1.
Coventina
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Coventina was a Romano-British goddess of wells and springs. She is known from inscriptions at one site in Northumberland county of the United Kingdom. It is possible that other inscriptions, two from Hispania and one from Narbonensis, refer to Coventina, but this is disputed, dedications to Coventina and votive deposits were found in a walled area which had been built to contain the outflow from a spring now called Coventinas Well. The remains of a Roman Mithraeum and Nymphaeum are also found near the site. The well itself was a spring in a rectangular basin 2. 6m x 2. 4m in the centre of a walled enclosure 11. 6m x 12. 2m within a wall 0. 9m thick. The site near Coventinas Well was excavated by British archaeologist, John Clayton, the date of the wall at Coventinas Well is uncertain, but some have theorized that it was built sometime after the completion of the Roman fort. Since Hadrians Wall does not deviate to avoid the well, this may suggest that the wall around the well was built some time after in order to control the flow of water in a marshy area. Evidence from coin hoards and stones which covered them and those blocking the well suggest a fairly abrupt end around 388. Excavation of the site revealed several inscribed altars, some depictions of Coventina in typical Roman nymph form - reclining. On one, Coventina is either depicted in form or with two attendants. At least ten inscriptions to Coventina are recorded from Carrawburgh, several stone altars contained dedications to Coventina, as did two pottery incense burners. ”Three altars dedicated to Mithras were placed there by the Prefects of the military garrison. In his book The Skystone, Jack Whyte represents Coventina as the inspiration for The Lady of the Lake, seamus Heaneys poem Grotus and Conventina from his 1987 collection The Haw Lantern. Tehomet. net has historical, archaeological, folkloric, theological and literary resources for Coventina, plus photographs of the archaeological site, also includes directions to the site and associated museum
2.
Celtic polytheism
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Celtic polytheism was one of a larger group of Iron Age polytheistic religions of the Indo-European family. The Celtic pantheon consists of numerous recorded theonyms, both from Greco-Roman ethnography and from epigraphy, among the most prominent ones are Teutatis, Taranis and Lugus. Figures from medieval Irish mythology have also been adduced by comparative mythology, the most salient feature of Celtic religion as reflected in Roman historiography is their extensive practice of human sacrifice. In the later 5th and the 6th centuries, the Celtic region was Christianized, comparatively little is known about Celtic polytheism because the evidence for it is fragmentary, due largely to the fact that the Celts who practiced it wrote nothing down about their religion. Therefore, all we have to study their religion from is the literature from the early Christian period, commentaries from classical Greek and Roman scholars, the archaeologist Barry Cunliffe summarised the sources for Celtic religion as fertile chaos, borrowing the term from the Irish scholar Proinsias MacCana. Cunliffe went on to note there is more, varied. The only problem is to assemble it in a form which does not too greatly oversimplify the intricate texture of its detail. The archaeological evidence does not contain the bias inherent in the literary sources, nonetheless, the interpretation of this evidence can be colored by the 21st century mindset. Various archaeological discoveries have aided understanding of the religion of the Celts and these include the coins of the Roman provinces in the Celtic lands of Gaul, Raetia, Noricum, and Britannia, and another is the sculptures, monuments, and inscriptions associated with the Celts. The evidence from Ireland has been recognised as better than that from Wales, because they were written in a very Christian context, these sources must be scrutinised with even more rigor than the classical sources in assessing their validity as evidence for Celtic religion. Various Greek and Roman writers of the ancient world commented on the Celts, however, the key problem with the use of these sources is that they were often biased against the Celts, whom the classical peoples viewed as barbarians. The names of two hundred of these deities have survived to us today, although it is possible that some of these names were different titles or epithets used for the same deity. Some Celtic theonyms can be established as Pan-Celtic by comparing Continental with Insular Celtic evidence, an example of this is Gaulish Lugus, whose name is cognate with Irish Lugh and Welsh Lleu. Another example is Gaulish Brigantia, cognate with Irish Brigid and this latter theonym can even be reconstructed as a Proto-Indo-European epithet of the dawn goddess, as *bhr̥ghntī the one on high. He declared that the most widely venerated god in Gaul was Mercury, the Roman god of trade, several of these deities, including Lugus and Matrones, were triple deities. Brighid, probably were indeed once regarded as divine, the warriors who are the main protagonists of the stories have the same status as those in the Greek myths, standing between the human and divine orders. To regard characters such as Cú Chulainn, Fergus Mac Roich or Conall Cernach as former gods turned into humans by a storyteller is to misunderstand their literary. Cú Chulainn is no more a god than Superman is
3.
Celtic deities
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The gods and goddesses of the pre-Christian Celtic peoples are known from a variety of sources, including ancient places of worship, statues, engravings, cult objects and place or personal names. The ancient Celts appear to have had a pantheon of deities comparable to others in Indo-European religion, each linked to aspects of life and the natural world. By a process of synthesism, after the Roman conquest of Celtic areas, these associated with their Roman equivalent. Most of the information we have therefore comes from Latin writers. More tentatively, links can be made between ancient Celtic deities and figures in early medieval Irish and Welsh literature, although all this was produced well after Christianization. The locus classicus for the Celtic gods of Gaul is the passage in Julius Caesars Commentarii de Bello Gallico in which he names six of them and he says that Mercury was the most honoured of all the gods and many images of him were to be found. Mercury was regarded as the inventor of all the arts, the patron of travellers and of merchants, and the most powerful god in matters of commerce and gain. After him, the Gauls honoured Apollo, who drove away diseases, Mars, who controlled war, Jupiter, who ruled the heavens, and Minerva and he adds that the Gauls regarded Dis Pater as their ancestor. He also presents a neat schematic equation of god and function that is foreign to the vernacular literary testimony. Yet, given its limitations, his brief catalog is a valuable witness, the gods named by Caesar are well-attested in the later epigraphic record of Gaul and Britain. Not infrequently, their names are coupled with native Celtic theonyms and epithets, such as Mercury Visucius, Lenus Mars, Jupiter Poeninus, unsyncretised theonyms are also widespread, particularly among goddesses such as Sulevia, Sirona, Rosmerta, and Epona. In all, several hundred names containing a Celtic element are attested in Gaul, the majority occur only once, which has led some scholars to conclude that the Celtic gods and their cults were local and tribal rather than national. Supporters of this view cite Lucans mention of a god called Teutates, the multiplicity of deity names may also be explained otherwise – many, for example, may be simply epithets applied to major deities by widely extended cults. Evidence from the Roman period presents an array of gods. Certain deities were venerated widely across the Celtic world, while others were limited only to a religion or even to a specific locality. Certain local or regional deities might have greater popularity within their spheres than supra-regional deities, the Celtic sky-god too had variations in the way he was perceived and his cult expressed. Yet the link between the Celtic Jupiter and the wheel is maintained over a wide area, from Hadrians Wall to Cologne. It is sometimes possible to identify regional, tribal, or sub-tribal divinities, specific to the Remi of northwest Gaul is a distinctive group of stone carvings depicting a triple-faced god with shared facial features and luxuriant beards
4.
Celtic animism
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According to classical sources, the ancient Celts were animists. They honoured the forces of nature, saw the world as inhabited by many spirits, the Celts of the ancient world believed that many spirits and divine beings inhabited the world around them, and that humans could establish a rapport with these beings. The pagan Celts perceived the presence of the supernatural as integral to, and interwoven with, every mountain, river, spring, marsh, tree and rocky outcrop was inspirited. While the polytheistic cultures of ancient Greece and Rome revolved around urban life, the close link with the natural world is reflected in what we know of the religious systems of Celtic Europe during the late 1st millennium BCE and early 1st millennium CE. As in many systems, the local spirits honoured were those of both the wild and cultivated landscapes and their inhabitants. As what some may consider spirits are considered by authors to be deities. The ancient Celts venerated the spirits who inhabited local mountains, forests, certain animals were seen as messengers of the spirits or gods. In Tribal territories, the ground and waters which received the dead were imbued with sanctity, sanctuaries were sacred spaces separated from the ordinary world, often in natural locations such as springs, sacred groves or lakes. Many topographical features were honored as the abodes of spirits or deities. Offerings of jewelry, weapons or foodstuffs were placed in offering pits and these offerings linked the donor to the place and spirits in a concrete way. The spirits of places were honoured as givers of life. In Ireland, the tutelary goddesses Boann and Sionnan give their names to the rivers Boyne and Shannon, the threefold goddess Brighid is associated with a number of holy wells and The Morrígan is connected with the River Unius. There is abundant evidence for the veneration of water by the Celts, in the Pre-Roman Iron Age, lakes, rivers, springs and bogs received special offerings of metalwork, wooden objects, animals and, occasionally, of human beings. By the Roman period, the names of some water-deities were recorded on inscriptions or were included in contemporary texts. The ancient name for the River Marne was Matrona ‘Great Mother, ’ the Seine was Sequana, the Severn, Sabrina, the Wharfe, Verbeia, the Saône, Souconna, and there are countless others. Natural springs were foci for healing cults, Sulis was prayed to as a healer at Aquae Sulis, nemausus, for example, was not only the Gallic name for the town of Nîmes but also that of its presiding spring-god. He had a set of three female counterparts, the Nemausicae, in the same region, the town of Glanum possessed a god called Glanis, an altar from a sacred spring is inscribed ‘to Glanis and the Glanicae’. Meteorological patterns and phenomena, especially wind, rain and thunder, were acknowledged as inspirited and propitiated, inscribed dedications and iconography in the Roman period show that these spirits were personifications of natural forces
5.
