85-569: Deus Nemausus is often said to have been the Celtic patron god of Nemausus ( Nîmes ). The god does not seem to have been worshipped outside this locality. The city certainly derives its name from Nemausus, which was perhaps the sacred wood in which the Celtic tribe of the Volcae Arecomici (who of their own accord surrendered to the Romans in 121 BC) held their assemblies. Or perhaps it
170-691: A horse sacrifice . He writes that a white mare was sacrificed and cooked into a broth, which the king bathed in and drank from. This has been seen as propaganda meant to paint the Irish as a barbaric people. However, there may be some truth in the account; there are rare mentions of similar horse sacrifices associated with kingship in Scandinavia and India (see ashvamedha ). There is some evidence that ancient Celtic peoples practised human sacrifice . Accounts of Celtic human sacrifice come from Roman and Greek sources. Julius Caesar and Strabo wrote that
255-729: A legendary history of Ireland, and the Aided Chlainne Lir (" Children of Lir "). The Ulster Cycle consists of heroic legends about the Ulaid . It focuses on the mythical Ulster king Conchobar mac Nessa and his court at Emain Macha , the hero Cú Chulainn , and their conflict with the Connachta and queen Medb . The longest and most important tale is the epic Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley). The Fianna Cycle
340-450: A stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples . Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed a polytheistic religion , having many gods and goddesses. The mythologies of continental Celtic peoples, such as the Gauls and Celtiberians , did not survive their conquest by
425-588: A ceremonial last meal. The iconography of the human head is believed by many archaeologists and historians to have played a significant part in Celtic religion. It has been referred to as a "head cult" or "cult of the severed head". The Celts had a reputation as head hunters among the Romans and Greeks. Writing in the 1st century BC, the Greek historians Posidonius and Diodorus Siculus said Celtic warriors cut off
510-537: A colourful background by writers whose prime intention was to communicate other messages." The Roman general Julius Caesar , when leading the conquering armies of the Roman Republic against Celtic Gaul, made various descriptions of the inhabitants, though some of his claims, such as that the Druids practised human sacrifice by burning people in wicker men , have come under scrutiny by modern scholars. However,
595-483: A common image stock. The classic entry about the Celtic gods of Gaul is by Julius Caesar 's history of his war in Gaul. In this he names the five principal gods worshiped in Gaul (according to the practice of his time , he gives the names of the closest equivalent Roman gods) and describes their roles: Mercury was the most venerated of all the deities, and numerous representations of him were to be discovered. Mercury
680-795: A god of the dead and underworld, whom he likened to Dīs Pater . According to other classical sources, the Celts worshipped the forces of nature and did not envisage deities in anthropomorphic terms. In the Irish and Welsh vernacular sources from the Middle Ages, various human mythological figures were featured who have been thought of by many scholars as being based upon earlier gods. The historian Ronald Hutton however cautioned against automatically characterizing all Irish and Welsh mythological figures as former deities, noting that while some characters "who appear to be human, such as Medb or St Brigit , probably were indeed once regarded as divine ...
