d Team Liddell et al c
“No Longer Separated by Oceans and Centuries”
Celtic Mythology, A to Z,
A Book Review
by James Wallace Liddell (December 2004)
Celtic Mythology, A to Z, by Gievina Matson, Facts on File, Inc., NY, 2004. ISBN 0-8160-48990-8.
DON'T LET THE BOOK TITLE PUT YOU OFF!! I CULLED ALMOST ALL OF THE GOD AND GODDESS STUFF WHILE REVIEWING THIS BOOK. THERE IS SOME WORTHWHILE "LISTING' MATERIAL BELOW, AND THE 'ORIGINS MYTH' OF THE IRISH CELTICS IN THIS FILE HAS SOME INTERESTING MATERIAL. THIS AND THE COMPANION FILE IN THIS FOLDER--'TRUTH IN THE CELTIC MYTHS'--CASTS A WHOLLY NEW LIGHT ON THE RESULTS OF OUR DNA/mtDNA STUDY RESULTS!
(NOTES: Reviewer's comments below are colored Teal.
Celt is correctly pronounced KELt because the modern "c" has a "k" value in the Celtic languages.)
d Reviewer's Comment: "Celtic Mythology, A to Z" by Gienna Matson is a casual reference on Celtic Mythology and consists primarily of an alphabetized list of that religion's deities along with brief descriptions of each one's assigned powers and the relationships among them. Nearly all of that type of material has been left out of this review.
Sadly, Matson does not cite sources at all for any of her entries and generally leaves the impression that her book--which the overleaf states is designed for younger readers and has been tutored during its writing by a college professor expert in this area--is basically "cribbed" without analysis from modern versions of the Middle Age Catholic records, and, as her sole act of creativity, Matson simply collected and cross-referenced the various listings. Still, the book has some use and is a quick and easy read because of its age target. It obviously can be considered trustworthy in its facts, such as they are because Facts on File, Inc. is a reliable public- and university-library oriented source of many years standing.
In short, sometimes the simplified distillation of a more complex assembly of material can be useful and that is the case with this book.
Despite the emphasis on the Celtic pantheon, there is a scattering about of items about Celtic culture, beliefs, customs and practices in the book, and this is what this review will focus on with an eye on selecting those items which might also apply to the Scottish Celtic world since most of the book is devoted to Celtic Erie as recorded near the start of the Second Millennium by members of the Catholic Church hierarchy on that island.
This will not be extensive, however, because the Celtic culture that also once held sway over most of Scotland and England is scarcely noted by the author.
According to Matson, the Celtic material she relates was recorded by the Catholic Church hierarchy in Erie only during the period A.D. 1000-1400 when Celtic culture was already entering into its final days in the remaining regions where it was still significantly present--the rural areas of Erie, Wales, Scotland and northern England.
(JWL: Why there were only Catholics in recording these Celtic tales is easily explained. Very early on [pre-AD 1000], the Church built monasteries (six in all) around the shore of the island along with establishing seven centers for bishoprics, and it is no tall tale at all to relate that at one point our heritage of Western Civilization was preserved only because of the high scholarship present in these Irish Catholic entities.)
The unspoken implication throughout Matson's book is that what she relates of Celtic mythology and culture is seen only through the eyes of a church hierarchy that was of another faith and culture, and therefore substantially culturally-deaf to the nuances of their subject.
This is evidenced in the Irish Celtic origins myth in which there is an obvious intrusion of the story of Noah, the Ark and the Great Flood, elements which could not possibly been known to the Celts early in their presence in Erie, which began at least 900 years earlier than the arrival of St. Patrick.
And although not stated outright, another, very apparent implication in her book is that the writers were taking their information from isolated areas where Celtic beliefs and practices might not have been as kosher as had been the case in more developed areas earlier Celt history.
Please note in this context that there are additional descriptions of the various Celtic worlds on the continent of Europe in some surviving Roman-era material that are not used in Matson's book at all. Additionally, Matson appears ignorant of other early Celtic-related manuscripts, such as Gododdin's poems (c. AD 600), Nennius' Latin Historia Britonum (c.AD 800) or Annales Cambriae (c. AD 1000), among other scholarly sources.