Irish mythology
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The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity. However, much of it was preserved in medieval Irish literature and this literature represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology. There are also a number of extant mythological texts that do not fit any of the cycles. Additionally, there are a number of recorded folk tales that, while not strictly mythological. Despite the dates of these sources, most of the material they contain predates their composition, the earliest of the prose can be dated on linguistic grounds to the 8th century, and some of the verse may be as old as the 6th century. The first of these part of the earliest known version of the Táin Bó Cúailnge and is housed in Trinity College. The other three are in the Royal Academy, when using these sources, it is, as always, important to question the impact of the circumstances in which they were produced. There was also a tendency to rework Irish genealogies to fit into the known schema of Greek or Biblical genealogy and it was once unquestioned that medieval Irish literature preserved truly ancient traditions in a form virtually unchanged through centuries of oral tradition back to the ancient Celts of Europe. A consensus has emerged which encourages the critical reading of the material, the Mythological Cycle, comprising stories of the former gods and origins of the Irish, is the least well preserved of the four cycles. The most important sources are the Metrical Dindshenchas or Lore of Places, Other manuscripts preserve such mythological tales as The Dream of Aengus, The Wooing Of Étain and Cath Maige Tuireadh, The Battle of Magh Tuireadh. One of the best known of all Irish stories, Oidheadh Clainne Lir, Lebor Gabála Érenn is a pseudo-history of Ireland, tracing the ancestry of the Irish back to before Noah. They faced opposition from their enemies, the Fomorians, led by Balor of the Evil Eye, Balor was eventually slain by Lug Lámfada at the second battle of Magh Tuireadh. With the arrival of the Gaels, the Tuatha Dé Danann retired underground to become the people of later myth. The Metrical Dindshenchas is the great work of early Ireland. It includes a lot of important information on Mythological Cycle figures and stories, including the Battle of Tailtiu, in which the Tuatha Dé Danann were defeated by the Milesians. It is important to note that by the Middle Ages the Tuatha Dé Danann were not viewed so much as gods as the shape-shifting magician population of an earlier Golden Age Ireland. Texts such as Lebor Gabála Érenn and Cath Maige Tuireadh present them as kings and heroes of the distant past, however, there is considerable evidence, both in the texts and from the wider Celtic world, that they were once considered deities. Even after they are displaced as the rulers of Ireland, characters such as Lug, a poem in the Book of Leinster lists many of the Tuatha Dé, but ends Although enumerates them, he does not worship them
6.
Scottish mythology
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It was the belief that Beira, the Queen of Winter, had a firm hold on the country by raising storms during January and February thus preventing greenery to emerge. She was considered a tough and brutal old woman who stirred the deadly spiraling action of Corryvreckan, ushering snow, even the creation of lochs and mountains were attributed to her. Scottish mythology is not like the Greek and Roman myths as it deals with aspects of nature. In this context the most powerful and feared goddess representing winter is Beira who rules winter for its entire duration, immediately, the following season she readily concedes to Dual Lord and Lady who then enjoy equal power during the ensuing season. This myth is akin to the myth of the Mayans and deals with female power in the creation. However, Donald Mackenzie in his book Scottish Wonder Tales from Myth and Legend states that the goddesses of the Scottish myths are not glorified, Scottish mythology is dominated by goddesses, and according to Donald Mackenzie they are greater and stronger than the gods. The Celtic goddesses were authoritative and were associated with female fertility as related to female divinity, in olden times the Celtics land and national societies were both linked with the body of the goddess and her representative on earth was the queen. Another ambivalent character in Scottish myths was the hag, the Goddess, the Gaelic Cailleach, and the Giantess, the hag is also considered a healer and helpful during childbirth and is divine and said to have long ancestry and incredible longevity. She is also known as at once creator and destroyer, gentle and fierce, several origin legends for the Scots arose during the historical period, serving various purposes. One Scottish origin legend, or pseudo-historical account of the foundation of the Scottish people, as they roamed through Ireland, from Clonmacnoise, Armagh and Kildare to Cork, and finally, to Bangor, they were continually engaged at war with the Pictanei. After some time, they crossed the Irish Sea to invade Caledonia North of Roman Britain, successively capturing Iona, the latter places are echoed by the appearance of Cinnrígmonaid and Cinnbelathoir in the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba. The territory so conquered was then named Scotia after Scota, the Egyptian wife of Spartan commander Nél or Niul, once the Picts adopted Gaelic culture and their actual characteristics faded out of memory, folkloric elements filled the gaps of history. In the eighteenth century the Picts were co-opted as a Germanic race, in the Celtic domains of Scotland, also known as Gaelteached, there were ancient pre-Christian structures. These are the Ulaid, or people of the North-Eastern corner of Ireland, the Ulaid had close links with Gaelic Scotland, where Cúchulainn is said to have learned the arts of war. These stories are written for the most part in prose, the centrepiece of the Ulster Cycle is the Táin Bó Cúailnge. Other important Ulster Cycle tales include The Tragic Death of Aifes only Son, Fled Bricrenn Bricrius Feast and this cycle is, in some respects, close to the mythological cycle of the rest of the Gaelic speaking world. Some characters from the latter reappear, and the sort of shape-shifting magic is much in evidence, side by side with a grim. Scottish Gaelic adaptations of Ulster Cycle tales appear in the Glenmasan manuscript, the stories of Finn mac Cumhaill and his band of soldiers the Fianna, appear to be set around the 3rd century in Gaelic Ireland and Scotland
7.
Fomorians
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The Fomorians are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. They are often portrayed as hostile and monstrous beings who come from the sea or underground, later, they were portrayed as giants and sea raiders. They are enemies of Irelands first settlers and opponents of the Tuatha Dé Danann, however, their relationship with the Tuath Dé is complex and some of their members intermarry and have children. The Fomorians have thus been likened to the jötnar of Norse mythology, the Fomorians seem to have been gods who represent the harmful or destructive powers of nature, personifications of chaos, darkness, death, blight and drought. The Tuath Dé, in contrast, seem to represent the gods of growth and it has also been suggested that the Fomorians derive from an older group of gods who were displaced by a newer group. In Old and Middle Irish, the race is called the Fomoire or Fomoiri. In Middle Irish, they are called the Fomóraiġ and a Fomórach. This is spelt Fomhóraigh and Fomhórach in Modern Irish, in English, they are often called the Fomorians, Fomori or Fomors. The etymology of the name is debated, the first part is now generally agreed to be the Old Irish fo, meaning under, below, lower, beneath, nether, etc. The meaning of the part is unclear. One suggestion is that it comes from the Old Irish mur, and this was the interpretation offered by some medieval Irish writers. Another suggestion is that it comes from mór and means something like the great under ones, the name would thus mean something like under demons or nether demons. Building on this, Marie-Louise Sjoestedt interprets the name as meaning inferior or latent demons, saying the Fomorians are like the powers of chaos, ever latent, donald Schlegel suggested that the Fomorians were Carthaginians who established a trading post on Irelands west coast. He suggests the name Fomoraige comes from the name of the Carthaginian god Pumay combined with the Old Irish suffix -raige, the Genealogies from Rawlinson B502 lists the full genealogy of the Fomorians going right back to the Biblical Noah, who was 10th from Adam and Eve. Rawlinson B502, Section 26, page 330, says, Bres himself carries the epithet the Beautiful. Geoffrey Keating in his History of Ireland appearing in the 1630s claimed that the Fomorians had been a people descended from Noahs other son. Partholon defeated Cíocal in the Battle of Mag Itha, but all his people died of plague. Then came Nemed and his followers, Ireland is said to have been empty for thirty years following the death of Partholons people, but Nemed and his followers encountered the Fomorians when they arrived
8.
Hebridean mythology and folklore
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The Inner and Outer Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland are made up of a great number of large and small islands. These isolated and mostly uninhabited islands are the source of a number of Hebridean myths, kelpies were said to occupy several lochs, including one at Leurbost. The Blue men of the Minch, who occupy the stretch of water between Lewis and mainland Scotland, looking for sailors to drown and stricken boats to sink, seonaidh - a water-spirit who had to be offered ale. It has been claimed there is a mermaids grave in Benbecula. The mermaid was killed in the nineteenth century after having been seen for a couple of days, before a teenage boy threw a rock at it. Accounts stated that the part of the creature was the size of an infant. Searrach Uisge - a monster who was said to occupy Loch Suainbhal, resembling a capsized boat, this creature has been reported swimming around for one and a half centuries. Locals say lambs were once offered annually to the creature, other such creatures have been reported in several other lochs, including Loch Urubhal. At Loch Duvat in Eriskay, while out looking for a horse that escaped his farm in the mist, as he approached, he realised he was looking at a strange creature which gave an unearthly yell, sending the farmer running home. Various sea monsters have been reported off the shores of Lewis over the years, the ship,15 kilometres off the coast, reported a sea serpent around 40 metres in length, with several bumps protruding from the water, along its back. Sea serpents have also reported at the southern side of the island. A family of werewolves were said to occupy an island on Loch Langavat, although long deceased, they promised to rise if their graves were disturbed. Wills-o-the-wisp have been reported in the area of Sandwick, the lights that float around the area normally announce approaching death for a local. Some say the light belongs to an Irish merchant who was robbed and murdered on the island, at Luskentyre in Harris, a hound has been known to leave oversized paw prints on the damp sand which vanish suddenly half way across the beach. It is alleged that this is a fairy hound, then in South Uist, a woman walking with two friends in the pitch dark watched as a self-illuminating dog, the size of a collie but with a small head and no eyes, ran towards her. The creature vanished as it bounded past, on reaching home, she described what had happened to her aunt, the older woman told her it was a Cu Sìth, a fairy dog. One of the heirlooms of the chiefs of Clan Macleod is the Fairy Flag, numerous traditions state that the flag originated as a gift from the fairies. Scottish mythology Celtic mythology History of the Outer Hebrides Hebrides Rocabarraigh
9.
