1.
Celtic mythology
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Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and it is mostly through contemporary Roman and Christian sources that their mythology has been preserved. The Celtic peoples who maintained either their political or linguistic identities left vestigial remnants of their ancestral mythologies, however, from what has survived of Celtic mythology, it is possible to discern commonalities which hint at a more unified pantheon than is often given credit. Indeed, many Gaelic myths were first recorded by Christian monks, the oldest body of myths stemming from the Heroic Age is found only from the early medieval period of Ireland. As Christianity began to take over, the gods and goddesses were slowly eliminated as such from the culture, the Tuatha Dé represent the functions of human society such as kingship, crafts and war, while the Fomorians represent chaos and wild nature. The leader of the gods for the Irish pantheon appears to have been the Dagda, the Dagda was the figure on which male humans and other gods were based because he embodied ideal Irish traits. Celtic gods were considered to be a clan due to their lack of specialization. Irish tales depict the Dagda as a figure of power, armed with a club, in Dorset there is a famous outline of an ithyphallic giant known as the Cerne Abbas Giant with a club cut into the chalky soil. While this was produced in relatively modern times, it was long thought to be a representation of the Dagda. In Gaul, it is speculated that the Dagda is associated with Sucellus, the Morrígan was a tripartite battle goddess of the Celts of Ancient Ireland. She was known as the Morrígan, but the different sections she was divided into were also referred to as Nemain, Macha and she is most commonly known for her involvement in the Táin Bó Cúailnge. The god appearing most frequently in the tales is Lugh, the most famous of these are the cities of Lugdunum, Lugdunum Batavorum and Lucus Augusti. Lug is described in the Celtic myths as the last to be added to the list of deities, in Ireland a festival called the Lughnasadh was held in his honour. Other important goddesses include Brigid, the Dagdas daughter, Aibell, Áine, Macha, notable is Epona, the horse goddess, celebrated with horse races at the summer festival. Significant Irish gods include Nuada Airgetlám, the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Goibniu, the smith and brewer, Dian Cecht, the patron of healing, less is known about the pre-Christian mythologies of Britain than those of Ireland. Important reflexes of British mythology appear in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, especially in the names of characters, such as Rhiannon, Teyrnon. The children of Llŷr in the Second and Third Branches, and the children of Dôn in the Fourth Branch are major figures, indeed, though there is much in common with Irish myth, there may have been no unified British mythological tradition per se. Whatever its ultimate origins, the material has been put to good use in the service of literary masterpieces that address the cultural concerns of Wales in the early
2.
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
3.
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
4.
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
5.
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
6.
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
7.
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
8.
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
9.
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
10.
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
11.
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
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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Culture of Wales
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Wales has a distinctive culture including its own language, customs, holidays and music. Wales is primarily represented by the symbol of the red Welsh Dragon, building on the construction in Wales during the Roman era of occupation, these early kingdoms were also influenced by Ireland, but precise details are unclear prior to the 8th century AD. Several Kingdoms arose at that time, including Gwynedd, Powys, gruffydd was killed by his own men on 5 August 1063 while Harold Godwinson sought to engage him in battle. This was just over three years before the Norman invasion of England, which led to a change of fortune for Wales. By 1070, the Normans had already seen successes in their invasion of Wales with Gwent fallen, the invasion was seemingly complete by 1093. However, the Welsh rebelled against their new overlords the following year, while Gwynedd grew in strength, Powys was broken up after the death of Llywelyn ap Madog in the 1160s and was never reunited. Llywelyn the Great rose in Gwynedd and had reunited the majority of Wales by his death in 1240, after his death, King Henry III of England intervened to prevent Dafydd ap Llywelyn from inheriting his fathers lands outside Gwynedd, leading to war. The claims of his successor, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, conflicted with those of King Edward I of England, maredudds son, Owain ap Maredudd ap Tudur, anglicised his name to become Owen Tudor, and was the grandfather of Henry Tudor. Henry took the throne of England following the Wars of the Roses when his forces defeated those of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. The House of Tudor continued to reign through several successive monarchs until 1603, official symbols of Wales include the Welsh Dragon, daffodil and leek. Both the dragon and leek date back to the 7th century and he also introduced the Red Dragon standard, although this symbol was most likely introduced to the British Isles by Roman troops. It may also have been a reference to the 6th century Welsh word draig, the standard was appropriated by the Normans during the 11th century, and used for the Royal Standard of Scotland. Richard I of England took a red dragon standard with him on the Third Crusade, the colours of the leek were used for the uniforms of soldiers under Edward I of England. Both symbols were popular with Tudor kings, with Henry VII of England adding the white and it was largely forgotten by the House of Stuart, who favoured a unicorn instead. By the 17th and 18th centuries, it common practice in Great Britain for the gentry to wear leeks on St. Davids Day. In 1807, a a red dragon passant standing on a mound was made the Kings badge for Wales, following an increase in nationalism in 1953, it was proposed to add the motto Y ddraig goch ddyry cychwyn to the flag. This was poorly received, and six years later Queen Elizabeth II intervened to put the current flag in place, the daffodil is a more recent development, becoming popular during the 19th century. It may have linked to the leek, as the Welsh for daffodil translates as St Peters Leek