So, if anyone wants a more thorough understandings of "things Celtic", they should read elsewhere as well to gain the other details that are available.
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d Review:
One thing is very obvious in "Celtic Mythology, A to Z"--there was always a strong tendency toward diversification present in Celtic culture and among Celtic populations.
The Celts were, indeed, very much a diverse people, with diverse dialects of their language, diverse customs and partheons and diverse folk-ways. But in some things, there were commonalities. For example, it is apparent that they were a war-inclined people in all their cultural manifestations. They also uniformly excelled in agriculture, husbandry and metal-working, particularly in gold, bronze and iron.
This broad diversity, however, is what defeated the Celts in the end because they were incapable of unified action against other peoples in the ancient world--even in self-defense--for they probably spent as much time fighting among themselves as against others.
Archaeologists believe that the Celtic Culture first appeared about 800 BC in central Europe in the vicinity of Austria and then spread outward to the west, south and southeast. Their expansion was rather forceful, too, for the Celtics sacked Rome in 390 BC, something that would not happen again for six hundred years, and Delphi Greece 90 years later in 279 BC. Over the centuries, their conquests ranged as far afield as northern Spain, all across the British Isles and most of Asia Minor.
The Celts' conquests were driven in part by the pressure of stronger Germanic tribes moving in on them from the east and north, just as the Germanic tribes were later pressed southward and westward onto the weakening Roman Empire by the Slavic tribes, and the Slavs in turn by the Mongols in an identical process. It is small wonder, then, that the Romans took to building walls along their Empire's borders neighboring the "barbarians'" lands and were in frequent wars with them over their intrusions onto Romans turf.
>>> Although the theme of this book was interesting enough to justify a written review for the archives of Team Liddell et al, a few listings in it concerning the mythical history of the Celts very curiously mention the same locales as do the test results in the Team's first set of DNA/mtDNA Study scores for the two different stands present in our Liddesdale-derived Surname Cluster that have already undergone testing. Please read the discussion of these things in detail in the companion file "Is Celtic Myth True" stored in this folder before passing to the items below that were selected from the book under review as perhaps pertaining to Celtic Scotland. Notes discussing the items below are provided when appropriate. <<<
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d Timeline--Celtic Culture c
6000 BC, New Stone Age (Neolithic) Begins AD 61, Druidism Ends
1000 BC, Iron Age Begins AD 296, Romans Rule Most of Britain
800 BC, Celtic Culture Appears in Central Europe (Austria) AD 450, Christianity Spreads into Erie
700 BC, Celts Settle in Spain AD 500s, Sts. Patrick, Brigid and Colli
600 BC, Celts Arrive in Erie from Spain appear during this century
550 BC, Celts Spread from Erie into Scotland and England AD 540, Christianity Spreads to Wales
500 BC, Height of Celtic Culture in Britain AD 1000-1300, Declining Celtic Culture
450 BC, First Celtic "Royal" and Heroic Sagas Appear Is Recorded By Catholic Monks
400 BC, Celts Enter Italy, France, Spain, Bavaria and Bishop in Erie and Wales
390 BC, Celts Sack Rome (AD 1320, The Declaration of Arbroath
280 BC, Celts Enter Asia Minor Is Signed in Scotland)
279 BC, Celts Sack Delphi, Invade Rest of Greece (Middle Ages--410 BC to AD 1410.
225 BC, Roman Expansion Begins Formerly called the Dark Ages--a
218-01 BC, Celtics Hired by Rome as Punic War misnomer because of the founding of Mercenaries to fight the Carthaginian Empire the first universities during the period.
54 BC, Caesar Invades Britain The Irish monasteries were founded during AD 500-600 and were renown
throughout Europe for scholarship.)
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d The Written Record:
Much of what we know about Celtic culture in Erie comes from three books written by members of the Catholic hierarchy well within the Irish Christian era. These are the "Book of the Dun Cow", the "Yellow Book of Lecan" and the "Book of Leinster".