Mythological Cycle
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It is one of the four major cycles of early Irish literary tradition, the others being the Ulster Cycle, the Fenian Cycle and the Cycles of the Kings. The term Mythological Cycle seems to have gained currency with Arbois de Jubainville, 1881–1883, usage predating this applies the term generically, e. g. to Norse mythology. In the opinion of Mackillop, use of the term is somewhat awkward today, the characters appearing in the cycle are essentially gods from the pre-Christian pagan past in Ireland. Commentators exercising caution, however, qualify them as representing only godlike beings and this is because the Christian scribes who composed the writings were generally careful not to refer to the Tuatha Dé Danann and other beings explicitly as deities. The disguises are thinly veiled nonetheless, and these writings contain discernible vestiges of early Irish polytheistic cosmology, examples of works from the cycle include numerous prose tales, verse texts, as well as pseudo-historical chronicles found in medieval vellum manuscripts or later copies. Some of the romances are of later composition and found only in manuscripts dating to near-modern times. The god-folk of the invasions are euhemerised, i. e. described as having dwelt terrestrially. Afterwards, the Tuatha Dé Danann are said to have retreated into the sídhe, having disappeared but not died, the deities oftentimes make guest appearances in narratives categorised under other cycles. Collected #lore literature, while they do not belong to the cycle in entirety, in the list that follows, citations are generally only given if the wiki page for that work is not developed. Otherwise, citations are deferred to the article in question. See #External links for additional titles, aislinge Óenguso Altram Tige Dá Medar. Cath Muige Tuired Cunga Cath Maige Tuired Ceithri cathracha i r-robadar Tuatha De Danand De Gabáil in t-Sída Echtra Nera Eachtra Léithín How the Dagda Got His Magic Staff, Oidheadh Chloinne Lir Oidheadh Chloinne Tuirenn Scél Tuáin meic Chairill Tochomlod Nemid co hErin Tochomlod mac Miledh a hEspain i nErind. Besides independent verses, a number of poems are embedded in prose tales, a number of them are also preserved in the pseudohistorical LGE, Keating, etc. Arsaidh sin a eóuin Accla Coire Érmai / Coire Goriath Collected lore are not wholly of mythological content, the Fitness of Names provides interesting explanations on names of Dian Cecht among others. Irish onomastica, the Dindshenchas, also include stories about such as Boann. Genealogical tracts and the Roll of the Kings, various glosses may also be culled for information, banshenchus Dobbs 1932 Cóir Anmann, Stokes 1897 Dindsenchas Sanas Cormaic, Nes Triads of Ireland, mention of the indeoin Dagdai, ox of Díl, etc. Chronicon Scotorum Lebor Gabála Érenn Glas Gaibhnenn The euhemerised deities arrived in five sets of migrations, remnants of the migration tales are the summarised accounts given in the LGE. Apart from these are the tale of Tuan mac Cairill, Fintan mac Bóchra colloquy, Tuan and Fintan are ancient beings from the Antediluvian past, who have reincaranted into different creatures, and are referred to in the LGE as well
10.
Fenian Cycle
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It is one of the four major cycles of Irish mythology along with the Mythological Cycle, the Ulster Cycle, and the Historical Cycle. Put in chronological order, the Fenian cycle is the third cycle, the cycle also contains stories about other famous Fianna members, including Diarmuid, Caílte, Oisíns son Oscar, and Fionns enemy, Goll mac Morna. Cormac mac Art, the High King of Ireland formed the Fianna, the Fianna was dominated by Clan Bascna, led by Cumhal, and Clan Morna, led by Goll, with Liath Luachra, the treasurer. After the Battle of Knock, Cumhal is killed by the Morna, cumhals wife, Muirne, runs away and has a son, Demna, who is cared for by two warrior women, Liath and the druidess Bodhmall. Muirne marries the king of Kerry, Demna got the name Fionn because of his fair hair, and as soon as he came of age he set off for revenge. He kills Liath Luachra, and retrieves the bag, which he then gives to the survivors of the Battle of Knock. While studying with the poet Finn Eces, Fionn accidentally eats the Salmon of Knowledge, after he was admitted, Fionn became the leader of Clan Bascna. Every Samhain, the phantom Aillén mac Midgna, or Aillén the Burner, would terrorise Tara, using a magic spear that rendered him immune to the music, Fionn killed the phantom. As a reward, Fionn was made the leader of the Fianna, replacing Goll, the spell had been broken by the Dun of Allen, Fionns base, where, as long as she remained within she was protected by the spell. Some while later, Fionn went out to repulse some invaders, fer Doirich impersonated Fionn, tempting Sadbh out of the Dun, whereupon she immediately became a fawn again. Fionn searched for her, but all he found was a boy, whom he named Oisín, Oisín became famous as a bard, but Sadbh was never seen again. One of the most famous stories of the cycle, the lovers are aided by Diarmuids foster-father, the god Aengus. Eventually Fionn makes his peace with the couple, years later, however, Fionn invites Diarmuid on a boar hunt, and Diarmuid is badly gored by their quarry. Water drunk from Fionns hands has the power of healing, and his grandson Oscar threatens him if does not bring water for Diarmuid, but when Fionn finally returns it is too late, Diarmuid has died. Between the birth of Oisin and the Battle of Gabhra is the rest of the cycle, Goll sides with the king against Clan Bascna at the battle. Some stories say five warriors murdered Fionn at the battle, while others say he died in the battle of the Ford of Brea, in any case, only twenty warriors survive the battle, including Oisín and Caílte. Poem ascribed to Flannacán mac Cellaig, king of Bregia, in the Yellow Book of Lecan, story according to which Mongán was Finn. Tenth century, Triads of Ireland, anecdote about Finn and the boar of Druimm Leithe, Poem ascribed to Cináed úa Hartacáin on the cemetery of the Brug on the Boyne, on Finns death
11.
Welsh mythology
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Welsh mythology consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. Like most predominately oral societies found in the prehistoric Britain, Welsh mythology and this oral record has been lost or altered as result of outside contact and invasion over the years. The only character to appear in every branch is Pryderi fab Pwyll, the king of Dyfed, who is born in the first Branch, is killed in the fourth, and is probably a reflex of the Celtic god Maponos. The only other recurring characters are Pryderis mother Rhiannon, associated with the peaceful British prince Manawydan and he manages to win her hand at the expense of Gwawl, to whom she is betrothed, and she bears him a son, but the child disappears soon after his birth. Rhiannon is accused of killing him and forced to carry guests on her back as punishment. The child has been taken by a monster, and is rescued by Teyrnon and his wife and they return him to his real parents, Rhiannon is released from her punishment, and the boy is renamed Pryderi. In the second branch, Branwen, sister of Brân the Blessed, king of Britain, is given in marriage to Matholwch, Matholwch and Branwen have a son, Gwern, but Matholwch proceeds to mistreat Branwen, beating her and making her a drudge. Branwen trains a starling to take a message to Bran, who goes to war against Matholwch and his army crosses the Irish Sea in ships, but Brân is so huge he wades across. The Irish offer to make peace, and build a big enough to entertain Bran, but inside they hang a hundred bags, telling Efnysien they contain flour. Efnysien kills the warriors by squeezing the bags, later, at the feast, Efnysien throws Gwern on the fire and fighting breaks out. Seeing that the Irish are using the cauldron to revive their dead, Efnysien hides among the corpses and destroys the cauldron, only seven men, all Britons, survive the battle, including Pryderi, Manawyddan and Bran, who is mortally wounded by a poisoned spear. Brân asks his companions to cut off his head and take it back to Britain, Branwen dies of grief on returning home. Five pregnant women survive to repopulate Ireland, Pryderi and Manawydan return to Dyfed, where Pryderi marries Cigfa and Manawydan marries Rhiannon. However, a mist descends on the land, leaving it empty, eventually they return to Dyfed and become hunters again. While hunting, a white boar leads them to a mysterious castle, Pryderi, against Manawydans advice, goes inside, but does not return. Rhiannon goes to investigate and finds him clinging to a bowl, the same fate befalls her, and the castle disappears. Manawydan and Cigfa return to England as shoemakers, but once again the locals drive them out and they sow three fields of wheat, but the first field is destroyed before it can be harvested. The next night the field is destroyed
12.
Breton mythology
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Breton mythology is the mythology or corpus of explanatory and heroic tales originating in Brittany. The Bretons are the descendants of insular Britons who settled in Brittany from at least the third century, while the Britons were already Christianised in this era, the migrant population maintained an ancient Celtic mythos, similar to those of Wales and Cornwall. Breton mythology has many gods and mythical creatures specifically associated with nature cults, in this tradition of gods and creatures rooted in nature, there exist traces of certain Breton Catholic saints. This mythological background was accepted by Romans who were soon Christianized, resulting in the loss of grand epics
13.