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History of Wales
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The history of Wales begins with the arrival of human beings in the region thousands of years ago. Neanderthals lived in what is now Wales, or Cymru in Welsh, at least 230,000 years ago, while Homo sapiens arrived by about 31,000 BC. However, continuous habitation by humans dates from the period after the end of the last ice age around 9000 BC, and Wales has many remains from the Mesolithic, Neolithic. During the Iron Age the region, like all of Britain south of the Firth of Forth, was dominated by the Celtic Britons, the Romans departed from Britain in the 5th century, opening the door for the Anglo-Saxon invasion. Thereafter Brittonic language and culture began to splinter, and several groups formed. The Welsh people were the largest of groups, and are generally discussed independently of the other surviving Brittonic-speaking peoples after the 11th century. A number of kingdoms formed in present-day Wales in the post-Roman period, internecine struggles and external pressure from the English and later, the Norman conquerors of England, led to the Welsh kingdoms coming gradually under the sway of the English crown. The Welsh launched several revolts against English rule, the last significant one being led by Owain Glyndŵr in the early 15th century. In the 16th century Henry VIII, himself of Welsh extraction as a grandson of Owen Tudor. Under Englands authority, Wales became part of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, yet, the Welsh retained their language and culture in spite of heavy English dominance. The publication of the significant first complete Welsh translation of the Bible by William Morgan in 1588 greatly advanced the position of Welsh as a literary language. Wales played a full and willing role in World War One, the industries of Empire in Wales declined in the 20th century with the end of the British Empire following the Second World War, while nationalist sentiment and interest in self-determination rose. The Labour Party replaced the Liberal Party as the dominant political force in the 1940s, the nationalist party Plaid Cymru gained short lived momentum in the 1960s. In a 1997 referendum Welsh voters approved the devolution of responsibility to a National Assembly for Wales. The Red Lady of Paviland, a human skeleton dyed in red ochre, was discovered in 1823 in one of the Paviland limestone caves of the Gower Peninsula in Swansea, South Wales. Despite the name, the skeleton is that of a man who lived about 33,000 years ago at the end of the Upper Paleolithic Period. He is considered to be the oldest known burial in Western Europe. The skeleton was found along with jewellery made from ivory and seashells, following the last ice age, Wales became roughly the shape it is today by about 8000 BC and was inhabited by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers
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Welsh people
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The Welsh people or the Welsh are a nation and ethnic group native to, or otherwise associated with, Wales and the Welsh language. Prior to the 20th century, large numbers of Welsh people spoke only Welsh, the term Welsh people applies to people from Wales and people of Welsh ancestry perceiving themselves or being perceived as sharing a cultural heritage and shared ancestral origins. Over 300,000 Welsh people live in London, the same etymological origin is shared by the names of various other Celtic or Latin peoples such as the Walloons and the Vlachs, as well as of the Swiss canton of Valais. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. They thus carry a sense of land of fellow-countrymen, our country, the word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century. It is attested in a poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. During their time in Britain, the ancient Romans encountered tribes in present-day Wales that they called the Ordovices, the Demetae, the Silures and the Deceangli. The people of what is now Wales were not distinguished from the rest of the peoples of southern Britain, all were called Britons and spoke the common British language, a Brythonic Celtic tongue. Celtic language and culture seems to have arrived in Britain during the Iron Age, the claim has also been made that Indo-European languages may have been introduced to the British Isles as early as the early Neolithic, with Goidelic and Brythonic languages developing indigenously. The genetic evidence in this case would show that the change to Celtic languages in Britain may have occurred as a cultural rather than through migration as was previously supposed. The assumed genetic imprint of Neolithic incomers is seen as a cline, with stronger Neolithic representation in the east of Europe, when the Roman legions departed Britain around 400, a Romano-British culture remained in the areas the Romans had settled, and the pre-Roman cultures in others. According to Stephen Oppenheimer 96% of lineages in Llangefni in north Wales derive from Iberia, Genetic marker R1b averages from 83–89% amongst the Welsh. The people in what is now Wales continued to speak Brythonic languages with additions from Latin, the surviving poem Y Gododdin is in early Welsh and refers to the Brythonic kingdom of Gododdin with a capital at Din Eidyn and extending from the area of Stirling to the Tyne. John Davies places the change from Brythonic to Welsh between 400 and 700, offas Dyke was erected in the mid-8th century, forming a barrier between Wales and Mercia. The genetic tests suggested that between 50% and 100% of the population of what was to become England was wiped out. In 2001, research for a BBC programme on the Vikings suggested a strong link between the Celts and Basques, dating back tens of thousands of years. The UCL research suggested a migration on a huge scale during the Anglo-Saxon period and it appears England is made up of an ethnic cleansing event from people coming across from the continent after the Romans left, said Dr Mark Thomas, of the Centre for Genetic Anthropology at UCL