765-475: A life-force to the Otherworld pleased the gods and established a channel of communication between the worlds. Animal sacrifices could be acts of thanksgiving, appeasement, to ask for good health and fertility, or as a means of divination . It seems that some animals were offered wholly to the gods (by burying or burning), while some were shared between gods and humans (part eaten and part set aside). Pliny
850-494: A local religious significance. There are also the coins of the Roman provinces in the Celtic lands of Gaul , Raetia , Noricum , and Britannia . Most of the surviving monuments and their accompanying inscriptions belong to the Roman period and reflect a considerable degree of syncretism between Celtic and Roman gods; even where figures and motifs appear to derive from pre-Roman tradition, they are difficult to interpret in
935-510: A period when traditional Celtic religious practices had become extinct and had long been replaced by Christianity. The evidence from Ireland has been recognized as better than that from Wales, being viewed as "both older and less contaminated from foreign material." These sources, which are in the form of epic poems and tales, were written several centuries after Christianity became the dominant religion in these regions, and were written down by Christian monks, "who may not merely have been hostile to
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#17327717433341020-409: A religious importance. Barry Cunliffe believed that the Celts held "reverence for the power of the head" and that "to own and display a distinguished head was to retain and control the power of the dead person". Likewise, the archaeologist Anne Ross asserted that "the Celts venerated the head as a symbol of divinity and the powers of the otherworld, and regarded it as the most important bodily member,
1105-482: A religious significance, as on the Basse Yutz Flagons . The Strettweg Cult Wagon is probably associated with libations or sacrifices, and pairs of metal "spoons" probably used for divination have been found. Celtic coinage , from the late 4th century BC until conquest, clearly copies Greek and Roman examples, sometimes very closely, but the heads and horses that are the most popular motifs may have
1190-608: A ritual context. At Niederzier in the Rhineland for example, a post that excavators believed had religious significance had a bowl buried next to it in which was contained forty-five coins, two torcs and an armlet, all made of gold, and similar deposits have been uncovered elsewhere in Celtic Europe. There is evidence that ancient Celtic peoples sacrificed animals, which were almost always livestock or working animals . The idea seems to have been that ritually transferring
1275-508: A ritual cup. Archaeologists have found evidence that heads were embalmed and displayed by the southern Gauls. In another example, at the southern Gaulish site of Entremont , there was a pillar carved with skulls, within which were niches where human skulls were kept, nailed into position, fifteen of which have been found. Roquepertuse nearby has similar heads and skull niches. Many standalone carved stone heads have been found in Celtic regions, some with two or three faces. Examples include
1360-399: A small area or region, or by a particular tribe, but others whose worship had a wider geographical distribution. The names of over two hundred Celtic deities have survived (see list of Celtic deities ), although it is likely that many of these were alternative names, regional names or titles for the same deity. The various Celtic peoples seem to have had a father god, who was often a god of
1445-702: A symbol of the strength of his eloquence. The first-century Roman poet Lucan mentions the gods Taranis , Teutates and Esus , but there is little Celtic evidence that these were important deities. A number of objets d'art , coins, and altars may depict scenes from lost myths, such as the representations of Tarvos Trigaranus or of an equestrian ‘ Jupiter ’ surmounting the Anguiped (a snake-legged human-like figure). The Gundestrup cauldron has also been interpreted mythically. Along with dedications giving us god names, there are also deity representations to which no name has yet been attached. Among these are images of
1530-536: A three-headed or three-faced god, a squatting god, a god with a snake, a god with a wheel, and a horseman with a kneeling giant. Some of these images can be found in Late Bronze Age peat bogs in Britain, indicating the symbols were both pre-Roman and widely spread across Celtic culture. The distribution of some of the images has been mapped and shows a pattern of central concentration of an image along with
1615-683: A triple goddess associated with war, fate and sovereignty; Lugh ; Nuada ; Aengus ; Brigid ; Manannán ; Dian Cecht the healer; and Goibniu the smith, one of the Trí Dé Dána ("three gods of craft"). Their traditional rivals are the monstrous Fomorians (Fomoire), whom the Tuath Dé defeated in the Cath Maige Tuired ("Battle of Moytura"). Other important works in the cycle are the Lebor Gabála Érenn ("Book of Invasions"),