Cornish mythology
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Cornish mythology is the folk tradition and mythology of the Cornish people. Some of this contains remnants of the mythology of pre-Christian Britain, the fairy tale Jack the Giant Killer takes place in Cornwall. Cornwall shares its ancient cultural heritage with its Brythonic cousins Brittany and Wales, as well as Ireland, part of Cornish mythology is derived from tales of seafaring pirates and smugglers who thrived in and around Cornwall from the early modern period through to the 19th century. Cornish pirates exploited both their knowledge of the Cornish coast as well as its sheltered creeks and hidden anchorages, for many fishing villages, loot and contraband provided by pirates supported a strong and secretive underground economy in Cornwall. Legendary creatures that appear in Cornish folklore include buccas, knockers, Giants, the knocker or bucca is the Welsh and Cornish equivalent of Irish leprechauns and English and Scottish brownies. About two feet tall and grizzled, but not misshapen, they live beneath the ground, Old Michaelmas Day falls on 11 October. According to an old legend, blackberries should not be picked after this date and this is because, so British folklore goes, Satan was banished from Heaven on this day, fell into a blackberry bush and cursed the brambles as he fell into them. In Cornwall, a similar legend prevails, according to which the devil urinated on them, weather lore Mist from the hill / Brings water for the mill, / Mist from the sea /Brings fine weather for me. When he see a sign for Roach, turnaround, nellie Sloggett of Padstow devoted much of her attention to Cornish folklore and legend. She collected and recorded stories about the Piskey folk, fairies of Cornish myth. She published most of her works in this category under her better-known pen-name of Enys Tregarthen, another legend relating to the pool concerns Jan Tregeagle. The Beast of Bodmin has been reported many times but never identified with certainty, Doom Bar According to legend, the Mermaid of Padstow created the Doom Bar as a dying curse, after being shot by a sailor. However, there are different versions of the story and the precise details are unclear. She then met a man, and one fell in love with the other, One version explains that she was love sick, and tried to lure him beneath the waves, however he escaped by shooting her. Another version suggested the man, Tristram Bird, fell in love with her and asked her to marry him, another suggestion is that a fisherman, Tom Yeo, shot her because he thought she was a seal. The ending of the legend is generally similar, with her dying breath, she levelled a curse at Padstow, or at the harbour itself, stating that the harbour will be desolate or unsafe. With that, a storm came, wrecking many boats. Within the bounds of Gulval parish lies the disused Ding Dong mine, popular local legend claims that Joseph of Arimathea, a tin trader, visited the mine and brought a young Jesus to address the miners, although there is no evidence to support this
14.
British Iron Age
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The parallel phase of Irish archaeology is termed the Irish Iron Age. The Iron Age is not a horizon of common artefacts. The British Iron Age lasted in theory from the first significant use of iron for tools, the Romanised culture is termed Roman Britain and is considered to supplant the British Iron Age. The Irish Iron Age was ended by the rise of Christianity, at a minimum, Celtic is a linguistic term without an implication of a lasting cultural unity connecting Gaul with the British Isles throughout the Iron Age. However it cannot be assumed that particular cultural features found in one Celtic-speaking culture can be extrapolated to the others. At present over 100 large-scale excavations of Iron Age sites have taken place, dating from the 8th century BC to the 1st century AD, hundreds of radiocarbon dates have been acquired and have been calibrated on four different curves, the most precise being based on tree ring sequences. In parts of Britain that were not Romanised, such as Scotland, the geographer closest to AD100 is perhaps Ptolemy. Pliny and Strabo are a bit older, but Ptolemy gives the most detail, during the later Bronze Age there are indications of new ideas influencing land use and settlement. Extensive field systems, now called Celtic fields, were being set out and settlements were becoming more permanent, long ditches, some many miles in length, were dug with enclosures placed at their ends. These are thought to indicate territorial borders and a desire to control over wide areas. By the 8th century BC, there is increasing evidence of Great Britain becoming closely tied to continental Europe, especially in Britains South and East. New weapon types appeared with clear parallels to those on the continent such as the Carps tongue sword, phoenician traders probably began visiting Great Britain in search of minerals around this time, bringing with them goods from the Mediterranean. At the same time, Northern European artefact types reached Eastern Great Britain in large quantities from across the North Sea, defensive structures dating from this time are often impressive, for example the brochs of Northern Scotland and the hill forts that dotted the rest of the islands. Some of the most well-known hill forts include Maiden Castle, Dorset, Cadbury Castle, Somerset and Danebury, hill forts first appeared in Wessex in the Late Bronze Age, but only become common in the period between 550 and 400 BC. The earliest were of a simple form, and often connected with earlier enclosures attached to the long ditch systems. Few hill forts have been excavated in the modern era, Danebury being a notable exception. However, it appears that forts were also used for domestic purposes, with examples of food storage, industry. Many hill forts are not in fact forts at all, the development of hill forts may have occurred due to greater tensions that arose between the better structured and more populous social groups
15.
Mabinogion
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The Mabinogion are the earliest prose literature of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from oral traditions. The two main source manuscripts were created c, 1350–1410, as well as some earlier fragments. The title covers a collection of prose stories of widely different types. The highly sophisticated complexity of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi defy categorisation, the list is so diverse a leading scholar has challenged them as a true collection at all. Early scholars from the 18th century to the 1970s predominantly viewed the tales as fragmentary pre-Christian Celtic mythology and they are now seen as a sophisticated narrative tradition, both oral and written, with ancestral construction from oral storytelling, and overlay from Anglo-French influences. The first modern publications were English translations of several tales by William Owen Pughe in journals 1795,1821,1829, however it was Lady Charlotte Guest 1838–45 who first published the full collection, and bilingually in both Welsh and English. She is often assumed to be responsible for the name Mabinogion, indeed, as early as 1632 the lexicographer John Davies quotes a sentence from Math fab Mathonwy with the notation Mabin. in his Antiquae linguae Britannicae. The later Guest translation of 1877 in one volume, has been widely influential, the most recent translation is a compact version by Sioned Davies. John Bollard has published a series of volumes between with his own translation, with photography of the sites in the stories. The tales continue to inspire new fiction, dramatic retellings, visual artwork, the name first appears in 1795 in William Owen Pughes translation in the journal Cambrian Register, The Mabinogion, or Juvenile Amusements, being Ancient Welsh Romances. The name appears to have been current among Welsh scholars of the London-Welsh Societies and it was inherited as the title by the first publisher of the complete collection, Lady Charlotte Guest. The form mabynnogyon occurs once at the end of the first of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi in one manuscript and it is now generally agreed that this one instance was a mediaeval scribal error which assumed mabinogion was the plural of mabinogi. But mabinogi is already a Welsh plural, which occurs correctly at the end of the three branches. The word mabinogi itself is something of a puzzle, although derived from the Welsh mab. Eric P. Hamp of the school traditions in mythology, found a suggestive connection with Maponos the Divine Son. Mabinogi properly applies only to the Four Branches, which is a tightly organised quartet very likely by one author, each of these four tales ends with the colophon thus ends this branch of the Mabinogi, hence the name. Lady Charlotte Guests work was helped by the research and translation work of William Owen Pughe
16.
Geis
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In Irish, a geas is an idiosyncratic taboo, whether of obligation or prohibition, similar to being under a vow. The plural is used to mean specifically a spell prohibiting some action, common in Irish folklore. It is this meaning of the plural which the article discusses. The equivalent Scottish Gaelic word, also used in English, is geas, a geasa can be compared with a curse or, paradoxically, a gift. If someone under a geasa violates the associated taboo, the infractor will suffer dishonor or even death, on the other hand, the observing of ones geasa is believed to bring power. Often it is women who place geasa upon men, in some cases the woman turns out to be a goddess or other sovereignty figure. The geasa is often a key device in hero tales, such as that of Cúchulainn in Irish mythology, for instance, Cúchulainn has a geasa to never eat dog meat, and he is also bound by a geasa to eat any food offered to him by a woman. When a hag offers him dog meat, he has no way to emerge from the situation unscathed, there is a considerable similarity between the Goidelic geasa and the Brythonic tynged. This is not surprising given the origins of many of the variants of Celtic mythology. Prohibitions and taboos similar to geasa are also found in more recent English literature, for example, in William Shakespeares play Macbeth, the title character believes he is safe because no man of woman born shall harm Macbeth. However, his nemesis Macduff was from his mothers womb untimely rippd, Irish mythology in popular culture, Geis Tynged
17.
Loathly lady
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The Loathly Lady, is an archetype commonly used in medieval literature, most famously in Geoffrey Chaucers The Wife of Baths Tale. The motif is that of a woman that appears unattractive but undergoes a transformation upon being approached by a man in spite of her unattractiveness and it is then revealed that her ugliness was the result of a curse which was broken by the heros action. In the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne was one of the most famous members of the Fianna, one freezing winters night, the Loathly Lady brazenly entered the Fianna lodge, where the warriors had just gone to bed after a hunting expedition. Drenched to the bone, her hair was snarled and knotted. Desperate for warmth and shelter, she knelt beside each warrior and demanded a blanket, despite her rants and temper tantrums, the tired men only rolled over and ignored her in the hope that she would leave. Only young Diarmuid, whose bed was nearest to the fireplace, took pity on the woman, giving her his bed. The Loathly Lady noticed Diarmuids love spot and said that she had wandered the world alone for 7 years, Diarmuid reassured her and told her she could sleep all night and that he would protect her. Towards dawn, he became aware that she had become a young woman. The next day, the Loathly Lady rewarded Diarmuids kindness by offering him his greatest wish—a house overlooking the sea, overjoyed, Diarmuid asked the woman to live with him. She agreed on one condition, He must promise never to mention how ugly she looked on the night they met, after 3 days together, Diarmuid grew restless. The Loathly Lady offered to watch his greyhound and her new pups while he went hunting, on three separate occasions, Diarmuids friends, envious of his good luck, visited the lady and asked for one of the new pups. Each time, she honoured the request, each time, Diarmuid was angry and asked her how she could repay him so meanly when he overlooked her ugliness the first night they met. On the third mention of that which he had promised never to speak of, the Loathly Lady and the house disappeared, realizing that his ungratefulness has caused him to lose everything he valued, Diarmuid set out to find his lady. He used a ship to cross a stormy sea. Arriving in the Otherworld, he searched for the lady through green meadows filled with brightly coloured horses, three times he spied a drop of ruby-red blood and gathered each drop into his handkerchief. When a stranger revealed that the Kings gravely ill daughter had just returned after 7 years, rushing to her side, he discovered she was dying. The 3 drops of blood Diarmuid collected were from her heart, the only cure was a cup of healing water from the Plain of Wonder, guarded by a jealous king and his army. Diarmuid vowed to bring back the cup and his quest for the healing cup nearly ended at an impassable river
18.