Dun Cow is the oldest (c. AD 1100) and most valued by scholars, and is considered the best source for Irish Celtic cultural matters. However, it is a tangled work assembled from many Celtic sources. Still, it is richly filled with details concerning Irish Celtic customs and beliefs. It was compiled by an Irish Catholic monk.
The Leinster, another tale of the Celtic world that was passed along orally by poets and Druid priests long before it was turned into a book, was transcribed about 30-50 years later by the Catholic Bishop of Kildare for a Irish clan family, and takes its name from their castle.
In the 1300s, a Catholic monk transcribed the Yellow Book, a name derived from its allegedly being written at Lecan on a 500-year-old, age-yellowed cowhide.
(JWL: If true, this suggests that the monk valued his opus to the point that he desired to give it the best preservation possible for the times by using a "parchment" that had been aged over centuries by the scribes in his monestary for just such uses.)
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d The 'Leber Gaba'la' and 'Mabinogin' records
Sometime during the Middle Ages (AD 410-1410, but probably during AD 1100-1200 the first of two additional records of Celtic culture were written by Catholic priests.
The first was the Leber Gaba'la (The Book of Invasions), which contains the Origins Myth of the Irish Celts. Later, during AD 1300--1400, the Mabinogin was transcribed. Its contents relates to the Welsh Celts and gave rise to the Authurian Legends of Camelot.
Both the Leber and Mabinogin are based on earlier Celtic literature, both oral and written--for the Celts did have an alphabet and writing. They used sets of variously slanted parallel strokes for characters and each character was given one of the Celtic names for particular species of trees. Today, only a few examples survive usually as etched or carved inscriptions on monuments and statues, but these still can be read since the language remains well understood--and is even enjoying a revival among New Agers and Irish Celtic Culture preservationists.
But, as with most primitive people, most Celtic literature was oral and appeared in poetry forms such as sagas. Druid priests and Celtic poets committed these to memory and then recited them aloud to assemblies following feasts, or during religious ceremonies and other gatherings.
It is a few of these then still-recalled sagas and poems that informed these two Middle Age records of Celtic culture during its twillight. All of the sagas and poems are filled with a vast number of characters, events and in transitions in settings and eras, as well.
The Book of Invasions is treated in "Celtic Mythology, A to Z" as a totally fictional myth that recounts how, starting just before the days of Noah's Ark, the various peoples who conquered Erie, each in turn, came to that island and what happened to them afterwards.
The "Mabinogin" (or "Mabinogi") focuses on the mythic history of Celtic Wales but isn't discussed in any detail by Matson other than to note that the Authurian legends derive from its contents.
Finally, the remaining Irish Celtic literature to survive into our time includes the so-called "Cycles". These are the Fenian Cycle, Mythological Cycle, Ulster Cycle and the Cycle of Kings. These are collections of Celtic stories with morals, warnings or lessons and probably contain very little actual history.
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d Leber Gaba'la (The Book of Invasions):
This manuscript recounts an Irish Celtic "origins myth" of how Erie was invaded during its history by six different peoples, each conquering their immediate predecessor and then perishing in turn from a variety of disasters, including wholesale drowning during the Great Flood, flights abroad following battle- and war-defeats in Erie, plague, or being banned to subterranean exile..
The five earlier invasions in this series appears to be a collective stage-setter for the appearance of the final tribe of invaders, the Milesians who, once they have conquered the island then gradually evolved into the Irish Celts of known history.
In short, the myth is an attempt by the Celts to explain their origins and why they were in Erie.
(JWL: Archaeologists have shown that the Celts were in Erie long before they appeared in Scotland and England. Thus, according to modern science, the Celtic origins myth has at least one element of truth in it since it places them in Erie first because of the myth's emphasis on these seabourn invasions form the south instead of from the east, which would be more reasonable from a military perspective. --Indeed, the archaeological record clearly shows that the Celts were present in Erie at least 100 years before than their first appearance in the main British island.)
The first two invasions can be dismissed as Catholic embellishments and modifications to the original myth as it was recalled at the time the Leber Gaba'la was being written down by some monk. But invasions three, four and six may have a basis in fact, as related in the file companion in this folder. Here, in this file, we generally will simply take the myth at face value.