1700-601: A wide scatter, indicating these images were most likely attached to specific tribes and were distributed from some central point of tribal concentration outward along the lines of trade. The image of the three-headed god is centrally concentrated among the Belgae, between the Oise, Marne, and Moselle rivers. The horseman with the kneeling giant is centered on either side of the Rhine. These examples seem to indicate regional preferences for
1785-586: Is a common theme, with a number of deities seen as threefold , for example the Three Mothers . The druids were the priests of Celtic religion, but little is definitively known about them. Greco-Roman writers stated that the Celts held ceremonies in sacred groves and other natural shrines , called nemetons , while some Celtic peoples also built temples or ritual enclosures . Celtic peoples often made votive offerings which would be deposited in water and wetlands, or in ritual shafts and wells. There
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#17327717433341870-429: Is a descendant of Proto-Celtic paganism , itself derived from Proto-Indo-European paganism . Many deities in Celtic mythologies have cognates in other Indo-European mythologies, such as Celtic Brigantia with Roman Aurora , Vedic Ushas , and Norse Aurvandill ; Welsh Arianrhod with Greek Selene , Baltic Mėnuo , and Slavic Myesyats ; and Irish Danu with Hindu Danu and the namesake of multiple hydronyms such as
1955-531: Is about the exploits of the mythical hero Finn and his warrior band the Fianna , including the lengthy Acallam na Senórach ("Tales of the Elders"). The Kings' Cycle comprises legends about historical and semi-historical kings of Ireland (such as Buile Shuibhne , "The Madness of King Sweeny"), and tales about the origins of dynasties and peoples. There are also mythical texts that do not fit into any of
2040-506: Is evidence that ancient Celtic peoples sacrificed animals , almost always livestock or working animals . There is some evidence that ancient Celts sacrificed humans , and Caesar in his accounts of the Gallic wars claims that the Gauls sacrificed criminals by burning them in a wicker man , though this may have been imperial propaganda. Celtic paganism, as practised by the ancient Celts,
2125-535: Is found not only in the Celtic regions, but also in Late Bronze Age (and therefore pre-Celtic) societies and those outside of the Celtic area, namely Denmark. One of the most notable examples is the river Thames in southern England, where a number of items had been deposited, only to be discovered by archaeologists millennia later. Some of these, like the Battersea Shield , Wandsworth Shield and
2210-413: Is known about Celtic paganism because the evidence for it is fragmentary, due largely to the fact that the Celts who practised it wrote nothing down about their religion. Therefore, all there is to study their religion from is the literature from the early Christian period, commentaries from classical Greek and Roman scholars, and archaeological evidence. The archaeologist Barry Cunliffe summarised
2295-412: Is now southern Germany, Celtic peoples built rectangular ditched enclosures known as viereckschanzen ; in some cases, these were sacred spaces where votive offerings were buried in deep shafts. In Ireland, religious buildings and enclosures were circular. According to Barry Cunliffe, "the monumentality of the Irish religious sites sets them apart from their British and continental European counterparts",
2380-478: Is possible to discern commonalities that hint at a more unified pantheon than is often given credit. The nature and functions of these ancient gods can be deduced from their names, the location of their inscriptions, their iconography , the Roman gods they are equated with, and similar figures from later bodies of Celtic mythology. Celtic mythology is found in distinct if related, subgroups, largely corresponding to
2465-532: Is speculated that their ability to move on the air, water, and land gave them a special status or significance among the Celts. Examples include the Torrs Pony-cap and Horns (Scotland), Basse Yutz Flagons (France), Wandsworth Shield (England), and the Dunaverney flesh-hook (late Bronze Age Ireland). Celtic burial practices, which included burying grave goods of food, weapons, and ornaments with
2550-400: Is the sovereignty goddess , who represents the land and bestows sovereignty on a king by marrying him. The Otherworld is also a common motif, a parallel realm of the supernatural races, which is visited by some mythical heroes. Celtic myth influenced later Arthurian legend . Though the Celtic world at its height covered much of western and central Europe, it was not politically unified, nor
2635-649: Is the most comprehensive example, datable by a dedication to the Emperor Tiberius (r. from 14 AD). Monumental stone sculptures from before conquest by the Romans are much more rare, and it is far from clear that deities are represented. The most significant are the Warrior of Hirschlanden and " Glauberg Prince" (respectively 6th and 5th-century BC, from Germany), the Mšecké Žehrovice Head (probably 2nd-century BC, Czech Republic), and sanctuaries of some sort at