Celtic sacred trees
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Many types of trees found in the Celtic nations are considered to be sacred, whether as symbols, or due to medicinal properties, or because they are seen as the abode of particular nature spirits. Historically and in folklore, the given to trees varies in different parts of the Celtic world. On the Isle of Man, the phrase ‘fairy tree’ often refers to the elder tree. The medieval Welsh poem Cad Goddeu is believed to contain Celtic tree lore, possibly relating to the crann ogham, the oak tree features prominently in many Celtic cultures. The ancient geographer Strabo reported that the important sacred grove and meeting-place of the Galatian Celts of Asia Minor, britons under Roman occupation worshipped a goddess of the oak tree, Daron, whose name is commemorated in a rivulet in Gwynedd. According to the pseudo-history Lebor Gabála ‘Book of Invasions, ’ the sacred oak of early Ireland was that of Mugna, probably located at or near Dunmanogoe, south Co. When Lleu Llaw Gyffes is about to be killed by Gronw Pebyr, his wifes lover, in British fairy lore, the oak is one of three primary magical woods, along with ash and thorn. In Proto-Celtic the words for oak were *daru and *derwā, Old Irish and Modern Irish, dair, Scottish Gaelic, darach, Manx, daragh, Welsh, derwen, dâr, Cornish derowen, Breton, the ash tree also features strongly in Irish mythology. The mountain ash, rowan, or quicken tree is prominent in Scottish folklore. There are several recorded instances in Irish history in which people refused to cut an ash, even when wood was scarce, the ash tree itself might be used in May Day rites. Under the Old Irish word nin, the ash also gives its name to the letter N in the ogham alphabet, together with the oak and thorn, the ash is part of a magical trilogy in fairy lore. Ash seedpods may be used in divination, and the wood has the power to ward off fairies, in Gaelic Scotland children were given the astringent sap of the tree as a medicine and as a protection against witch-craft. Some famous ash trees were the Tree of Uisnech, the Bough of Dathí, the French poet who used Breton sources, Marie de France, wrote a lai about an ash tree. The Proto-Celti for ash was *onnos, Old Irish, nin, Irish, fuinseog, Scots Gaelic, fuinnseann, Manx, unjin, Welsh, onnen, Cornish, onnen, Breton, onnenn. The pome fruit and tree of the apple is celebrated in numerous functions in Celtic mythology, legend, wands of druids were made from wood either of the yew or of the apple. The Brythonic Avalon in Arthurian tradition in certain medieval narratives, attributing Welsh origin, is translated as Insula Pomorum, one gloss of the name for the magical Irish island Emain Ablach is ‘Emain of the Apples’. In the Ulster Cycle the soul of Cú Roí was confined in an apple that lay in the stomach of a salmon which appeared once every seven years, cúchulainn once gained his escape by following the path of a rolled apple. An apple-tree grew from the grave of the tragic lover Ailinn, in the Irish story from the Mythological Cycle, Oidheadh Chlainne Tuireann, the first task given the Children of Tuireann is to retrieve the Apples of the Hesperides
19.
Shapeshifting
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In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability of a being or creature to completely transform its physical form or shape. This is usually achieved through an inherent ability of a creature, divine intervention. The idea persisted through the Middle Ages, where the agency causing shapeshifting is usually a sorcerer or witch and it remains a common trope in modern fantasy, childrens literature, and works of popular culture. The most common form of shapeshifting myths is that of therianthropy, legends allow for transformations into plants and objects, and the assumption of another human countenance. Shapeshifting to the form of a wolf is known as lycanthropy. Therianthropy is the general term for human-animal shifts, but it is rarely used in that capacity. It was also common for deities to transform mortals into animals, other terms for shapeshifters include metamorph, the Navajo skin-walker, mimic, and therianthrope. The prefix were-, coming from the Old English word for man, is used to designate shapeshifters, despite its root. While the popular idea of a shapeshifter is of a human being who turns into something else, proteus was noted among the gods for his shapeshifting, both Menelaus and Aristaeus seized him to win information from him, and succeeded only because they held on during his various changes. Nereus told Heracles where to find the Apples of the Hesperides for the same reason, the Titan Metis, the first wife of Zeus and the mother of the goddess Athena, was believed to be able to change her appearance into anything she wanted. In one story, she was so proud, that her husband, Zeus and he then swallowed her because he feared that he and Metis would have a son who would be more powerful than Zeus himself. She stayed alive inside his head and built armor for her daughter, the banging of her metalworking made Zeus have a headache, so Hephaestus clove his head with an axe. Athena sprang from her fathers head, fully grown, and in battle armor, in Greek mythology, the transformation is often a punishment from the gods to humans who crossed them. Zeus transformed King Lycaon into a wolf as a punishment for either killing Zeus children or serving him the flesh of Lycaons own murdered son Nyctimus, Demeter transformed Ascalabus into a lizard for mocking her sorrow and thirst during her search for her daughter Persephone. She also turned King Lyncus into a lynx for trying to murder her prophet Triptolemus, Athena transformed Arachne into a spider for challenging her as a weaver and/or weaving a tapestry that insulted the gods. Artemis transformed Actaeon into a stag for spying on her bathing, io was a priestess of Hera in Argos, a nymph who was raped by Zeus, who changed her into a heifer to escape detection. The young Tiresias was walking through a forest when he found two snakes in the act of love and he poked them with a stick and was instantly changed into a woman. He lived in this form for many years, and even married and had children
20.
Druid
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A druid was a member of the high-ranking professional class in ancient Celtic cultures. While perhaps best remembered as religious leaders, they were also legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and they are however attested in some detail by their contemporaries from other cultures, such as the Romans. The earliest known references to the date to the fourth century BCE. Later Greco-Roman writers also described the Druids, including Cicero, Tacitus, in about 750 CE the word druid appears in a poem by Blathmac, who wrote about Jesus, saying that he was. Better than a prophet, more knowledgeable than every druid, a king who was a bishop, the druids then also appear in some of the medieval tales from Christianized Ireland like the Táin Bó Cúailnge, where they are largely portrayed as sorcerers who opposed the coming of Christianity. In the wake of the Celtic revival during the 18th and 19th centuries, fraternal and neopagan groups were founded based on ideas about the ancient druids, many popular notions about druids are based on the misconceptions of 18th century scholars. These have been superseded by more recent study. The modern English word druid derives from the Latin druides, which was considered by ancient Roman writers to come from the native Celtic Gaulish word for these figures, other Roman texts also employ the form druidae, while the same term was used by Greek ethnographers as δρυΐδης. Based on all forms, the hypothetical proto-Celtic word may then be reconstructed as *dru-wid-s meaning oak-knower. The two elements go back to the Proto-Indo-European roots *deru- and *weid- to see, the sense of oak-knower is supported by Pliny the Elder, who in his Natural History considered the word to contain the Greek noun drýs, oak-tree and the Greek suffix -idēs. The modern Irish word for Oak is Dair, which occurs in anglicized placenames like Derry – Doire, there are many stories about saints, heroes, and oak trees, and also many local stories and superstitions about trees in general, which still survive in rural Ireland. Both Old Irish druí and Middle Welsh dryw could also refer to the wren, sources by ancient and medieval writers provide an idea of the religious duties and social roles involved in being a druid. One of the few things that both the Greco-Roman and the vernacular Irish sources agree on about the druids is that played an important part in pagan Celtic society. He also claimed that they were exempt from service and from the payment of taxes. Pomponius Mela is the first author who says that the instruction was secret and was carried on in caves. Druidic lore consisted of a number of verses learned by heart. What was taught to Druid novices anywhere is conjecture, of the oral literature, not one certifiably ancient verse is known to have survived. All instruction was communicated orally, but for ordinary purposes, Caesar reports, in this he probably draws on earlier writers, by the time of Caesar, Gaulish inscriptions had moved from the Greek script to the Latin script
21.
Bard
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For example, William Shakespeare, and Rabindranth Tagore, are known as the Bard of Avon and the Bard of Bengal respectively. The word is a Celtic loan word from Scottish Gaelic bàrd, Irish bard, in 16th-century Scotland, it was a derogatory term for an itinerant musician, but it was later romanticised by Sir Walter Scott. The equivalent Cornish bardh was retained in English in the form of the drollteller, in medieval Gaelic and Welsh society, a bard or bardd was a professional poet, employed to compose eulogies for his lord. If the employer failed to pay the amount, the bard would then compose a satire. In other Indo-European societies, the function was fulfilled by skalds, rhapsodes, minstrels and scops. A hereditary caste of professional poets in Proto-Indo-European society has been reconstructed by comparison of the position of poets in medieval Ireland and in ancient India in particular. Bards were those who sang the songs recalling the tribal warriors deeds of bravery as well as the genealogies, the pre-Christian Celtic peoples recorded no written histories, however, Celtic peoples did maintain an intricate oral history committed to memory and transmitted by bards and filid. Bards facilitated the memorisation of such materials by the use of metre, rhyme, in medieval Ireland, bards were one of two distinct groups of poets, the other being the fili. According to the Early Irish law text on status, Uraicecht Becc, bards were a class of poets. However, it has also argued that the distinction between filid and bards was a creation of Christian Ireland, and that the filid were more associated with the church. By the Early Modern Period, these came to be used interchangeably. Irish bards formed a professional caste of highly trained, learned poets. As officials of the court of king or chieftain, they performed a number of official roles and they were chroniclers and satirists whose job it was to praise their employers and damn those who crossed them. It was believed that a well-aimed bardic satire, glam dicenn, the bardic system lasted until the mid-17th century in Ireland and the early 18th century in Scotland. In Ireland, their fortunes had always linked to the Gaelic aristocracy. The early history of the bards can be known indirectly through mythological stories. The first mention of the profession in Ireland is found in the The Book of Invasions, in a story about the Irish colony of Tuatha De Danann. They became the aos sí, comparable to Norse alfr and British fairy, during the tenth year of the reign of the last Belgic monarch, the people of the colony of Tuatha De Danann, as the Irish called it, invaded and settled in Ireland
22.