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Languages of Wales
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The two official languages of Wales are Welsh and English. The majority of the population of Wales is able to speak English, English is widely used throughout the country and is the native language of most people in the South and the North East of the country, in the West and North, Welsh is the dominant native language. Nevertheless, there are a number of communities throughout the country to which these generalisations do not apply, for example, despite being located in the overwhelmingly English-speaking city of Swansea, 45% of Mawrs residents speak Welsh as their native language. According to the 2011 census, Welsh is spoken by 19% of the population, Welsh English or Anglo-Welsh is the distinct form of English used in Wales. Aside from lexical borrowings from Welsh like bach, eisteddfod, nain and taid, examples of this include the use by some speakers of the tag question isnt it. Regardless of the form of the statement and the placement of the subject. Fed up, I am or Running on Friday, he is In South Wales the word where may often be expanded to where to, as in the question, the word butty is used to mean friend or mate. It was spoken by the Kale group of the Romani people who arrived in Britain during the 15th century, the first record of Gypsies in Wales comes from the 16th century. Welsh-Romani is one of the many Northern Romani dialects and this dialect of Romany includes some loanwords from Welsh, but little now remains of it. Wales deaf community tends to use British Sign Language, there are a few signs used in Wales which are unique to that country, but these tend to be regionalised rather than national. Other sign languages in use in Wales include Makaton, and Signed English, Latin is also used to a limited degree in certain official mottos, legal terminology, and various ceremonial contexts. Latin abbreviations can also be seen on British coins, the use of Latin has declined greatly in recent years. At one time, Latin and Greek were commonly taught in British schools ), in rare cases, Norman French and Latin have contributed to Welsh toponymy e. g. Beaumaris, Grace Dieu, Strata Florida and Valle Crucis. The Welsh language prefix Caer- is a corruption of the Latin castra, both of the placename elements in Caerleon come ultimately from Latin. Latin has had a significant influence on Welsh in words such as ffenestr and pont, meaning window and bridge respectively. Notable Welsh writers in Latin include Geoffrey of Monmouth, who wrote Historia Regum Britanniae, and Adam of Usk, author of Chronicon Adæ de Usk, people migrating to Wales in recent decades have brought many more languages to the country. South Asians in the United Kingdom speak dozens of different languages, the largest subgroup of British Asians are those of Punjabi origin, from both India and Pakistan. There is a long established Somali community in Cardiff, and Irish speakers have been coming and going from Wales for many centuries, there are Irish communities in most industrial areas, plus Holyhead, Swansea and Cardiff
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Welsh language
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Welsh is a member of the Brittonic branch of the Celtic languages. It is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, historically it has also been known in English as the British tongue, Cambrian, Cambric and Cymric. The United Kingdom Census 2011 counted 3.1 million residents of Wales, 27% of whom had been born outside Wales, and 73% of whom reported having no Welsh language skills. Of residents of Wales aged three and over, 19% reported being able to speak Welsh, and 77% of these were able to speak, read and this can be compared with the 2001 Census, in which 20. 8% of the population reported being able to speak Welsh. 787,854 of residents in Wales aged three and over had one or more skills in Welsh, in surveys carried out between 2004 and 2006, 57% of Welsh speakers described themselves as fluent in the written language. An estimated 110,000 to 150,000 people speak Welsh in England, Welsh emerged in the 6th century from Common Brittonic, the common ancestor of Welsh, Breton, Cornish and the extinct language known as Cumbric. The Middle Welsh period is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, the name Welsh originated as an exonym given to its speakers by the Anglo-Saxons, meaning foreign speech. The native term for the language is Cymraeg, and for the name of the country of Wales it is Cymru, Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic, the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons. Classified as Insular Celtic, the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and was spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth. During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, evolving into Welsh and it is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Kenneth H. Jackson suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern was complete by around 550, Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to the Cynfeirdd or Early Poets – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was composed in the Hen Ogledd, raising further questions about the dating of the material. An 8th century inscription in Tywyn shows the language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns, the next main period, somewhat better attested, is Old Welsh, poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of the language. Both the works of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin were in this era, Middle Welsh is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts, Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible, albeit with some work, to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The famous cleric Gerald of Wales tells, in his Descriptio Cambriae, during one of the Kings many raids in the 12th century, Henry asked an old man of Pencader, Carmarthenshire whether the Welsh people could resist his army
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Y Fro Gymraeg