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2720-749: The Danube , Don , and Dnieper . After the Roman Empire 's conquest of Gaul (58–51 BCE) and southern Britain (43 CE), Celtic religion there underwent some Romanization , resulting in a syncretic Gallo-Roman religion with deities such as Lenus Mars , Apollo Grannus , and Telesphorus . The Gauls gradually converted to Christianity from the third century onward. After the end of Roman rule in Britain (c. 410 CE), Celtic paganism began to be replaced by Anglo-Saxon paganism over much of what became England . The Celtic populations of Britain and Ireland gradually converted to Christianity from
2805-878: The Middle Ages . Irish mythology has the largest written body of myths, followed by Welsh mythology . The supernatural race called the Tuatha Dé Danann is believed to be based on the main Celtic gods of Ireland, while many Welsh characters belong either to the Plant Dôn ("Children of Dôn ") and the Plant Llŷr ("Children of Llŷr "). Some figures in Insular Celtic myth have ancient continental parallels: Irish Lugh and Welsh Lleu are cognate with Lugus , Goibniu and Gofannon with Gobannos , Macán and Mabon with Maponos , and so on. One common figure
2890-408: The Mšecké Žehrovice and Corleck heads. Severed heads are a common motif in Insular Celtic myths, and there are many tales in which "living heads" preside over feasts and/or speak prophecies. The beheading game is a trope found in Irish myth and Arthurian legend. John T. Koch says that the efforts taken to preserve and display heads, and the frequency with which severed heads appear, point to
2975-691: The Roman Empire , the loss of their Celtic languages and their subsequent conversion to Christianity . Only remnants are found in Greco-Roman sources and archaeology. Most surviving Celtic mythology belongs to the Insular Celtic peoples (the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland ; the Celtic Britons of western Britain and Brittany ). They preserved some of their myths in oral lore , which were eventually written down by Christian scribes in
3060-481: The Roman occupation , to the accompaniment of revelry and sacrifices in the sacred groves of Andate . Historians note that these Greco-Roman accounts should be taken with caution, as it benefited them to make the Celts sound barbaric. There is some archaeological evidence of human sacrifice among Celtic peoples, although it is rare. Ritual beheading and headhunting was a major religious and cultural practice which has found copious support in archaeology, including
3145-578: The Waterloo Helmet , would have been prestige goods that would have been labour-intensive to make and thereby probably expensive. Another example is at Llyn Cerrig Bach in Anglesey , Wales, where offerings, primarily those related to battle, were thrown into the lake from a rocky outcrop in the late first century BC or early first century AD. At times, jewellery and other high prestige items that were not related to warfare were also deposited in
3230-412: The specific deities worshipped varied by region and over time, underlying this were broad similarities in both deities and "a basic religious homogeneity" among the Celtic peoples. Widely worshipped Celtic gods included Lugus , Toutatis , Taranis , Cernunnos , Epona , Maponos , Belenos , Ogmios , and Sucellos . Sacred springs were often associated with Celtic healing deities. Triplicity
3315-490: The 1st century AD, Roman writer Lucan mentioned human sacrifices to the Gaulish gods Esus , Toutatis and Taranis . In a 4th century commentary on Lucan, an unnamed author added that sacrifices to Esus were hanged from a tree, those to Toutatis were drowned , and those to Taranis were burned . According to the 2nd-century Roman writer Cassius Dio , Boudica 's forces impaled Roman captives during her rebellion against
3400-575: The Blessed ( Bendigeidfran , "Bran [Crow] the Blessed"). Other characters, in all likelihood, derive from mythological sources, and various episodes, such as the appearance of Arawn , a king of the Otherworld seeking the aid of a mortal in his own feuds, and the tale of the hero who cannot be killed except under seemingly contradictory circumstances, can be traced throughout Proto-Indo-European mythology . The children of Llŷr ("Sea" = Irish Ler ) in
3485-418: The Celts were animists , believing that all aspects of the natural world contained spirits, and that communication was possible with these spirits. Places such as rocks, streams, mountains, and trees may all have had shrines or offerings devoted to a deity residing there. These would have been local deities, known and worshipped by inhabitants living near to the shrine itself, and not pan-Celtic like some of
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3570-410: The Celts worshipping at sacred groves, with Tacitus describing how his men cut down "groves sacred to savage rites". By their very nature, such groves would not survive in the archaeological record, and so we have no direct evidence for them today. Certain springs were also seen as sacred and used as places of worship in the Celtic world. Notable Gaulish examples include the sanctuary of Sequana at
