3. Who Were the Celts

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2. Who were the Celts?

2.1. Historical Background

The wordCelt is derived from the Greek wordkeltoi and is pronounced

with a hard [k ] sound. It designates a member of an ancient race of people, whoformerly inhabited a great part of Central and Western Europe, and whosedescendents at the present day occupy Ireland, Wales, the Highlands of Scotlandand the northern shores of France. The Greeks would callkeltoi the barbarian peoples of Central Europe. The Celts were never an empire ruled by onegovernment. They were a broad cultural-linguistic group.(http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/Celtic/history.html)

The Celts as a people first appeared on the scene of history around the year 800 BC. The Greek historian Herodotus mentioned that around the year 500 BC

they had already spread over the entire Alpine Europe, in areas immediately to thenorth, in central France and in parts of Spain. During the 4th century BC, in a bandof territory stretching across Europe from Eastern France through Germany,Austria and into Bohemia, new groups arose, characterized by, among other things,warrior graves and a new kind of art. Archaeologists call this the La Tne culture ,the physical remains of groups who, around 400 BC, suddenly erupted into Italyand began to settle thePo Valley . These were the Ancient Celts, otherwise knownas Gauls . No longer a distant scholarly curiosity, the Celts were suddenly the mostfearsomebarbarian danger (Drmba: 1998, p.24) . Around 390 BC, the Gallic

Senones 1 plundered Rome, but they were driven back to the Po Valley which becameGallia Cisalpina (the Gaul this side of the Alps).

Migrating Celtic groups invaded the Balkans and, in 279 BC, attackedDelphi, the greatest shrine in Greece. Beaten back with terrible losses, somecrossed into Anatolia (now Turkey) and established themselves as a kind of robber-kingdom around modern Ankara. Known by the Greek equivalent of theRoman nameGauls , theseGalatae gave their name to the land,Galatia , and so tothe Galatians of the New Testament. It has also long been assumed that there werewaves of Celts moving Westwards and North-West from the Central Europeanhomeland, to match these historically-attested Mediterranean migrations - eventhough there were no literate observers in these areas to record such invasions. Nonetheless, the Romans found people calledCeltiberians in Spain, and there aretraces of Celtic dialects in various parts of the peninsula. This has been explainedas a result of early, unrecorded Celtic invasions. Likewise, it has long been believed that there were Celtic invasions of the British Isles. Caesar recorded thatGauls, especially Belgae, had settled in Britain. Identical tribal names are foundon the continent and in Britain (e.g. Atrebates , Parisi ). Modern linguistics hasshown that the indigenous tongues of the British and the Irish were closely

1 TheSenones were aCelticpeople of Gallia Celtica, who in the time of Julius Caesar inhabited thedistrict which now includes the departments of Seine-et-Marne, LoiretandYonne.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaulhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seine-et-Marnehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loirethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonnehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaulhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seine-et-Marnehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loirethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonne


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Annex No. 1

Fig.No.1. The Celtic Tribes of Britain

Fig.No.3. IceniSilver

Coin (AD61) Fig.No.2. The Celtic Trade Links

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with Europe

related to those of the continental Gauls, and were all members of the Celtic familyof languages. Then as archaeology developed, the artifacts of Iron Age Britain andIreland began to be identified, and in important ways showed links with the worldof the Continental Celtic Gauls; all three groupings produced the same kind of characteristic Celtic art, of swirling lines, suggesting vegetation, and perhapsstylized faces of people and animals. There seemed to be a common emphasis onweapons, strongholds, and warfare, and historical documents suggested institutionsin common too, not least in religion; Druids, for example, are attested amongst allthree groups. The Ancient British and Irish, then, came to be seen as Celts like theGauls and related continental peoples, from Spain to Turkey.(http://www.ares.u-net.com/convent.htm)