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However, unlike its equivalent in Ireland, Y Fro Gymraeg does not have official government recognition. In an article dated 12 November 1964, he wrote, Enillwn y Fro Gymraeg, ac fe enillir Cymru, ac oni enillir Y Fro Gymraeg, but today the territory of the language as a majority language has shrunk. A substantial portion of four Welsh counties lies within Y Fro Gymraeg and it is often argued that Welsh medium education is the major contributor to the revival of the language. Education in Y Fro Gymraeg is generally through the medium of Welsh, in Y Fro Gymraeg road signs appear with the Welsh name first, even in non-predominantly Welsh speaking areas. Official publications in general are bilingual, usually with Welsh appearing first
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History of the Welsh language
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The history of the Welsh language spans over 1400 years, encompassing the stages of the language known as Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. Welsh evolved from British, the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Britons, alternatively classified as Insular Celtic or P-Celtic, it probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and was probably spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth. During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, evolving into Welsh and it is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Kenneth H. Jackson suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern was complete by around 550, Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to the Cynfeirdd or Early Poets – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was composed in the Hen Ogledd, raising further questions about the dating of the material. The next main period, somewhat better attested, is Old Welsh, the Book of Aneirin and the Poetry, or Book, of Taliesin belong to this era, though both also include some poems originally written in Primitive Welsh. Middle Welsh is the attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries. This is the language of all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts, Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible, albeit with some work, to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The famous cleric Gerald of Wales tells a story of King Henry II of England, Modern Welsh can be divided into two periods. The first, Early Modern Welsh ran from the early 15th century to roughly the end of the 16th century, late Modern Welsh began with the publication of William Morgans translation of the Bible in 1588. Of course, many changes have occurred since then, the language enjoyed a further boost in the 19th century, with the publication of some of the first complete and concise Welsh dictionaries. Early work by Welsh lexicographic pioneers such as Daniel Silvan Evans ensured that the language was documented as accurately as possible, Modern dictionaries such as the Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, are direct descendants of these dictionaries. In spite of this boost, the use of Welsh was actively discouraged at school under the Welsh Not policy, a stick or plaque was given to any child heard speaking Welsh during school, to be handed on to whoever next spoke the language. The influx of English workers during the Industrial Revolution in Wales from about 1800 led to a dilution of the Welsh-speaking population of Wales. English migrants seldom learnt Welsh and their Welsh colleagues tended to speak English in mixed Welsh–English contexts. The legal status of Welsh was inferior to that of English, an important exception, however, was in the non-conformist churches, which were strongly associated with the Welsh language
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Welsh toponymy
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The placenames of Wales derive in most cases from the Welsh language, but have also been influenced by linguistic contact with the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Anglo-Normans and modern English. The study of placenames in Wales reveals significant features of the countrys history, Welsh culture and political autonomy has been reasserted increasingly since the mid 19th century. Many place names in Britain, particularly of natural features such as rivers and hills, obvious examples of place names of Welsh origin are the numerous Rivers Avon, from the Welsh afon and place names such as Penrith. Place names from the Western Brittonic-speaking Hen Ogledd occur in Cumbria and these include the name of Edinburgh, from Cumbric Din Eidin Eidins Fort. Welsh remains a language, spoken by over 20% of the countrys population. Like all languages, it has changed over time and continues to do so, for instance by accepting loan words from languages such as Latin. The Welsh language itself has many characteristics unfamiliar to most English speakers that can make it difficult to understand its place names, for example, it uses a number of initial consonant changes in different grammatical circumstances. In relation to place names, this means that, for example, other changes can apply to internal vowels. There are also differences between Welsh and English spelling standards, which have affected how place names are spelled in the two languages, early inhabitants of Wales gave names first to noteworthy natural features, such as rivers, hills, mountains, harbours and shores. The Roman towns which were established were generally fortified and were given the name of castra. Many of these continued as towns after the Romans left, including Caernarfon, Carmarthen, Caerleon, elsewhere, many villages and later towns took their names from natural features. For example, Abergele refers to the mouth of the Gele, Harlech means fair rock, Rhuddlan red bank, and Porthcawl harbour with sea-kale. Aberystwyth means mouth of the Ystwyth, a river a mile or so away from the town centre, many others took their name from religious settlements and clasau established from the fifth century onwards. These generally use the prefix llan, roughly equivalent to parish, most of them are dedicated to their founders, who hailed from local dynasties and were venerated as patron saints. Examples include Llandudno, Llanelli, and Llantwit, following the Norman invasion of Wales, some were rededicated to more generic saints, Llanilar, Llanfoist. A few—usually by mistake—include other elements or none at all, Llan, Powys, Llanharry, other religious placenames include merthyr and eglwys. Over the centuries, Welsh place names have been affected by social. The Industrial Revolution saw the development of new towns and villages
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