3655-533: The Divine Mother"), and in the collected Welsh Triads , not enough is known of the British mythological background to reconstruct either a narrative of creation or a coherent pantheon of British deities. 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 surviving material has been put to good use in
3740-491: The Elder , a Roman author and military commander in the 1st century AD, wrote of druids performing a ritual whereby they sacrificed two white bulls, cut mistletoe from a sacred oak with a golden sickle, and used it to make an elixir to cure infertility and poison. Archaeologists found that at some Gaulish and British sanctuaries , horses and cattle were killed and their whole bodies carefully buried. At Gournay-sur-Aronde ,
3825-402: The Gauls burnt animal and human sacrifices in a large wickerwork figure, known as a wicker man , and that the human victims were usually criminals. Posidonius wrote that druids who oversaw human sacrifices foretold the future by watching the death throes of the victims. Caesar also wrote that slaves of Gaulish chiefs would be burnt along with the body of their master as part of his funeral. In
3910-510: The Gods, consists of tales and poems about the god-like Túatha Dé Danann and other mythical races. Many of the Tuath Dé are thought to represent Irish deities. They are often depicted as kings, queens, druids, bards, warriors, heroes, healers and craftsmen who have supernatural powers. Prominent members of the Tuath Dé include The Dagda ("the great god"), who seems to have been the chief god; The Morrígan ("the great queen" or "phantom queen"),
3995-582: The Second and Third Branches, and the children of Dôn ( Danu in Irish and earlier Indo-European tradition) in the Fourth Branch are major figures, but the tales themselves are not primary mythology. While further mythological names and references appear elsewhere in Welsh narrative and tradition, especially in the tale of Culhwch and Olwen , where we find, for example, Mabon ap Modron ("Divine Son of
4080-424: The Three Mothers . Some Greco-Roman writers, such as Julius Caesar , did not record the native Celtic names of the deities, but instead referred to them by their apparent Roman or Greek equivalents. He declared that the most widely venerated Gaulish god was Mercury , the Roman god of trade, saying they also worshipped Apollo , Minerva , Mars and Jupiter . Caesar says the Gauls believed they all descended from
4165-468: The absence of a preserved literature on mythology. A notable example of this is the horned god that was called Cernunnos ; several depictions and inscriptions of him have been found, but very little is known about the myths that would have been associated with him or how he was worshipped. Literary evidence for Celtic religion also comes from sources written in Ireland and Wales during the Middle Ages,
4250-523: The advent of Christianity . Indeed, many Gaelic myths were first recorded by Christian monks, albeit without most of their original religious meanings. Irish mythology is the largest surviving branch of Celtic mythology. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era . Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by Christian scribes, who modified and Christianized them to some extent. The myths are conventionally grouped into ' cycles '. The Mythological Cycle , or Cycle of
4335-461: The animals were left to decompose before their bones were buried around the bounds of the sanctuary along with numerous broken weapons. This was repeated at regular intervals of about ten years. An avenue of animal pit-burials led to a sacred building at Cadbury . In southern Britain, some British tribes carefully buried animals, especially horses and dogs, in grain storage pits. It is believed these were thanksgiving sacrifices to underworld gods once
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#17327717433344420-558: The areas it conquered; in fact, most inscriptions to deities discovered in Gaul (modern France and Northern Italy ), Britain and other formerly (or presently) Celtic-speaking areas post-date the Roman conquest. Though early Gaels in Ireland and parts of Wales used Ogham script to record short inscriptions (largely personal names), more sophisticated literacy was not introduced to Celtic areas that had not been conquered by Rome until
4505-427: The bias inherent in the literary sources. Nonetheless, the interpretation of this evidence can be coloured by the 21st century mindset. Various archaeological discoveries have aided understanding of the religion of the Celts. Most surviving Celtic art is not figurative; some art historians have suggested that the complex and compelling decorative motifs that characterize some periods have a religious significance, but
4590-462: The branches of the Celtic languages : As a result of the scarcity of surviving materials bearing written Gaulish , it is surmised that most of the Celtic writings were destroyed by the Romans, though a written form of Gaulish using Greek , Latin and Old Italic alphabets was used (as evidenced by votive items bearing inscriptions in Gaulish and the Coligny calendar ). Julius Caesar attests to
