40 Matching Annotations
  1. Last 7 days
  2. Feb 2025
  3. Jan 2025
    1. The term Galli/Galatae, which may mean ‘stranger’ or‘enemy’, is more likely to be a general-purpose name by whichnorthern barbarians, among them the Celts, were referred to byothers. Whether all Galli/Galatae regarded themselves as Celtsis completely unknown.
    2. Classical sources - Greek and Roman writerswith their references to Celti, Celtae, Keltoi, Celtici, Galli, Gallic,and Galatae -
    3. When SirAugustus Wollaston Franks, a Keeper at the British Museum,produced a catalogue of British decorated metalwork in 1863, hechose the term ‘Late Keltic’ to describe items of Iron Age date. Thephrase was used throughout the first edition of the British MuseumGuide to the Antiquities of the Early Iron Age (1905), but by thetime of the second edition (1925) the characterization was droppedbecause, as the preface cautiously noted, ‘There is some uncertaintyas to the existence or date of an earlier Keltic civilization in theseislands.’
    4. antiquarian scholar EdwardLhuyd coined the word Celtic for a group of languages - Irish,Welsh, Cornish, and Breton - and published an account of themand their similarities in his great work Archaeologia Britannica in1707.
    5. This early eighteenth-century hypothesis has driven the debate eversince. Its longevity is truly remarkable and due in no small part tothe fact that linguists and archaeologists were for a long timeprepared to accept each other’s interpretations, each gainingreassurance by building upon the other in an uncritical circle ofmutually supporting assertion lacking firm foundation.

      Early 18C hypotheses about Celtic identity were posited by linguists and archaeologists without solid underpinning and these have persisted for several centuries broadly unquestioned.

    6. John Collis who, in ‘States without Centres’,complains that Celtic society described by some modern authorsmerely represents a mishmash of information from different timesand different places which is often of little value for understandingthe societies being described. Descriptions, or rather caricature, ofsocieties cannot be transposed in time and space under an inventedconcept of the ‘Celts’; indeed the whole use of the terms Celt andCeltic is something which should be avoided as it distorts ourunderstanding of the archaeological record.
    7. In 2001the Interceltic Congress, held at Rennes, was attended by 200delegates, half from Brittany and the other half from ‘other Celticcountries’. The theme of the conference was ‘History in the CelticCountries Nowadays — People without memory are people with nofuture’.
    8. FestivalInterceltic de Lorient, heir to the Bagpipes Festival that was held atBrest from 1953 to 1970.
    9. Cunliffe, Barry. The Celts: A Very Short Introduction. Very Short Introductions. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

  4. Dec 2024
  5. Sep 2024
    1. Western religious and philosophical traditions dating back to the 12th century

      Prior to the 12th centuries Celtic Monasteries were doing this in the 6th century

    2. Christian monastic communities.

      Christian Monastic Communites

      This gives Ireland a pivotal role as our Gaelic ancestors developed a form of Celtic Spirituality which according to some authors 'saved Europe from teh dark ages'.

  6. Jan 2024
  7. Oct 2023
    1. reply to Mark Dykeman in A mystery I would like to solve 2023-10-25

      In addition to the 5-6th century invasion of Angles and Saxons from roughly Northern Germany into Southern England, there was a large movement of Scandinavian peoples (Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, etc. weren't even a glimmer of countries then), with the Viking invasions of England in the 7-11th centuries. Many of these peoples settled along the coasts and intermarried and brought their customs, traditions, language, and most importantly in your quest, their names. A lot of these peoples immigrated into Northumbria which was an early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is now Northern England and south-east Scotland. Perhaps this history may "solve" some of the distal mystery for you? Kenneth Harl's "Vikings" may give some broad strokes of the history here if you're curious: https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/vikings. (Naturally there may have been migration after that time too.) England is far more diverse in its roots than the majority give it credit for, though the branching from Celtic roots may mean that genetically traceable differences may largely be a wash for most. Some from the broader UK will find only a single broad "genetic smear" of Celtic ancestry with a 1-2% hint of Italian ancestry, often resulting from intermarriage at the time of the Roman invasion in the first century.

  8. May 2023
    1. e know if this Mike has a website/newsletter? I've just started reading up on Celtic history, delving deep down into druidry, so I'd be interested to see what he's doing.2 commentsAwardshare

      reply to u/atrebatian at https://www.reddit.com/r/antinet/comments/13dsj8v/celtic_druid_history/

      I've only scratched the surface of the Druids, but have gotten pretty deep into Celtic history over the past few years, including becoming reasonably fluent in colloquial Welsh and working on old Welsh for some research.

      As an excellent set of introductions, I'd recommend:

      Paxton, Jennifer. The Celtic World. Great Courses, 2251. The Teaching Company, Chantilly, VA, 2018. Cunliffe, Barry. The Celts: A Very Short Introduction. Very Short Introductions. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.<br /> ———. Druids: A Very Short Introduction. Very Short Introductions. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

      You'll also probably appreciate the following:

      Aldhouse-Green, Miranda. Animals in Celtic Life and Myth. Routledge, 1993.<br /> ———. Caesar’s Druids: An Ancient Priesthood. Yale University Press, 2010.<br /> ———. The Celtic Myths: A Guide to the Ancient Gods and Legends. Thames and Hudson, 2015.<br /> ———. The Celtic World. Routledge, 2012.<br /> Avalon, Annwyn. Water Witchcraft: Magic and Lore from the Celtic Tradition. Red Wheel Weiser.<br /> Bridgman, Timothy P. Hyperboreans: Myth and History in Celtic-Hellenic Contacts.<br /> Chadwick, Nora. The Celts: Second Edition. Revised edition. London ; New York, N.Y: Penguin Books, 1998.<br /> Conway, D. J. Celtic Magic. LLewellyn’s World Magic Series, 1.0, 2011.<br /> Cunliffe, Barry. The Ancient Celts. 1st edition. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.<br /> Fagan, Edited by Brian M., ed. The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Oxford Companions. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.<br /> Fimi, Dimitra. Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy: Idealization, Identity, Ideology. Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature, 1.0, 2017.<br /> Forest, Danu. Celtic Tree Magic: Ogham Lore and Druid Mysteries. Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD., 2014.<br /> Hughes, Kristoffer. The Book of Celtic Magic: Transformative Teachings from the Cauldron of Awen. Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD., 2014.<br /> King Arthur: History and Legend. Streaming Video. Vol. 2376. The Great Courses: Literature and Language. Chantilly, VA: The Teaching Company, 2015. https://www.wondrium.com/king-arthur-history-and-legend.<br /> Rutherford, Ward. Celtic Mythology: The Nature and Influence of Celtic Myth from Druidism to Arthurian Legend. Red Wheel Weiser.

      One of my favorites on memory which underpins early Celtic life and is likely related to Druids, (but which doesn't cover them directly, but is likely similar to their memory practice) is the anthropology text:

      Kelly, Lynne. Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies: Orality, Memory and the Transmission of Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107444973.

      I've also got lots of research on henges and wooden/stone circles and related archaeology in early British isles history, but this may be afield from your interests.

  9. Apr 2023
    1. Armstrong, Dorsey. King Arthur: History and Legend (Course Guidebook). Great Courses 2376. Chantilly, VA: The Teaching Company, 2015.

      King Arthur: History and Legend. Streaming Video. Vol. 2376. The Great Courses: Literature and Language. Chantilly, VA: The Teaching Company, 2015. https://www.wondrium.com/king-arthur-history-and-legend.

  10. Dec 2022
  11. Nov 2022
    1. Language/location related Mastodon Instances:

      • https://ailbhean.co-shaoghal.net/
        • This server is aimed at Gaelic speakers. Tha am frithealaiche seo ann do luchd na Gàidhlig.
      • https://mastodon.scot
        • A community primarily intended for (but not limited to) people in Scotland or who identify as Scottish.
      • https://mastodon.ie/
        • Irish Mastodon
      • https://toot.wales
        • Twt is the free and open community for Wales and the Welsh, at home and abroad.
  12. Aug 2022
  13. Jun 2022
  14. May 2022
    1. https://forum.saysomethingin.com/t/could-we-have-a-thread-on-welsh-customs/4068

      • robingoch
      • hawthorn
      • The Hamish Macbeth series By M.C.Beaton has superstitions of highlanders
      • Mari Lwyd
      • Siôn Corn
      • Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru (1923) by J. Glyn Davies
      • Folklore of West and Mid Wales by John Ceredig Davies
      • Welsh Folk Customs by Trefor Owen
      • Welsh Folklore and Folk-Custom by T Gwynn Jones
      • Wirt Sykes including a volume on British Goblins
      • John Rhys
      • Welsh Folklore: Folktales & Legends of North Wales (1896) by Elias Owen
      • Calan Mai
  15. Sep 2021
    1. A Congolese leader, toldof the Portuguese legal codes, asked a Portuguese once, teasingly: “What is the

      penalty in Portugal for anyone who puts his feet on the ground?”

      Was this truly a joke or is there more cultural subtlety here than provided?

      Compare this with Welsh mythology from the fourth branch of the Mabinogi and a tale from Cpt. James Cooks' travels

      The Fourth Branch pivots upon the towering figure of Math, Lord of Gwynedd, son of Mathonwy. Math was almost certainly of divine origin. His story is distinctive in Welsh mythology because it may reflect a pre-Christian myth of Creation and Fall. A condition of Math’s power – and indeed his life – was that, unless he was away fighting his enemies, he must stay at home and, bizarrely, sit with his feet in the lap of a maiden: the girl’s virginity was imperative. The name of Math’s foot-holder was Goewin. This strange prohibition on Math’s rule can best be explained if his origins lay in the pagan mythic tradition of sacral kingship so prevalent in Irish myths, wherein the mortal king ‘married’ the land in the form of the goddess of sovereignty. In a Welsh twist, the virgin status of the ‘goddess’ appears to reflect the perceived power of undissipated female sexuality, whose concentrated potency was necessary for the land to remain prosperous.

      But the connection between royal feet and the land may have even more complex roots. When Captain Cook explored Tahiti in the mid-18th century, he came across a tradition in which a Polynesian chieftain journeying outside his own lands had to be carried because any territory on which he set foot automatically became his, thus risking war between him and neighbouring chiefdoms. Clearly it would be outrageous to suppose direct connections between early medieval Wales and 18th-century Polynesia. But Cook’s observations inspire us to look for deeper ways of interpreting Math’s situation. via chapter 4 of Aldhouse-Green, Miranda. The Celtic Myths: A Guide to the Ancient Gods and Legends. (Thames and Hudson, 2015)

  16. Sep 2020
    1. Within the Celtic family, Welsh has as its closest relatives: Breton (Welshname Llydaweg), spoken in Brittany – estimates of number of speakersvary, but probably somewhat under half a million active users; and Cornish(Cernyweg), extinct since the late eighteenth century, though recently‘resurrected’ by enthusiasts. More distantly related are Irish (Gwyddeleg),Scots Gaelic (Gaeleg yr Alban) and the extinct Manx (Manaweg, whoselast native speaker died in 1974). Welsh, Breton and Cornish constitute theBrythonic group, while the others form the Goidelic group. There arestrong similarities within each group, and considerable differences betweenthe two. All six languages share certain basic characteristics which markthem out as Celtic languages – notably the mutation system (see §§3–12),and inflected prepositions (see §446).

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