During the last three centuries BC, the expanding Roman empire graduallysubjugated all of the Continental Celtic world, except for areas North of the Rhineand Danube, which were soon overrun by a newbarbarian grouping, the earlyGermans. Many of the wholly or partly Celtic areas, such as theThree Gauls(roughly modern France and the Rhineland) and Hispania (Spain and Portugal) became prosperous Roman provinces, but Celtic language and lifestyle did notsurvive the process of Romanization . All these lands came to speak Latin dialects,ancestral to theRomance languages of today (Spanish, French, Portuguese,Catalan, etc.). Rome extinguished Celticity on the European mainland. In Britain,Roman occupation of the lands which would one day be known as England and

Wales led to a similar loss of Celtic language and culture in the East of the island.Yet there was continuity of independence among thebarbarians of Caledonia(Northern Scotland), while Ireland was never invaded by Rome at all. (Therecently announced discovery of an alleged Roman military base at Drumanagh inIreland was almost certainly a trading centre).(http://www.ares.u-net.com/convent.htm)

As the Empire began to decay in the 3rd and 4th century, the remnants of thefree Celts moved onto the offensive. In Caledonia, a new confederation, the Picts,appeared. The Pictish tribes threatened the Roman frontier, while Irish sea-raiders,

known asScotti , raided the Western coasts, even as Germanic Angles and Saxonswere raiding the East. In the fifth century AD, Roman Britain collapsed, and theAnglo-Saxons invaded and settled the East, eventually to establish Germanic-speaking England. They pressed the native British groups, whom they calledWelsh , ever westwards, into the land which would become Wales, and Cornwall.From the West, some Britons crossed to Armorica, the western extremity of Gaul,even as that land was being renamed France after its new Germanic overlords, theFranks. The British migrants were not so much refugees from Anglo-Saxoninvasion as invaders themselves; conquest and migration was the name of the gameat the time, and the Britons took this opportunity for some expansion of their own.Henceforth, the island of Britain was distinguished asGreat Britain to avoid

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confusion with this newlittle Britain (Brittany). (http://www.ares.u-net.com/convent.htm)

The Irish, too, joined in the military, slave-raiding their fellow Celts inBritain. They also settled in Britain, most importantly on the West coast of

Scotland, which was to take its name from these settlers in Argyll; the land of theseScotti becameScotia . Eventually, wars with the Picts and other lesser kingdomsled to union into the historic kingdom of Scotland, in AD 843. Ireland itself became a Christian land as a result of the work of St Patrick in the fifth century,and became one of the greatest centers of piety and learning in Europe during the7th and 8th centuries AD, its clerics and artists having a profound influence inBritain (not least among the English) and on the Continent.

Brittany , an independent kingdom in the 9th century, became one of themany almost-independent duchies which made up medieval France. As centralRoyal power grew in the 15th century, so its independence dwindled, and it was politically absorbed by France in 1532.Wales remained a separate principality, butit has been under increasing English dominance from the 10th century. In 1485 theWelsh Henry Tudor became King of England, but his totally Anglicized son HenryVIII united Wales politically to England.Scotland was divided, roughly, betweenthe Gaelic speaking (Irish Celtic) Highlands and the Scots-speaking (Germanicdialect, close to English) Lowlands. The warlike clans and chieftains of theHighlands were often in conflict with their Lowland neighbours, who thought themcattle-thieving barbarians. This formed the background to their eventual brutalsuppression after their support for Catholic Bonnie Prince Charlie's attempt toseize back the British throne for the Ancient Scottish royal house of Stuart fromthe Protestant Hanoverians in 1745-46. Since the Vikings began to raid in 795.Ireland was permanently occupied, wholly or partly, by foreigners. The Daneswere followed by the Anglo-Normans in the 12th century. During the 16th centurythe English imperial grip tightened, and relations were further embittered by theReformation. Protestant England kept Catholic Ireland under subjection,sometimes incredibly brutal, until after the First World War.(http://www.ares.u-net.com/convent.htm)