4675-604: The cycles; these include the echtrai tales of journeys to the Otherworld (such as The Voyage of Bran ), and the Dindsenchas ("lore of places"). Some written material has not survived, and many more myths were probably never written down. Important reflexes of British mythology appear in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi , especially in the names of several characters, such as Rhiannon , Teyrnon , and Brân
4760-412: The dead, suggest a belief in life after death . A common factor in later mythologies from Christianized Celtic nations was the otherworld . This was the realm of the fairy folk and other supernatural beings, who would entice humans into their realm. Sometimes this otherworld was claimed to exist underground, while at other times it was said to lie far to the west. Several scholars have suggested that
4845-439: The earlier paganism but actually ignorant of it." Instead of treating the characters as deities, they are allocated the roles of being historical heroes who sometimes have supernatural or superhuman powers; for instance, in the Irish sources the gods are members of the mythological Tuatha Dé Danann tribe. While it is possible to single out specific texts that can be strongly argued to encapsulate genuine echoes or resonances of
4930-459: The early Iron Age but was expanded after the Romans colonised the region in the late 2nd century BC, when there was active Roman encouragement of the cult. Another set of local spirits worshiped at Nemausus (Nîmes) were the Nemausicae or Matres Nemausicae, who were fertility and healing goddesses belonging to the spring sanctuary. This article relating to a Celtic myth or legend is
5015-417: The earth or thrown into rivers or bogs. According to Barry Cunliffe, in most cases, deposits were placed in the same places on numerous occasions, indicating continual usage "over a period of time, perhaps on a seasonal basis or when a particular event, past or pending, demanded a propitiatory response." In particular, there was a trend to offer items associated with warfare in watery areas, evidence for which
5100-412: The fifth century onward. However, Celtic paganism left a legacy in many of the Celtic nations, influenced mythology and in the 20th century served as the basis for a new religious movement , Celtic neopaganism . Some figures from medieval Irish mythology are believed to be versions of earlier deities. According to Miranda Aldhouse-Green , the Celts were also animists , believing that every part of
5185-525: The heads of enemies slain in battle, hung them from the necks of their horses, then nailed them up outside their homes. Strabo wrote in the same century that Celts embalmed the heads of their most esteemed enemies in cedar oil and put them on display. The Roman historian Livy wrote that the Boii beheaded the defeated Roman general after the Battle of Silva Litana , covered his skull in gold, and used it as
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#17327717433345270-488: 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". In the case of the Romans who conquered several Celtic realms, they would have likely been biased in favour of making the Celts look uncivilized, thereby giving the "civilised" Romans more reason to conquer them. Celtic religion was polytheistic , believing in many deities, both gods and goddesses, some of which were venerated only in
5355-406: The land, sea and sky; as in, "I swear by the gods by whom my people swear" and "If I break my oath, may the land open to swallow me, the sea rise to drown me, and the sky fall upon me", an example of Celtic Threefold death . Some scholars, such as Prudence Jones and Nigel Pennick, have speculated that the Celts venerated certain trees. Other scholars, such as Miranda Aldhouse-Green , believe that
5440-456: The literacy of the Gauls, but also wrote that their priests, the druids , were forbidden to use writing to record certain verses of religious significance (Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 6.14) while also noting that the Helvetii had a written census (Caesar, De Bello Gallico 1.29). Rome introduced a more widespread habit of public inscriptions and broke the power of the druids in
5525-418: The male tribal god and the female deity of the land" while Anne Ross felt that they displayed that the gods were "on the whole intellectual, deeply versed in the native learning, poets and prophets, story-tellers and craftsmen, magicians, healers, warriors ... in short, equipped with every quality admired and desired by the Celtic peoples themselves." Insular Celts swore their oaths by their tribal gods, and
5610-497: The many skulls found in Londinium 's River Walbrook and the headless bodies at the Gaulish sanctuary of Gournay-sur-Aronde . Several ancient Irish bog bodies have been interpreted as kings who were ritually killed, presumably after serious crop failures or other disasters. Some were deposited in bogs on territorial boundaries (which were seen as liminal places) or near royal inauguration sites, and some were found to have eaten