According to the Leber Gaba'la, the third tribe to invade Erie was the Nemedians, who arrived in Erie just after the Great Flood. After they were defeated in the last of four battles (wars?) with the northern tribes indigenous to Erie, they fled to Britain, the "Northern Islands" and to Greece.
(JWL: How the indigious tribes had managed to survive the Great Flood isn't explained in the myth, but the region shown in a map in "Celtic Mythology, A to Z" indicates that the Nemedians are supposed to have arrived in Erie in the same southeastern area that archaeologists have shown to have experienced long-term Viking settlement.)
But, more importantly, this section of the origins myth also relates that the descendants of the Nemedians presumably are either among the ranks of, or are, in its entirety, the fourth subsequently invading tribe. This was the Fir Bolg and the manuscript explains that the Fir Bolg came to and conquered Erie after living for generations in slavery in Greece but that they are descended from some of the Nemedians who fled Erie hundreds of years before.
The Fir Bolg, who had invaded Erie on its western shore, were displaced in their own turn by the fifth invaders, the Tuatha De' Danann--who were gods in human form, the result of some of the Nemedians other than those who became the Fir Blog-Greek slaves, who, instead of toting dirt about had spent their exile learning magic spells that they then used to turn themselves into the god-like Tuatha.
Following their defeat by the Tuatha, the Fir Bolg fled Erie out into the far reaches of the Gael world.
According to the myth, the Tuatha arrived by air--sailing in on a cloud--and descended within a gray fog to the surface in the western mountains of Erie.
The sixth and last tribe in the series were the Milesians.
(JWL: Greece shared a common border to the north with the Celts' central Europe lands, but it also should be noted that what was then considered Greece also included the western seaboard of Asia Minor and the southern portions of Ukraine, which also adjoined Celtic territory but only far inland for a short distance. Cyprus was, even then, questionable as to whether it was Greek or Asiatic in nature.
The Gaels are a known people of history. They were the native population of Erie, Scotland and the Isle of Man--thus the Fir Bolg did not have far to travel. Given that the Scots stated firmly in the Arbroath Declaration of AD 1320 that their ancestors came from the Russian Steppes via Spain and Erie, this part of the Irish Celt myth could serve as the vehicle for that belief. The jury probably will be out forever on this question but, in any case, the Gael are considered a subgroup of the Celts.)
The Milesians forced the Tuatha into the island's caves and other underground regions.
The Lebor states that Erie was first glimpsed from a tower in Spain by Ith, the leader of the Milesians. Ith subsequently led a small band of Milesian warroprs to Erie but was killed by the Tuatha, who then were overpowered in a final battle at Tara by the remaining followers of Ith who came to revenge his death.
The Milesians were believed to be the direct ancestors of the Celts.
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d Entry extractions taken from "Celtic Mythology, A-Z:
Angus
This name apparently derives from the name of the Irish Celt god of love, Angus 'Og. His kisses could turn into birds and fly great distances to be delivered to some maid who had caught his eye. He always had four birds circling in his vicinity and was the protector of lovers. Angus is a frequently encountered given-name in Scotland and among Normans. Angus 'Og, like Brigit and others, was one of the Tuathan De' Danann who survived the war with the Milesans.
Apples
The Celts believed that the apple was magical and could bring harmony, abundance and love.
Banshee
A female spirit with a shrill cry that usually foretold death. In Scotland, it is rendered ban'sith.
Birds
Birds were messengers from the beyond, according to Celtic beliefs. Many of their stories involved humans taking on bird forms to wreak a revenge. Ravens, crows and other blackbirds signified pending death or disaster for a beholder--with crows especially informing of war. Sometimes, humans were given bird forms, particularly those of swans, by a god or goddess but for a variety of reasons such as punishment, protection and to grant exceptionally long lives. In some parts of Celtic lore, it wasn't always a bad thing to be turned into a bird.
Blemished King
It was believed among the Celts that a man with an illness, deformity or injury could not reign as a king. Any of the three disabilities also were grounds for dethroning a king--and perhaps even killing him.