All these lands saw substantial or massive migrations, especially from the18th century onwards, partly lured away from often terrible conditions andstarvation on the land to equally squalid, but more reliably paid, employment in theindustrial cities of Britain, or to the promise of land and liberty in the New Worldand Australasia. Many of the migrants, especially in Ireland and Scotland, wereunwilling, but driven away by lairds and landlords who put their own profit abovethe welfare of their own people. The 18th century saw the beginnings of nationalism in Ireland and elsewhere, and the rediscovery of a common Celticheritage. Linguistics, and the beginnings of archaeology, laid the foundation for more detailed understanding of the histories of these peoples, and contributed to

growing national self-consciousness, exhibited in politics and in cultural forms, notleast art and literature. Perhaps this process reached maturity with theestablishment of an independent Irish state in 1921.(Mansuelli: 1978, pp.282-283)

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2.2. The Celts in Britain

The Celts arrived in the British islands around the 6th

century BC. Theycame in successive waves, hostile to each other and each speaking its own dialect,though of the same culture. They came from the Danube and upper Rhinelands andwere skilful at working metal.

TheGaelic or Goidelic Celts were the first Celtic invaders in Britain. Theysettled in Ireland and the Isle of Man. Their language can still be heard in Ireland(Gaelic is the national language of Ireland) and Scotland ( Erse is spoken in theHighlands an islands of Scotland). Manx , spoken only in the Isle of Man, is nowextinct. TheBrithonic Celts (or simply the Britons ) settled about two centurieslater on the territories of what we call now England and Wales. Their language stillsurvives in Wales and is calledWelsh . Cornish , which was spoken in Cornwalland became extinct at the end of the 18th century, has been revived to become aspoken language again. Finally, theBelgic Celts settled in the south-east of Britainaround 100 BC. It is believed that the very nameBritain comes from the word

Pretani , the name given by the Greeks to the Celtic inhabitants of Britain, pronouncedBritannia by the Romans. The Celtic inheritance for the British people is not a rich one, in what vocabulary is concerned. Place names such asYork, Kent or London and river names such as Avon or Thames seem to be Celticin origin. Also, some common English words such ascradle , brat , mattock etc.come directly from Celtic.(Gavriliu, p. 21)

2.3. Celtic Life

The Iron Age was also the age of the Celts in Britain. The use of ironchanged trade, which was essential in the Bronze Age (not every area wasnaturally endowed with the necessary ores to make bronze). On the other hand,iron was cheap and available almost everywhere. The Celts were the first tointroduce the iron plough. They also made house hold items out of iron and, of course, weapons of war.(Drmba: 1998, p.38)The basic unit of Celtic life wasthe clan , a sort of extended family. Clanswere bound together very loosely with other clans into tribes, each of which had itsown social structure (chiefs, nobles, freemen, and slaves) and customs, and possibly its own local gods.

The Celts lived inhuts of arched timber with walls of wicker and roofs of thatch. The huts were generally gathered in loose hamlets. In several places eachtribe had its own coinage system. Each homestead might have consisted of suchstructures as the main house or hall, a bread oven, a cheese house, drying racks for

grain, a husking / winnowing area, a smithy or woodshop, livestock pens, and agranary or storage area perhaps underground. Furnishings were sparse. Bedswere simple pallets of furs, perhaps a thin mattress stuffed with grass or moss,

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arranged on ledges or benches which hugged the perimeter of the hall. The Celtsdid not use chairs and squatted or sat on cushions and furs on the floor with a fewlow tables scattered about.

The Celts were a neat and clean people. They took great pride inthemselves and their physical appearance. They were larger in stature than the

Romans and generally had gold or red blonde hair and ruddy complexions. Thedominance of light colored hair could be at least partially attributed to the bleaching effect of the lime they used as hair dressing. The men commonly wore beards and/or trailing mustaches and long flowing hair which was stiffened withlime for battle. The women also wore their hair long, generally in one, two, or three braids which were sometimes decorated with beads. Women warriors mayhave worn their hair loose into battle. They were fond of personal decoration andwore a lot of jewelry (neck-rings, girdles of chain, arm rings, finger rings, anklerings, and belt daggers). They were fond of bright colors and wore colorfulclothing, often in plaids or stripes and frequently edged with fringes. Tunics wereworn by both men and women, generally floor length for the women and shorter,to the knee, for men.(Drmba: 1998, p.31)

