaly. They raided ome in/F4 :or /G5


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After the height of their power, the Celts :the first !ndo-European group to spread across Europe< werepushed north and west by 9ermans and omans. "ost of 0ritain came under oman rule in the stcentury A and the Celts of central Europe came under the domination of the 9ermans. @hen uns from

Asia came later, the Celts were pushed west and north, to England, @ales, !reland and ?cotland and thenorthern coast of 1rance. !n medieval and modern times the Celtic tradition and languages survived in0rittany :@estern 1rance


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sacred person 2 his death in a battle would mean the defeat of the tuath. The king was the key element of the social structure. e was responsible for the prosperity of the tribe. The king was responsible for theredistribution of wealth in his kingdom.

!nside the tuath, society was fundamentally divided into three classes' the )obility, landowners andwarriors+ the Aes ana, men of art and learning, craftsmen, and included the ruids+ and the Commonersor Churls who did not own any land but were free and not slaves. ?lavery existed amongst the Celts, buttheir slaves were war captives and other con&uered people.

The kinship group, and not the individual, was the most important under 0rehon law. The kinship groupwas responsible for the actions of all its members. $Celtic society was rigidly divided into a class system.?imilar class systems predominated among the !ndians as well with largely the same categories. The

ruids were the educated and occupied the highest social position, (ust as the 0rahmin class occupiedthe highest social position among the !ndians. The ruids were responsible for cultural and religiousknowledge as well as the performance of rituals, (ust as the 0rahmins in !ndia.% Celtic society had asharply defined structure of rank or caste :with a possibility of moving up< 2 serfs and peasants+ freemenand craftsmen+ warriors+ nobles+ kings and priesthood. The 0rehons, or (udges, were from the ruidcaste.

esponsibility was proportional to the rank+ systems of behaviour were set for each caste - the higher thestatus, the stricter the rules. The position in society was determined by the ownership of cattle :there wasno land ownership in early Celtic society


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until they would memori7e everything. "any of the ruids were literate and they sometimes used writingwhen dealing with other peoples, they did not want to use it when it came to their knowledge and tradition.They felt this matters should be known by heart and they did not want to risk the knowledge falling intowrong hands and being used against their people.

Religion and Mythology - The Celts were polytheistic and their gods were of a more primitive, !ndo-European origin. Celtic gods often came in threes+ so it was not difficult for them to later accept theChristian concept of Trinity. Celts had no temples re&uired for their religious rituals, they concentratedmainly on the natural environment. @hen they were going to worship a god, they would make a circle inthe open, set an altar in the middle and in that way make a sacred place.

Their religion was very much in harmony with their natural surroundings. The Celts measured time bynights followed by days, not the reverse as we do today. They even had a calendar, kept by the ruids,which was based on lunar, and not solar motion. 1our ma(or religious festivals marked their seasons. -!mbolc, which was held in 1ebruary, was a pastoral festival of fertility and growth. !t was connected withthe first milking of the cows. - 0eltaine was celebrated in "ay, and was also related to the fertility of cattleand crops and honoured the ruids. 0eltaine is commonly associated with fire rites. - #ugnasa wascelebrated from mid *uly to mid August and it was the harvest festival. A great feast would be held on

August st to celebrate the richness of the harvest and to honour the gods. - ?amhain was the start of the)ew Kear. !t was celebrated on October / and commemorated the creation of order out of chaos and thebeginning of the world. uring this celebration the border between this world and the Otherworld openedand the spirits visited the earth. !t was a dangerous time when humanity was vulnerable and exposed tothe supernatural world.

The Otherworld in Celtic belief was the place where the gods and other supernatural beings lived,sometimes imagined as underground and sometimes as islands in the sea. !t was the land of (oy 2 therewas no sickness, old age, death and happiness was eternal. The Otherworld was not what is eaventoday 2 everyone went to the Otherworld, regardless of the way they acted in this world. ?ome of thenames that the Celts had for the Otherworld were #and of the Koung, the #and of the #iving and elightful=lain.

The Celts believed in transmigration of souls. The Otherworld was as real to the Celts as the this world,and although human beings did not usually go there before they died, stories of visits there 2 or visits of

the inhabitants Otherworld here, were accepted as convincing. @hen someone died, there were somerituals connected to death. They included a big feast in the area of the graveyard and also putting thingsinto the grave together with the body.

There were many gods and goddesses in Celtic beliefs. Each tuath had their gods. There were gods thatmore tribes had in common, because of similar names or they ruled over similar areas. 9enerally eachtuath had a divine father or tribal god who was linked to the welfare of the tuath. "agic and ritual was howhumans had interaction with the gods. ?acrifices were offered to the deities. Celtic 9ods had manynames+ they varied from tuath to tuath.

#ugh was a very resourceful god. e was believed to be skilled at and have domination over all the artsand horsemanship, a warrior god, inventor of games, patron of travellers and commerce. e is the mostuniversal of the Celtic gods. Cernunnos, known more often as the orned 9od, was the ruler and

protector of the animals. The blacksmith god, sometimes named 9oibhnui, was skilled at smith craft andpatron of that art and others. e was also the god of healing, because of the central role of iron in Celticlife and the belief that it had magical properties. @ater sources and thermal springs were also under hisdominion. There was also Oghma, the patron of elo&uence, and onn, the god of the dead and ruler ofthe Otherworld.