(JWL: This is possibly the origin for an ancient belief in the healing quality of the "king's touch", which was believed by many ancients to heal all injuries and illnesses. The reasoning probably went that if a king could not heal himself then he was unable to heal others, and in an age lacking any regularized medical care, the right to be touched by the king to heal some condition was critically important to society. The same belief was well expressed during the Middle Ages during ceremonies in which a monarch, universally believed to have come to his throne by God's will and the Catholic Church's empowerment, sat in his gate and touched the ill and halt on certain holy feast days. This same belief perhaps underlay the decision by SirWilliam de Soulis and his allies to assassinate King Robert I (Robert the Bruce) of Scotland because Robert was known at the time of the attempted regicide to have been seriously ill. The effort failed, however, and de Soulis and others were sent into exile.)
Brigit (Brighid, Brid, Brigid)
Three Celtic goddesses who were sisters. Each had specific and exclusive powers, or the responsibility for certain things. One was associated with fire, fertility, cattle, crops, healing, poetry. One was a physician. One was a metal-working smith. They were sometimes viewed as parts of an earth goddess. They perhaps became part of the St. Brigid story during its forming. Brigit, like Angus 'Og and others, was one of the Tuathan De' Danann who survived the war with the Milesans.
"C" sound
In the Celtic language, "c" has a "k" sound. Thus, Celt is pronounced KELt.
Cailleach
In Erie and Scotland, these were old "hags" with supernatural powers that varied according to the female and the story. Not all were ugly old women but all had great magical powers.
Cairn
Cairns are found throughout the Celtic world and are piles of stones created perhaps to mark a pre-Celtic grave. The Celts came to assign a sacred nature to cairns. They are akin to S'idh--barrow graves--in original funeral intent and are from a time earlier than the Celts as . Sometimes, a particular s'idh was viewed by the Celts as the residence of a god or goddess, or as a gate to Otherworld.
Cauldron
Large, open-mouthed metal containers used both for cooking and ritual. Some were credited in Celtic tales with magical powers, including rebirth. Cauldrons were frequently used as symbols of generosity.
Conan
Conan was not a super-muscular action-hero but rather, the opposite: a fat trickster and troublemaker.
(JWL: Hollywood strikes again! This entry has no possible importance to the subject of Scots and Scotland, of course, but was just too attractive to pass over during this compiling. Sorry.)
Druids
Religious and political leaders of the Celts. Druids could be either male or female, equally. They literally ruled the roost in Celtic society because they could dethrone a king for not honoring his Geis (vows) or respecting the goddess of Sovereignty. They were teachers of the young, diviners, preservers of all types of knowledge, magicians, and ruled on law and social matters. Some Celts believed that Poets and Druids both were members of the Tuatha returned to the surface of the earth.
(JWL: Merlin, of course was a Druid, and the remains of a Druid Circle stands near The Hermitage Castle in Liddesdale. This is Nine Stane Rig, which might be restated as "Nine Stone Arrangement" although this is just a guess by the reviewer. Some of the earliest Merlin legends place him in Liddesdale, and this as the place where he went mad after the king he was supporting was defeated in nearby battle by King Arthur. These few tales, of course, wash up against the other, more accepted, more historically reasonable legends of Merlin and Arthur in a locale near southern Wales.)
Eternal knot
A Celtic decorative design that has no beginning and no end. It can be simple or complex. In early Celt times, an eternal knot was angular in design. In later times, it was given an curvilinear motif. The first version is characteristic of the Hallstatt Era (700-450 BC, bronze and iron weapons and tools), the latter of the La T'ene Era (450 BC-AD 50, iron, alone, weapons and tools).
Fosterage
Noble Celts often sent their children to be taught and raised in other noble houses. Children thus raised, if from differing families, became foster brothers and sisters to each other and this was a stronger bond than that of blood relationship. Sometimes, the arrangement created legal and financial estate considerations.
Geis (plural: Geisi or Geasa)
The Geisi were frequently the vows a king had to take during his cornation which he violated only at risk of regicide or dethronement. They also could be imposed on a person (usually a king or warrior) in an process left unexplained in the book. Sometimes, a geis was a restriction or requirement of which the breaking was taboo and certain to bring punishment, frequently supernatural.