Vates
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The English-Latin noun vates /ˈveɪtiːz/ is a term for a prophet, following the Latin term. It is the origin of the English term ovate for an Irish bard, the earliest Latin writers used vātēs ( to denote prophets and soothsayers in general, the word fell into disuse in Latin until it was revived by Virgil. Thus Ovid could describe himself as the vates of Eros, according to the Ancient Greek writers Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, and Poseidonius, the vates were one of three classes of Celtic priesthood, the other two being the druids and the bards. The Vates had the role of seers and performed sacrifices under the authority of a druid according to Roman and Christian interpretation, the Celtic word vates is continued by Irish fáith prophet, seer, and gwawd scorn, satire, scoff in Welsh. It is unknown whether the Latin and Gaulish usages are cognates, Virgil uses the Latin vannus winnowing fan for something borne about in the Bacchic festival, suggesting that the root may have had an ecstatic sense in Italic also. In pagan Rome the vates resided on the Vatican Hill, the Hill of the Vates, the Vatican Hill takes its name from the Latin word Vaticanus, a vaticiniis ferendis, in allusion to the oracles, or Vaticinia, which were anciently delivered on the Vatican Hill. Rübekeil suggested that the name of the Germanic god *Wōđinaz may in fact be an early loanword, the word is Latin meaning fortune tellers. The name was found in the word Vatican, a hillside on the west bank of the Tiber River in Rome where they resided. Vates make up one of the three grades of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, an order based in England. An ovate is also the level one can attain in the modern Welsh Gorsedd of Bards. Perkins, Caroline A. Ovids Erotic Vates in Helios, March 2000 Rübekeil, Ludwig, Wodan und andere forschungsgeschichtliche Leichen, exhumiert, Beiträge zur Namenforschung, peter Berresford Ellis, The Druids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing ISBN 0-8028-3798-0 Classical descriptions of the vates Ovates
23.
Samhain
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Samhain is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the darker half of the year. Traditionally, it is celebrated from 31 October to 1 November, as the Celtic day began and this is about halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Imbolc, Bealtaine, historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Similar festivals are held at the time of year in other Celtic lands, for example the Brythonic Calan Gaeaf, Kalan Gwav. Samhain is believed to have Celtic pagan origins and there is evidence it has been an important date since ancient times, the Mound of the Hostages, a Neolithic passage tomb at the Hill of Tara, is aligned with the Samhain sunrise. It is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and many important events in Irish mythology happen or begin on Samhain and it was the time when cattle were brought back down from the summer pastures and when livestock were slaughtered for the winter. As at Bealtaine, special bonfires were lit and these were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers and there were rituals involving them. Like Bealtaine, Samhain was seen as a time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld could more easily be crossed. This meant the Aos Sí, the spirits or fairies, could easily come into our world. Most scholars see the Aos Sí as remnants of the pagan gods, at Samhain, it was believed that the Aos Sí needed to be propitiated to ensure that the people and their livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink were left outside for them, the souls of the dead were also thought to revisit their homes seeking hospitality. Feasts were had, at which the souls of dead kin were beckoned to attend, mumming and guising were part of the festival, and involved people going door-to-door in costume, often reciting verses in exchange for food. The costumes may have been a way of imitating, and disguising oneself from, divination rituals and games were also a big part of the festival and often involved nuts and apples. In the late 19th century, Sir John Rhys and Sir James Frazer suggested that it was the Celtic New Year, in the 9th century AD, Western Christianity shifted the date of All Saints Day to 1 November, while 2 November later became All Souls Day. Over time, Samhain and All Saints/All Souls merged to create the modern Halloween, historians have used the name Samhain to refer to Gaelic Halloween customs up until the 19th century. Since the later 20th century, Celtic neopagans and Wiccans have observed Samhain, or something based on it, Neopagans in the Southern Hemisphere often celebrate Samhain at the other end of the year. In Modern Irish the name is Samhain, in Scottish Gaelic Samhainn/Samhuinn and these are also the names of November in each language, shortened from Mí na Samhna, Mì na Samhna and Mee Houney. The night of 31 October is Oíche Shamhna, Oidhche Shamhna and Oie Houney,1 November, or the whole festival, may be called Lá Samhna, Là Samhna and Laa Houney, all meaning Samhain day
24.
Calan Gaeaf
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Calan Gaeaf is the name of the first day of winter in Wales, observed on 1 November. The night before is Nos Galan Gaeaf, an Ysbrydnos when spirits are abroad, people avoid churchyards, stiles, and crossroads, since spirits are thought to gather there. Children and women would dance around a fire and, during this process, everyone would write their names on rocks and place them in. When the fire started to die out they would all run home- whereas if they stayed, Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta would devour their souls. One particular rhyme shows how the last child out on Nos Calan Gaeaf was at risk of being eaten by the fearsome beast, Adre, adre, am y cynta, the following morning, all the stones containing villagers names would be checked. If, however, a stone was missing, the person who wrote their name on the stone would die one year. Coelcerth, Families build a fire and place stones with their names on it, for prophetic dreams a boy should cut ten ivy leaves, throw away one and put the rest under his head before he sleeps. They supposedly possessed the power to ‘bewitch’ anybody if they wished Twco Fala/fale, Ducking apples Samhain Halloween Day of the Dead Allantide Davies, John, Jenkins, the Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales
25.
Imbolc
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Imbolc or Imbolg, also called Brigids Day, is a Gaelic traditional festival marking the beginning of spring. Most commonly it is held on 1 February, or about halfway between the solstice and the spring equinox. Historically, it was observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals—along with Beltane, Lughnasadh, for Christians, especially in Ireland, it is the feast day of Saint Brigid. Imbolc is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and there is evidence it has been an important date since ancient times, at Imbolc, Brigids crosses were made and a doll-like figure of Brigid, called a Brídeóg, would be paraded from house-to-house. Brigid was said to visit ones home at Imbolc, to receive her blessings, people would make a bed for Brigid and leave her food and drink, while items of clothing would be left outside for her to bless. Brigid was also invoked to protect homes and livestock, special feasts were had, holy wells were visited and it was also a time for divination. Although many of its customs died out in the 20th century, it is still observed, since the latter 20th century, Celtic neopagans and Wiccans have observed Imbolc as a religious holiday. The etymology of Imbolc/Imbolg is unclear, the most common explanation is that is comes from the Old Irish i mbolc, meaning in the belly, and refers to the pregnancy of ewes. Another possible origin is the Old Irish imb-fholc, to wash/cleanse oneself, eric P. Hamp derives it from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning both milk and cleansing. Professor Alan Ward derives it from the Proto-Celtic *embibolgon, budding, the 10th century Cormacs Glossary derives it from oimelc, ewe milk, but many scholars see this as a folk etymology. Nevertheless, some Neopagans have adopted Oimelc as a name for the festival, the date of Imbolc is thought to have been significant in Ireland since the Neolithic period. This is based on the alignment of some Megalithic monuments, for example, at the Mound of the Hostages on the Hill of Tara, the inner chamber is aligned with the rising sun on the dates of Imbolc and Samhain. In Gaelic Ireland, Imbolc was the feis or festival marking the beginning of spring, during which great feasts were held and it is attested in some of the earliest Old Irish literature, from the 10th century onward. It was one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals, Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, from the 18th century to the mid 20th century, many accounts of Imbolc or St Brigids Day were recorded by folklorists and other writers. They tell us how it was celebrated then, and shed light on how it may have been celebrated in the past, Imbolc has traditionally been celebrated on 1 February. However, because the day was deemed to begin and end at sunset and it has also been argued that the timing of the festival was originally more fluid and based on seasonal changes. It has been associated with the onset of the lambing season—which could vary by as much as two weeks before or after 1 February—and the blooming of blackthorn
26.