9oddesses in Celtic belief were generally triads and most often their influence was tied to a specificgeographic area. 0rigid, also spelled 0rigit and 0righid, had a widely spread influence as a mothergoddess, patroness of arts and crafts, healing, poetry and traditional learning, livestock and produce, andthe rites of spring.


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The functions of the gods were also very important' The ?ky 1ather The function of this god is that he is,usually, the father of all other gods together with the Earth "other. epending on the religion this god isalso the head of the pantheon, or at least his father or grandfather and often also the god of thunder andlightning. The controller of the lower realm is the one who is in charge of the Otherworld and who is takingthe dead there. The earth mother was, together with the ?ky father, parent of all the gods. ?he wasconnected with the fertility of the land, crops, and herds, as well as people. ?he would also defend thetuath when it was threatened by use of magic rather than physical weapons. There were gods andgoddesses of places like sacred trees, clearings, wells, and the like. "ost male gods were associatedwith a female consort, often mother goddess figures.

?hapeshifting was common among Celtic gods and goddesses who often took the form of their favouriteanimals. Animals were also important in Celtic religious beliefs. 0irds were linked with the gods asbringers of omens and messengers. ?wans, if portrayed wearing gold or silver chains, were supernaturaland often represented gods in bird form. avens were messengers of the gods and their calls wereconsidered prophetic. The salmon was regarded as the holder of Otherworld wisdom and a symbol forsacred rivers and pools. The salmon was also considered prophetic, as was the trout. @ater sourceswere especially sacred. The Celts believed that the waters possessed healing powers and that they wereentrances into the Otherworld. 9ifts were thrown into springs, rivers and sacred wells as gifts to the gods.

The omans considered the Celts very barbaric, because of some of their beliefs and their customs ofwar. One of the Celtic rituals was human sacrifice. Another custom was based on the fact that theybelieved that the human%s soul is in the head, so they cut off their enemies% heads and kept them astrophies. They were also regarded as superstitious for their blessing the houses and performing rituals.

Introduction of Christianity - @hen the omans con&uered the Celts, they brought Christian faith withthem. The Christianity was well established in Celtic 0ritain by the th century A and from there it spreadto !reland probably by means of 0ritish captives. !n the 6th century the ?axons and other 9ermanic tribesoccupied 0ritain and pushed most of the Celtic Christians into @ales and Cornwall.

At the same time, ?aint =atrick and other 0ritish missionaries founded a new church in !reland and thatchurch became the centre of Celtic Christianity. ?t. =atrick is said to have established Christianity in!reland and introduced literacy, and in the next few centuries it either overthrew or absorbed the old pagan

ways. =agan festivals and holidays were adapted into Christian holy days, and many of the local god andgoddess stories converted into tales of !rish saints. The most famous example is the Celtic goddess0rigid, or 0ride, who is now known in the Christian Church as ?t. 0rigit, the leading female saint of!reland.

The Christianity on territories occupied by ome was Episcopal 2 under the control of a bishop, but thatkind of Christianity demanded more urbani7ation than there was in the Celtic world. !rish Christianity soonbecame monastic 2 under the leadership of abbots. The !rish monks and monasteries did much to savethe knowledge of ancient oman literature in early medieval Europe. 0etween the late th and the earlyGth centuries, !rish missionaries were Christianising Europe, and they founded numerous monasteries inwhat is today 1rance, 9ermany, ?wit7erland, and !taly. This was the 9olden Age of !reland. !t wasnHt untilthe late sixth century that Christianity was reintroduced into 0ritain+ this brand of Christianity, moreassociated with the practices of the oman church, came into conflict with Celtic Christianity and its

uni&ue practices.0y the tenth century, the uni&ue Celtic Christianity of 0ritain had largely been subordinated to ?axonChristianity. Celtic Christianity in !reland weakened when the Likings invaded in the Fth and 4thcenturies and by the 3th century its characteristic institutions, which differed from the prevailing traditionsof the oman church, basically disappeared from Europe.

Conclusion


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There are many theories about Celtic origins, about their mythology and their culture, but they are oftenonly theories. @riting history as such is very complicated and can never be seen as completely accurate.Therefore, one can never be sure of the events from the past. The early Celtic history is based on$second-hand% sources, and many things are too vague to be considered absolute truth. 1or the most partwe can only speculate. Today%s romantic view of the Celts is that of magic, heroes and the supernatural.On the other side, there is a sceptic view that denies all connections between the tribes that areconsidered Celtic. @e%ll probably never know with complete certainty. )onetheless, we try to find out, wetry to shed light, to conclude. @ith the help of the sources that we can rely on 2 archaeological evidence,

omans and monks 2 we can make more theories, but they will still be only theories.

Bibliography

Caesar, *ulius ' e bello 9allico :9allic @ars< Ellis, =eter 0erresford. The Celtic Empire 0ulfinch,Thomas. 0ulfinchHs "ythology' The Age of 1able, The Age of Chivalry, #egends of Charlemagne

Documents

Early History of the Celts