The Celts were farmers when they weren't fighting. One of the interestinginnovations that they brought to Britain was theiron plough . Earlier ploughs had been awkward constructions, basically made of a stick with a pointed endharnessed behind two oxen. They were suitable only for ploughing the light uplandsoils. The heavier iron ploughs constituted an agricultural revolution, for theymade it possible for the first time to cultivate the rich valley and lowland soils.They came with a price, though. It generally required a team of eight oxen to pullthe plough, so to avoid the difficulty of turning that large a team, Celtic fieldstended to be long and narrow, a pattern that can still be seen in some parts of thecountry today.(Drmba: 1998, p.38)

Celtic lands were owned communally, and wealth seems to have been based largely on the size of the cattle herd owned(Drmba: 1998, p.36). Womenwere technically equal to men and could choose their own husbands. They couldalso be war leaders, as the story of Queen Boadicca 1of theIceni 2 proves.

2.4. Celtic Culture

There was a written Celtic language, but it developed well into Christiantimes, so for much of Celtic history they relied on oral transmission of culture, primarily through the efforts of bards and poets. These arts were tremendouslyimportant to the Celts, and much of what we know of their traditions comes to us1 Boudicca , widow of Prasutagus, became queen of the Iceni. After she and her two daughters were subjected tograve humiliations by the Romans, she led a revolt of the Iceni and several other tribes, which lasted for severalmonths in 60-61. The Boudiccan forces burned and destoyed the three major towns of Londinium (London),Verulamium (St. Albans), and Camulodunum (Colchester), killing many thousands of citizens. The revolt waseventually suppressed in AD 61 by the Roman military governor, Suetonius Paullinus. The story is told in theAnnals of Tacitus, written about AD 110-120.(Delaney: 1989, pp. 41-44)2 The Iceni were a Celtic tribe living in Norfolk and Suffolk in eastern Britain.

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today through the old tales and poems that were handed down for generations before eventually being written down. The early Celts are supposed to have

Annex No. 2

The Ogham Alphabet, with variant names of the letters,and names of the associated plants

This table includes names common in modern references.

THE TREES

OghamLetters Standard name English name Scientific name

Beith birch Betula pendula

Luis rowan Sorbus aucuparia

Fern alder Alnus glutinosa

Sail willow Salix alba

Nion ash Fraxinus excelsior

Uath hawthorn Crataegus spp.

Dair oak Quercus robur

Tinne holly Ilex aquifolium

Coll hazel Corylus avellana

Ceirt apple Malus sylvestris

Muin vine Vitis vinifera19
http://www.evertype.com/standards/og/n037.htmlhttp://www.evertype.com/standards/og/n037.html


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Gort ivy Hedera helix

nGadal reed Phragmites australis

Straif blackthorn Prunus spinosa

Ruis elder Sambucus nigra

Ailm white fir Abies alba

Onn gorse Ulex europaeus

r heather Calluna vulgaris

Eadhadh poplar Populus tremula

Iodhadh yew Taxus baccata

abhadhr

Uilleann

Ifn

Eamhancholl

Eite feather or arrow

Sps space

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developed a system of writing or signed communication calledOgham. It seemedto have been the result of the contact with Roman numerals.Ogham has also beencalledthe Celtic Tree Alphabet . The symbols found inOgham were named after various trees and plants. This alphabet dated from the 4th century AD and could

easily be carved into stone or cut into wood. The only surviving texts are the onescarved into stone. TheOgham alphabet seems to have evolved only in Ireland.The Druids were an important part of the Celtic society. They were a

super-class of priests, political advisors, teachers, healers, and arbitrators. They hadtheir own universities, where traditional knowledge was passed on by rote. Druidshad the right to speak ahead of the king in council, and may have held moreauthority than the king. They acted as ambassadors in time of war; they composedverse and upheld the law.(Delaney: 1989, p. 91-92)