Beltane
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Beltane is the anglicised name for the Gaelic May Day festival. Most commonly it is held on 1 May, or about halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. In Irish the name for the day is Lá Bealtaine, in Scottish Gaelic Là Bealltainn. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals—along with Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and it is associated with important events in Irish mythology. It marked the beginning of summer and was when cattle were driven out to the summer pastures, rituals were performed to protect the cattle, crops and people, and to encourage growth. Special bonfires were kindled, and their flames, smoke and ashes were deemed to have protective powers, the people and their cattle would walk around the bonfire or between two bonfires, and sometimes leap over the flames or embers. All household fires would be doused and then re-lit from the Beltane bonfire and these gatherings would be accompanied by a feast, and some of the food and drink would be offered to the aos sí. Doors, windows, byres and the cattle themselves would be decorated with yellow May flowers, in parts of Ireland, people would make a May Bush, a thorn bush decorated with flowers, ribbons and bright shells. Holy wells were visited, while Beltane dew was thought to bring beauty. Many of these customs were part of May Day or Midsummer festivals in other parts of Great Britain, Beltane celebrations had largely died out by the mid-20th century, although some of its customs continued and in some places it has been revived as a cultural event. Since the late 20th century, Celtic neopagans and Wiccans have observed Beltane, or something based on it, Neopagans in the Southern Hemisphere often celebrate Beltane at the other end of the year. Beltane was one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals, Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, Beltane marked the beginning of the pastoral summer season, when livestock were driven out to the summer pastures. Rituals were held at time to protect them from harm. There were also rituals to protect crops, dairy products and people, the aos sí were thought to be especially active at Beltane and the goal of many Beltane rituals was to appease them. Most scholars see the aos sí as remnants of the pagan gods, Beltaine was a spring time festival of optimism during which fertility ritual again was important, perhaps connecting with the waxing power of the sun. Beltane and Samhain are thought to have been the most important of the four Gaelic festivals, thus, he suggests that halving the year at 1 May and 1 November dates from a time when the Celts were mainly a pastoral people, dependent on their herds. The earliest mention of Beltane is in Old Irish literature from Gaelic Ireland, according to the early medieval texts Sanas Cormaic and Tochmarc Emire, Beltane was held on 1 May and marked the beginning of summer. The texts say that, to cattle from disease, the druids would make two fires with great incantations and drive the cattle between them
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Lughnasadh
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Lughnasadh or Lughnasa is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Originally it was held on 1 August, or about halfway between the solstice and autumn equinox. However, over time the celebrations shifted to the Sundays nearest this date, Lughnasadh is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Samhain, Imbolc and Beltane. It corresponds to other European harvest festivals such as the Welsh Gŵyl Awst, Lughnasadh is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and has pagan origins. The festival itself is named after the god Lugh and it involved great gatherings that included religious ceremonies, ritual athletic contests, feasting, matchmaking and trading. There were also visits to holy wells, much of the activities would have taken place on top of hills and mountains. Lughnasadh customs persisted widely until the 20th century, with the event being variously named Garland Sunday, Bilberry Sunday, Mountain Sunday, the custom of climbing hills and mountains at Lughnasadh has survived in some areas, although it has been re-cast as a Christian pilgrimage. The best known is the Reek Sunday pilgrimage to the top of Croagh Patrick on the last Sunday in July, a number of fairs are also believed to be survivals of Lughnasadh, for example the Puck Fair. Since the later 20th century, Celtic neopagans have observed Lughnasadh, or something based on it, in some places, elements of the festival have been revived as a cultural event. In Old Irish, the name was Lugnasad and this is a combination of Lug and násad, which is unstressed when used as a suffix. Later spellings include Luᵹ̇nasaḋ, Lughnasadh and Lughnasa, in Modern Irish, the spelling is Lúnasa, which is also the name for the month of August. The genitive case is also Lúnasa as in Mí Lúnasa and Lá Lúnasa, in Modern Scottish Gaelic, the festival and the month are both called Lùnastal. In Manx, the festival and the month are both called Luanistyn, the day itself may be called either Laa Luanistyn or Laa Luanys. In Welsh, the day is known as Calan Awst, originally a Latin term, in Breton, the day was known as Gouel Eost, the Feast of August. In Irish mythology, the Lughnasadh festival is said to have begun by the god Lugh as a funeral feast. She was said to have died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agriculture, Tailtiu may have been an earth goddess who represented the dying vegetation that fed mankind. The funeral games in her honour were called the Óenach Tailten or Áenach Tailten and were held each Lughnasadh at Tailtin in what is now County Meath, according to medieval writings, kings attended this óenach and a truce was declared for its duration
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Mythology
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Mythology refers variously to the collected myths of a group of people or to the study of such myths. Myths are the people tell to explain nature, history. Myth is a feature of every culture, mythologizing continues, as shown in contemporary mythopoeia such as urban legends and the expansive fictional mythoi created by fantasy novels and comics. A cultures collective mythology helps convey belonging, shared and religious experiences, behavioral models, the study of myth began in ancient history. Rival classes of the Greek myths by Euhemerus, Plato and Sallustius were developed by the Neoplatonists, the nineteenth-century comparative mythology reinterpreted myth as a primitive and failed counterpart of science, a disease of language, or a misinterpretation of magical ritual. Recent approaches often view myths as manifestations of psychological, cultural, or societal truths, the term mythology predates the word myth by centuries. It first appeared in the fifteenth-century, borrowed from the Middle French term mythologie, the word mythology, comes from Middle French mythologie, from Late Latin mythologia, from Greek μυθολογία mythología from μῦθος mythos and -λογία -logia. The word mythología appears in Plato, but was used as a term for fiction or story-telling of any kind, combining mỹthos. From Lydgate until the seventeenth or eighteenth-century, mythology was similarly used to mean a moral, fable, from its earliest use in reference to a collection of traditional stories or beliefs, mythology implied the falsehood of the stories being described. It came to be applied by analogy with similar bodies of traditional stories among other cultures around the world. The Greek loanword mythos and Latinate mythus both appeared in English before the first example of myth in 1830, in present use, mythology usually refers to the collected myths of a group of people, but may also mean the study of such myths. For example, Greek mythology, Roman mythology and Hittite mythology all describe the body of myths retold among those cultures, dundes defined myth as a sacred narrative that explains how the world and humanity evolved into their present form. Lincoln defined myth as ideology in narrative form, scholars in other fields use the term myth in varied ways. In a broad sense, the word can refer to any traditional story, due to this pejorative sense, some scholars opted for the term mythos. Its use was similarly pejorative and now commonly refers to its Aristotelian sense as a plot point or to a collective mythology. The term is distinguished from didactic literature such as fables. Main characters in myths are usually gods, demigods or supernatural humans, however, many exceptions or combinations exist, as in the Iliad, Odyssey and Aeneid. Myths are often endorsed by rulers and priests and are linked to religion or spirituality
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Religion
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Religions have sacred histories and narratives, which may be preserved in sacred scriptures, and symbols and holy places, that aim mostly to give a meaning to life. Religions may contain symbolic stories, which are said by followers to be true, that have the side purpose of explaining the origin of life. Traditionally, faith, in addition to reason, has considered a source of religious beliefs. There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide, about 84% of the worlds population is affiliated with one of the five largest religions, namely Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or forms of folk religion. With the onset of the modernisation of and the revolution in the western world. The religiously unaffiliated demographic include those who do not identify with any religion, atheists. While the religiously unaffiliated have grown globally, many of the religiously unaffiliated still have various religious beliefs, about 16% of the worlds population is religiously unaffiliated. The study of religion encompasses a variety of academic disciplines, including theology, comparative religion. Theories of religion offer various explanations for the origins and workings of religion, Religion is derived from the Latin religiō, the ultimate origins of which are obscure. One possible interpretation traced to Cicero, connects lego read, i. e. re with lego in the sense of choose, go over again or consider carefully. The medieval usage alternates with order in designating bonded communities like those of monastic orders, we hear of the religion of the Golden Fleece, of a knight of the religion of Avys. In the ancient and medieval world, the etymological Latin root religio was understood as a virtue of worship, never as doctrine, practice. In the Quran, the Arabic word din is often translated as religion in modern translations and it was in the 19th century that the terms Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Confucianism first emerged. Max Müller characterized many other cultures around the world, including Egypt, Persia, what is called ancient religion today, they would have only called law. Some languages have words that can be translated as religion, but they may use them in a different way. For example, the Sanskrit word dharma, sometimes translated as religion, throughout classical South Asia, the study of law consisted of concepts such as penance through piety and ceremonial as well as practical traditions. Medieval Japan at first had a union between imperial law and universal or Buddha law, but these later became independent sources of power. There is no equivalent of religion in Hebrew, and Judaism does not distinguish clearly between religious, national, racial, or ethnic identities
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Iron Age
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The Iron Age is an archaeological era, referring to a period of time in the prehistory and protohistory of the Old World when the dominant toolmaking material was iron. It is commonly preceded by the Bronze Age in Europe and Asia with exceptions, meteoric iron has been used by humans since at least 3200 BC. Ancient iron production did not become widespread until the ability to smelt ore, remove impurities. The start of the Iron Age proper is considered by many to fall between around 1200 BC and 600 BC, depending on the region, the earliest known iron artifacts are nine small beads dated to 3200 BC, which were found in burials at Gerzeh, Lower Egypt. They have been identified as meteoric iron shaped by careful hammering, meteoric iron, a characteristic iron–nickel alloy, was used by various ancient peoples thousands of years before the Iron Age. Such iron, being in its metallic state, required no smelting of ores. Smelted iron appears sporadically in the record from the middle Bronze Age. While terrestrial iron is abundant, its high melting point of 1,538 °C placed it out of reach of common use until the end of the second millennium BC. Tins low melting point of 231, similarly, recent archaeological remains of iron working in the Ganges Valley in India have been tentatively dated to 1800 BC. By the Middle Bronze Age, increasing numbers of smelted iron objects appeared in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, African sites are turning up dates as early as 1200 BC. Modern archaeological evidence identifies the start of iron production in around 1200 BC. Between 1200 BC and 1000 BC, diffusion in the understanding of iron metallurgy and use of objects was fast. As evidence, many bronze implements were recycled into weapons during this time, more widespread use of iron led to improved steel-making technology at lower cost. Thus, even when tin became available again, iron was cheaper, stronger, and lighter, and forged iron implements superseded cast bronze tools permanently. Increasingly, the Iron Age in Europe is being seen as a part of the Bronze Age collapse in the ancient Near East, in ancient India, ancient Iran, and ancient Greece. In other regions of Europe, the Iron Age began in the 8th century BC in Central Europe, the Near Eastern Iron Age is divided into two subsections, Iron I and Iron II. Iron I illustrates both continuity and discontinuity with the previous Late Bronze Age, during the Iron Age, the best tools and weapons were made from steel, particularly alloys which were produced with a carbon content between approximately 0. 30% and 1. 2% by weight. Steel weapons and tools were nearly the same weight as those of bronze, however, steel was difficult to produce with the methods available, and alloys that were easier to make, such as wrought iron, were more common in lower-priced goods