Hair
Celt men and women both wore their hair long since they regarded it as a spiritual thing. Druids had a special haircut to distinguish them from other Celts.
Hearth
The spiritual center of a household. In ancient times, rituals may have been conducted at it by a family. Long ago, religious symbols often were added to or displayed near many hearths.
Holidays (Festivals)
The Celts had four major holidays or festivals each year, these coinciding with the seasons. Imbolc (February 1) marked the beginning of Spring, Beltaine (May 1) marked the beginning of Summer, Lughhasa (August 1) marked the onset of harvest time, and Samhain (roughly November 1) marked the beginning of Winter. Each festival had a particular patron god, goddess, or group of gods. The barrier between the living and the dead was thinest at these times and passage sometimes could be achieved. Beltaine and Samhain were the most mystical, with Samhain the more important as it also marked the start of the Celtic New Year. Both may have involved human sacrifice rituals. Samhain had much the same activities as our Halloween, including children going about to collect gifts for the festival and candles being placed in hollowed radishes. On the Isle of Man, Samhain was called Sauin. The Romans are the source for the human sacrifice revelation. They wrote that the victims were sometimes burned alive during rituals.
Hospitality
The hallmark of a good Celtic king was his generosity. Unless he practiced this religiously, he personally would suffer--the cattle would die and his crops would fail. He could fall ill and even lose his throne. And there were always the Druids watching to see how the king conducted his affairs. (JWL: I wonder if this belief underlies the famous and near universal trait of Southerns [most of the whites are British in origin] to show hospitality to strangers.)
Islands
The Celts viewed all islands as magical places and often as the gateways to Otherworld and other pleasant supernatural locales mentioned in their myths and legends.
Literature
It was only natural that after surviving as a people for nearly 2000 years, the Celts would have developed a literature. If ever there were lengthy documents, they have not survived and nearly all of the Celts' oral literature has been lost. It is known from the few examples that were written down, though, that the Celts appreciated certain story forms because of their frequent reoccurrences. These forms include: adventures (especially trips to Otherworld and back), cattle raids, destructions (of buildings usually by fire), visions (dreams, usually), voyages (again, usually to the Otherworld on some remote island) and wooings (courtship of either a mortal woman or a goddess).
Lludd
The name of the son of Beli Mawr and a brother to the Welsh king Llefelys in the Welsh Mabinogion. Llefelys' kingdom suffered three plaques: demonic visitors, dragons and the theft of the kingdom's foodstuffs by a wizard. (JWL: This entry is present solely because of the sound of the name which is somewhat similar to the first syllable of a lazily pronounced Liddesdale.)
Nemeton
This was the Celtic name for any woodland clearing that was used for ritual or worship. Other places used to the same ends are grassy hills, groves of trees and the edges or banks of bodies of water.
Numbers
The non-unitary, single-digit indivisible numbers each had specific special powers according to Celtic beliefs, and "three" was especially powerful and lucky. "Five" had an indefinable "significance" for the Celts, and "seven" was believed to be particularly magical. These numbers repeatedly play major roles in Celt poems and sagas. The Celts counted to ten and then went to formulas such as ten-times-ten-times-two for 200. Very large numbers were simply rendered "vast", "large" or "many".
Otherworld (infrequently: Underworld)
This was the spiritual "Camalot" that all good and true Celts hoped to attain after their deaths. It was the ultimate pleasure place with everything orderly, safe and at peace, with endless food of all types, and flowing wine. The location of Otherworld varied according to the tale. Sometimes it was on an island (all islands were considered magical by the Celts) or inside some obscure cave. The British Celts' Avalon--the place King Arthur went after death--is an example of Otherworld. The Welsh Otherworld was Annwfn and was ruled by Gwyn Ap Nudd. The Celts' Land of Shadows is somewhat similar to Otherworld in that it also is supernatural, but without any of the pleasures.