The Celts were great atwar . They arrayed themselves as fiercely as possible, sometimes charging into battle fully naked, dyed blue from head to toe,and screaming like banshees to terrify their enemies. They took tremendous pridein their appearance in battle, if we can judge by the elaborately embellishedweapons and accessories they used. Golden shields and breastplates shared pride of place with ornamented helmets and trumpets (they are known to have used a particular style of war trumpet , an instrument which curved upward from themouthpiece and terminated several feet above the user's head; the harsh soundsissued from the mouth of a grotesque animal head design fixed at the top). TheCelts were users of light chariots in warfare. From these chariots, drawn by twohorses, they would throw spears at enemies before dismounting to finish them withheavy slashing swords. They also had a habit of dragging families and baggagealong to their battles, forming a great milling mass of encumbrances, whichsometimes cost them a victory. As mentioned, they beheaded their opponents in battle and it was considered a sign of prowess and social standing to have a goodlynumber of heads to display.(Drmba: 1998, pp.32-36)

The main problem with the Celts was that they couldn't stop fightingamong themselves long enough to put up a unified front. Each tribe was out for itself, and in time this cost them control of Britain.

The Roman witnesses recount that the Celts held many of their religiousceremonies in woodland groves and near sacred water, such as wells and springs.The Romans speak of human sacrifice as being a part of Celtic religion. One thingwe do know, the Celts revered human heads. Celtic warriors would cut off theheads of their enemies in battle and display them as trophies. They mounted headsin doorposts and hung them from their belts. This might seem barbaric to us, but tothe Celt the seat of spiritual power was the head, so by taking the head of avanquished foe they were appropriating that power for themselves. It was a kind of bloody religious observance.(Drmba: 1998, p.34)

2.4. Celtic Traditions and Rituals

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The Celts had numerous festivals or celebrations, involving many complexand interesting rituals. They had a close communion with nature and worshipedmost of its elements. Celtic societies were generally agrarian, though by no meansdocile; therefore, the year was divided by seasons pertaining to the harvest cycle.The Celtic calendar had eight major festivals: the four primary seasonal/

agricultural festivals, calledthe True Quarters , and the Crooked Quarters , whichcelebrated the four major solar events of the solstices and equinoxes. The focus of the True Quarters festivals was on fire, fire rituals, symbols of fire and fire deities.The solar festivals of the Winter Solstice, Vernal Equinox, Summer Solstice(Midsummer), and Autumnal Equinox each marked the midpoints of the seasons,as well as the midpoints between the fire festivals. Traditionally, just as today,celebration of all of these festivals would begin at sundown the night before thefestival and continue into the next day. Feasts and celebrations were the highlightsof the Celtic year. They were usually rowdy, often extravagant affairs at which theCelts could indulge their love of eating and drinking. At large feasts the wholetribe could meet together to display their unity and loyalty to their chieftain.

Imbolg , the 1st spring festival, was dedicated to the goddess Brighde. It wascelebrated between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox.Imbolg or oi-melg meansewe's-milk which is indicative of the lambing season, when the sheepare born, and is also the traditional beginning of spring. It is then obvious thatcelebrations of animal fertility, of the flocks and herds as well as of humans wouldtake place at this time. Milk was associated with this celebration and time of year as well. Ostara , the 2nd spring festival, coincided with the Spring Equinox. Itcelebrated rebirth and was the time for the first crops to be planted. Ostara is believed to have evolved in the modern Easter holiday.Bealtaine , or the May Evefestival, was the 3rd spring festival and it was dedicated to fire. It was celebratedaround April the 30th. On Bealtaine night, the cattle were driven between two bonfires to protect them from disease. Couples wishing to have offspring wouldalso jump over fire on this night. It was a custom for people to tear branches from aHawthorn tree to decorate the outsides of their homes for protection.Lammas(Lughnassadh) , held on August 1st, was the festival of the First Fruits and the dayof the first harvest (there were three harvests). It also marked the change of theThreefold Goddess energies from that of Mother to that of Crone (the goddessMacha, in Irish mythology, was forced to race against the King of Ulsters horses,while pregnant; she won the race and cursed the men of Ulster with the pain of labor which lasted for three days starting a certain date). The gathering of bilberries was a common practice on this day. If the bilberries were bountiful, itwas believed that there will be a plentiful harvest.Samhain , the Celtic New Year festival, dedicated to the memory of the dead, was held on the eve of November the 1st (Halloween derives from it); during the celebration, bonfires were lit toencourage the suns return.Yule , the shortest day of the year, was celebrated onthe Winter Solstice as the victory of the Oak King (rebirth) over the Holly King