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Celts
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The history of pre-Celtic Europe remains very uncertain. According to one theory, the root of the Celtic languages, the Proto-Celtic language, arose in the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture of Central Europe. Thus this area is called the Celtic homeland. The earliest undisputed examples of a Celtic language are the Lepontic inscriptions beginning in the 6th century BC. Continental Celtic languages are attested almost exclusively through inscriptions and place-names, Insular Celtic languages are attested beginning around the 4th century in Ogham inscriptions, although it was clearly being spoken much earlier. Celtic literary tradition begins with Old Irish texts around the 8th century, coherent texts of Early Irish literature, such as the Táin Bó Cúailnge, survive in 12th century recensions. Between the 5th and 8th centuries, the Celtic-speaking communities in these Atlantic regions emerged as a cohesive cultural entity. They had a linguistic, religious and artistic heritage that distinguished them from the culture of the surrounding polities. By the 6th century, however, the Continental Celtic languages were no longer in wide use, Insular Celtic culture diversified into that of the Gaels and the Celtic Britons of the medieval and modern periods. A modern Celtic identity was constructed as part of the Romanticist Celtic Revival in Great Britain, Ireland, today, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, and Breton are still spoken in parts of their historical territories, and Cornish and Manx are undergoing a revival. The first recorded use of the name of Celts – as Κελτοί – to refer to a group was by Hecataeus of Miletus, the Greek geographer, in 517 BC. In the fifth century BC Herodotus referred to Keltoi living around the head of the Danube, the etymology of the term Keltoi is unclear. Possible roots include Indo-European *kʲel ‘to hide’, IE *kʲel ‘to heat’ or *kel ‘to impel’, several authors have supposed it to be Celtic in origin, while others view it as a name coined by Greeks. Linguist Patrizia De Bernardo Stempel falls in the group. Yet he reports Celtic peoples in Iberia, and also uses the ethnic names Celtiberi and Celtici for peoples there, as distinct from Lusitani, pliny the Elder cited the use of Celtici in Lusitania as a tribal surname, which epigraphic findings have confirmed. Latin Gallus might stem from a Celtic ethnic or tribal name originally and its root may be the Proto-Celtic *galno, meaning “power, strength”, hence Old Irish gal “boldness, ferocity” and Welsh gallu “to be able, power”. The tribal names of Gallaeci and the Greek Γαλάται most probably have the same origin, the suffix -atai might be an Ancient Greek inflection. Proto-Germanic *walha is derived ultimately from the name of the Volcae and this means that English Gaul, despite its superficial similarity, is not actually derived from Latin Gallia, though it does refer to the same ancient region
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Polytheism
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Polytheism is the worship of or belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religions and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism, within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the belief in a singular God, in most cases transcendent. Polytheists do not always worship all the gods equally, but they can be henotheists, other polytheists can be kathenotheists, worshiping different deities at different times. Polytheism was the form of religion during the Bronze Age and Iron Age up to the Axial Age and the development of Abrahamic religions. Important polytheistic religions practiced today include Chinese traditional religion, Hinduism, Japanese Shinto, the term comes from the Greek πολύ poly and θεός theos and was first invented by the Jewish writer Philo of Alexandria to argue with the Greeks. When Christianity spread throughout Europe and the Mediterranean, non-Christians were just called Gentiles or pagans or by the pejorative term idolaters. The modern usage of the term is first revived in French through Jean Bodin in 1580, a central, main division in polytheism is between soft polytheism and hard polytheism. Hard polytheism is the belief that gods are distinct, separate, real divine beings, hard polytheists reject the idea that all gods are one god. Hard polytheists do not necessarily consider the gods of all cultures as being equally real, Polytheism cannot be cleanly separated from the animist beliefs prevalent in most folk religions. The gods of polytheism are in cases the highest order of a continuum of supernatural beings or spirits. In some cases these spirits are divided into celestial or chthonic classes, since divinity is intellectual, and all intellect returns into itself, this myth expresses in allegory the essence of divinity. Myths may be regarded physically when they express the activities of gods in the world, the psychological way is to regard the activities of the soul itself and or the souls acts of thought. The material is to regard material objects to actually be gods, for example, to call the earth Gaia, ocean Okeanos, Some well-known historical polytheistic pantheons include the Sumerian gods and the Egyptian gods, and the classical-attested pantheon which includes the ancient Greek religion and Roman religion. Post-classical polytheistic religions include Norse Æsir and Vanir, the Yoruba Orisha, the Aztec gods, an example of a religious notion from this shared past is the concept of *dyēus, which is attested in several distinct religious systems. In many civilizations, pantheons tended to grow over time, deities first worshipped as the patrons of cities or places came to be collected together as empires extended over larger territories. Conquests could lead to the subordination of the elder cultures pantheon to a one, as in the Greek Titanomachia. Most ancient belief systems held that gods influenced human lives, epicurus believed that these gods were material, human-like, and that they inhabited the empty spaces between worlds. Though it is suggested that Hestia stepped down when Dionysus was invited to Mount Olympus, robert Graves The Greek Myths cites two sources that obviously do not suggest Hestia surrendered her seat, though he suggests she did
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Ancient Rome
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In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
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Gaul
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It covered an area of 190,800 sq mi. According to the testimony of Julius Caesar, Gaul was divided into three parts, Gallia Celtica, Belgica and Aquitania, during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, Gaul fell under Roman rule, Gallia Cisalpina was conquered in 203 BC and Gallia Narbonensis in 123 BC. Gaul was invaded after 120 BC by the Cimbri and the Teutons, Gallia remains a name of France in modern Greek and modern Latin. The Greek and Latin names Galatia, and Gallia are ultimately derived from a Celtic ethnic term or clan Gal-to-. Galli of Gallia Celtica were reported to refer to themselves as Celtae by Caesar. Hellenistic folk etymology connected the name of the Galatians to the supposedly milk-white skin of the Gauls, modern researchers say it is related to Welsh gallu, Cornish galloes, capacity, power, thus meaning powerful people. The English Gaul is from French Gaule and is unrelated to Latin Gallia, as adjectives, English has the two variants, Gaulish and Gallic. The two adjectives are used synonymously, as pertaining to Gaul or the Gauls, although the Celtic language or languages spoken in Gaul is predominantly known as Gaulish. The Germanic w- is regularly rendered as gu- / g- in French, also unrelated in spite of superficial similarity is the name Gael. The Irish word gall did originally mean a Gaul, i. e. an inhabitant of Gaul, but its meaning was later widened to foreigner, to describe the Vikings, and later still the Normans. The dichotomic words gael and gall are sometimes used together for contrast, by 500 BC, there is strong Hallstatt influence throughout most of France. By the late 5th century BC, La Tène influence spreads rapidly across the territory of Gaul. The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age in France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, southwest Germany, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, farther north extended the contemporary pre-Roman Iron Age culture of northern Germany and Scandinavia. By the 2nd century BC, the Romans described Gallia Transalpina as distinct from Gallia Cisalpina, while some scholars believe the Belgae south of the Somme were a mixture of Celtic and Germanic elements, their ethnic affiliations have not been definitively resolved. One of the reasons is political interference upon the French historical interpretation during the 19th century, in addition to the Gauls, there were other peoples living in Gaul, such as the Greeks and Phoenicians who had established outposts such as Massilia along the Mediterranean coast. Also, along the southeastern Mediterranean coast, the Ligures had merged with the Celts to form a Celto-Ligurian culture, the prosperity of Mediterranean Gaul encouraged Rome to respond to pleas for assistance from the inhabitants of Massilia, who were under attack by a coalition of Ligures and Gauls. The Romans intervened in Gaul in 154 BC and again in 125 BC, whereas on the first occasion they came and went, on the second they stayed. Massilia was allowed to keep its lands, but Rome added to its territories the lands of the conquered tribes. The direct result of conquests was that by now, Rome controlled an area extending from the Pyrenees to the lower Rhône river
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Celtiberians
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The Celtiberians were a group of Celts inhabiting the central-eastern Iberian Peninsula during the final centuries BC. They were explicitely mentioned as being Celts by several classic authors and these tribes spoke the Celtiberian language and wrote it by adapting the Iberian alphabet. Archaeologically, many elements link Celtiberians with Celts in Central Europe, there is no complete agreement on the exact definition of Celtiberians among classical authors, nor modern scholars. The Ebro river clearly divides the Celtiberian areas from non-Indoeuropean speaking peoples, on the other directions, the demarcation is less clear. Most scholars include the Arevaci, Pellendones, Belli, Titti and Lusones as Celtiberian tribes, strabo just saw the Celtiberians as a branch of the Celti. Settlements of circular huts survived until Roman times across the north of Iberia, from Northern Portugal, Asturias and Galicia through Cantabria and northern Leon to the Ebro River. Celtic presence in Iberia likely dates to as early as the 6th century BC, archaeological finds identify the culture as continuous with the culture reported by Classical writers from the late 3rd century onwards. There, when Greek and Roman geographers and historians encountered them, the dominant tribe were the Arevaci, who dominated their neighbors from powerful strongholds at Okilis and who rallied the long Celtiberian resistance to Rome. Other Celtiberians were the Belli and Titti in the Jalón valley, many late Celtiberian oppida are still occupied by modern towns, inhibiting archaeology. Metalwork stands out in Celtiberian archaeological finds, partly from its nature, emphasizing Celtiberian articles of warlike uses, horse trappings. The two-edged sword adopted by the Romans was previously in use among the Celtiberians, and Latin lancea, Celtiberian culture was increasingly influenced by Rome in the two final centuries BC. These civitates as the Roman historians called them, could make and break alliances, as surviving inscribed hospitality pacts attest, the old clan structures lasted in the formation of the Celtiberian armies, organized along clan-structure lines, with consequent losses of strategic and tactical control. The Celtiberians were the most influential group in Iberia when the Mediterranean powers started its conquest. In 220 BC, the Punic army was attacked when preparing to cross the Tagus river by a coalition of Vaccei, Carpetani and Olcades. After the conflict, Rome took possession of the Punic empire in Spain, tiberius Sempronius Gracchus spent the years 182 to 179 pacifying the Celtiberians, however, conflicts between various semi-independent bands of Celtiberians continued. The Sertorian War,80 –72 BC, marked the last formal resistance of the Celtiberian cities to Roman domination, the Celtiberian presence remains on the map of Spain in hundreds of Celtic place-names. The archaeological recovery of Celtiberian culture commenced with the excavations of Numantia, a Roman army auxiliary unit, the Cohors I Celtiberorum, is known from Britain, attested by 2nd century AD discharge diplomas. Center for Celtic Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,6, The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula, 571–605