Poets
Scarcely inferior to the Druid priests were the poets (bards) in Celtic society. The poets, who also could be musicians and/or storytellers, preserved law, legend, science, literature and history among other subjects. They also served as political and social critics. Our word "satire" comes from their practice when their poems were particularly biting. Satire could dethrone kings and destroy leaders by Blemishing them (See this entry, above). There were several ranks in the poets, who spent up to 20 years memorizing as many as 350 stories or poems.
Some Celts believed that Poets and Druids both were members of the Tuatha returned to the surface of the earth.
Rivers
Usually viewed by Celts as having a feminine nature and ruled over by goddesses, rivers were often regarded as especially healing, provisioning and conducive of fertility. The source of a river was especially sacred and powerful and could be a source of healing or mystical wisdom. If the source emerged in a grove of a particular sacred tree--such as Hazel or Apple--it was potent in the nature of that tree species. Also, if salmon were in that place, even greater potent was present, since the Celts regarded the salmon as a source of great wisdom. Wells and springs were considered to have a masculine nature.
Sacred and magical trees
The Celts didn't miss a stroke, for the list of trees sacred or magical to them seems endless. Trees in general represented life to the Celts. A few items stand out, though. The Druids used only Apple or Yew for their wands. Apple trees growing next to a sacred lake were particularly powerful for being near when casting magic spells. The Hazel tree and eating hazel nuts conferred wisdom. The Yew represented Otherworld, death, immortality and transformation. Ash wood could ward off fairies. The Oak was the ultimate magical sacred tree and the Druid title is derived from the Celtic name for this species. Mistletoe, which grows on oaks, also was also considered to be highly magical and was deeply associated with Druidism. The Rowan was an Oak species that was associated with fairies and Otherworld. It was unlucky for a Celt to cut down any sacred tree species, but this was especially true for the Elm, which received special protection by the Celts. (JWL: William Faulkner's estate south of Oxford Mississippi is named Rowan Oaks and the walk leading to the main house is lined with these trees. He must have been familiar with the Celtic beliefs regarding this species and the pleasures of Otherworld, which, by his naming of his estate and then lining his walk with Rowans, implied that his home was Otherworld.)
Sovereignty
Irish Celt kings symbolically married their lands by wedding a Goddess of Sovereignty. There were several of these, but principally Mo'r Muman (a sun goddess) and E'riu, the island's patron goddess. The king was obligated to honor his goddess-wife by ruling wisely and honoring the Geis (vows) placed on him during his caronation. He could be killed or dethroned for failing in these duties because his non-compliance would bring famine and plague to his kingdom.
Sun
The Celts believed that the sun was an eye and many of their gods and warrior-heroes were cast as having one-eye so as to associate them with the power of Sol.
Tara
An actual place near the center of Erie once used for the "inauguration" or coronation of Irish Celt kings and for important burials. In its earliest period, it was the sacred home of Babd, a goddess who later became a fairy queen and made war on men. Five roads lead from it to the once-five, now four provinces of Erie. The High King of Eire (a type of high priest) reigned from its grassy hill top and, in myth, Tara is assigned a multi-towered castle. Archeologists say that the fill as a used site dates to 2000 BC. A "Irish" chieftain is supposed to have ruled from Tara across the breath of Europe in remote times prior to the coming of even the first invading tribes some 2000 years prior to the appearance of the Milesans in roughly 900 BC. This chieftain, U'gaine Mo'r, may have been a historical personage whose realm very likely included Scotland and the Isle of Man as well as parts of Europe as well.
Weapons
As with the Germanic tribes of that era, Celts believed that individual weapons were living things, or had an intelligent and sometimes willful spirit placed in them, or entering them, during forging. King Arthur's Excalibur, given to him by the Druid priestess The Lady of The Lake, is just one example of an intelligent weapon that knew its possessor. Nearly all Celt weapons given names in their stories were intensely loyal to only their original "owners" and no one else.
In contrast to the Germanic tribes, however, Celts did not think it was unlucky or discharming to a weapon for it to be touched by a woman. In fact, Celt legend is replent with tales of woman warriors, both divine and mortal.
dGc
Compiled December 2004
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