(death). The Yule festival was also linked to fire(Delaney: 1989, pp. 84-85) . Other types of rituals were not in connection with the seasons. Such were thetransmigration rituals, like name giving ceremonies or the initiation rites necessary

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for one to be accepted into a warrior band. Very important were the initiations for kingship, the death rituals and the divinatory rituals (often accompanied bysacrifice).( http://www.paralumun.com/celticfestival.htm )

The ancient Celts madeofferings towards their deities, consisting in coins, personal jewelry (bracelets, ring, brooches, earrings etc.), weapons and war

accessories etc. The custom of throwing offerings inwells was very popular.Perhaps the most important offering was the human sacrifice, often represented byhead hunting. Animals were also sacrificed to gain the favors of gods.Water was part of many Celtic rituals and beliefs. As part of the Beltane festival, the Druidshad to gather May dew to use in rituals. The Celts believed that every river, lake or well was inhabited by supernatural creatures, especially beings similar to nymphs.Also, in order to go to the Otherworld after death, one had to cross a body of water.( http://www.paralumun.com/celticwater.htm )

Another element of nature worshiped by the Celts wasthe tree , especiallythe oak . Every tree was believed to have its own spirit. In the times of the Druids,the dead were often buried in a hollowed out oak. Other trees considered hollywerethe elder , the rowan , the birch , andthe hazel .( http://www.paralumun.com/celtictree.htm )

Theanimals were also of great importance to the Celts. Druids or believedto have the ability to talk to animals. In the Irish tradition, when a king died, anox had to be sacrificed. The animal that was mostly associated with the Celts wasthehorse (horses were represented on many artifacts and coins). The horse provided ameans of transport; it was also of great help in farming and other activities and itwas often used in sports. Some deities were associated with the horse and eventook its shape ( Epona was such a deity). The horses, the cattle and the pigs weresymbols of fertility. Another revered animal wasthe deer , often appearing as anotherworldly messenger. The wisest animal in the Celtic tradition was consideredto bethe salmon . Other animals, such ascrows and ravens , were associated withwar (the goddessMorrigan took the shape of a raven). Thesnakes and dragonssymbolized trouble, strife and infertility, while birds represented propheticknowledge, bloodshed and skill.

The Celts believed in aworld of the spirit . This meant, among other things, that the Celts believed that spirits could exist in this world by inhabiting the bodies of people, animals, plants, trees and even manifest themselves as the spiritsof places (wells, boroughs, caves, stones, rivers, ponds, and fields). The belief inspiritual migration and transmigration did not rule out the Celt's most commonspiritual belief, the belief in life after death. ( http://www.paralumun.com/celticanimal.htm )

The Celts thought thatthe Otherworld existed alongside with the mortalworld and that mortals were able to stumble into the Otherworld. When returningto their own world, after a few hours, mortals would find that in the real life theyhad been gone for years. On a persons death, all windows and doors were opened

to ensure the soul a physically clear path to the Otherworld. The bravest and mostrespected warriors were buried with weapons and chariots. Life and death were in

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the hands of gods, as the Celts believed in their ultimate power.(Drmba: 1998, p.63)

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Documents

3. Who Were the Celts