5695-667: The most notable examples being the Hill of Tara ( Temair ) and Navan Fort ( Emain Macha ). In many cases, when the Roman Empire conquered Celtic lands, earlier Iron Age sacred sites were reused and Roman temples built on them. Romano-Celtic temples ( Latin : fanum ) are found only in the northwestern Celtic regions of the empire. They differ from classical Roman temples, and their layouts are believed to be hugely influenced by earlier Celtic wooden temples. The Celts made votive offerings to their deities, which were buried in
5780-470: The natural world had a spirit. Various Neopagan groups claim association with Celtic paganism. These groups range from the Reconstructionists , who work to practise ancient Celtic religion with as much accuracy as possible; to New Age , eclectic groups who take some of their inspiration from Celtic mythology and iconography, the most notable of which is Neo-Druidry . Comparatively little
5865-476: The otherworld was the Celtic afterlife, though there is no direct evidence to prove this. Evidence suggests that among the Celts, "offerings to the gods were made throughout the landscape – both the natural and the domestic". There were also sacred spaces known by the Gallo-Brittonic word nemeton (plural nemeta ), which typically meant a sacred grove or clearing. Greco-Roman accounts tell of
5950-564: The polytheistic gods. The importance of trees in Celtic religion may be shown by the fact that the very name of the Eburonian tribe contains a reference to the yew tree , and that names like Mac Cuilinn (son of holly) and Mac Ibar (son of yew) appear in Irish myths . In Ireland, wisdom was symbolized by the salmon who feed on the hazelnuts from the trees that surround the well of wisdom ( Tobar Segais ). The relatively few animal figures in early Celtic art include many water-birds, and it
6035-473: The pre-Christian past, opinion is divided as to whether these texts contain substantive material derived from oral tradition as preserved by bards or whether they were the creation of the medieval monastic tradition . Various Greek and Roman writers of the ancient world commented on the Celts and their beliefs. Barry Cunliffe stated that "the Greek and Roman texts provide a number of pertinent observations, but these are at best anecdotal, offered largely as
6120-492: The service of literary masterpieces that address the cultural concerns of Wales in the early and later Middle Ages. The Celts also worshiped a number of deities of which little more is known than their names . Classical writers preserve a few fragments of legends or myths that may possibly be Celtic. According to the Syrian rhetorician Lucian , Ogmios was supposed to lead a band of men chained by their ears to his tongue as
6205-463: The skies, and Mars influences warfare. MacBain argues that Apollo corresponds to Irish Lugh , Mercury to Manannan mac Lir , Jupiter to the Dagda , Mars to Neit , and Minerva to Brigit . In addition to these five, Caesar mentions that the Gauls traced their ancestry to Dīs Pater (possibly Irish Donn ). Celtic polytheism Ancient Celtic religion , commonly known as Celtic paganism ,
6290-621: The source of the Seine in Burgundy and Chamalieres near to Clermont-Ferrand . At both of these sites, a large array of votive offerings have been uncovered, most of which are wooden carvings, although some of which are embossed metal. During the Iron Age, the Celtic peoples of Gaul, Belgica and Britain built temples comprising square or circular timber buildings, usually set within a rectangular enclosure. Celtic peoples further east, in what
6375-424: The sources for Celtic religion as "fertile chaos" , borrowing the term from the Irish scholar Proinsias MacCana . Cunliffe went on to note that "there is more, varied, evidence for Celtic religion than for any other example of Celtic life. The only problem is to assemble it in a systematic form which does not too greatly oversimplify the intricate texture of its detail." The archaeological evidence does not contain
6460-505: The southern French oppida of Roquepertuse and Entremont . There are also a number of Celtiberian standing "warrior" figures, and several other stone heads from various areas. In general, even early monumental sculpture is found in areas with higher levels of contact with the classical world, through trade. It is possible that wooden monumental sculpture was more common. Small heads are more common, mainly surviving as ornament in metalwork, and there are also animals and birds that may have
6545-424: The stores reached the end of their use. Irish mythology describes the tarbfeis (bull feast), a shamanistic ritual in which a bull would be sacrificed and a seer would sleep in the bull's hide to have a vision of the future king. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ireland , Norman writer Gerald of Wales wrote in his Topographia Hibernica that the Irish kings of Tyrconnell were inaugurated with
6630-424: The tribe and of the dead ( Toutatis probably being one name for him); and a mother goddess who was associated with the land, earth and fertility ( Matrona probably being one name for her). The mother goddess could also take the form of a war goddess as protectress of her tribe and its land, for example Andraste . There also seems to have been a male celestial god—identified with Taranis —associated with thunder,
6715-488: The understanding of what that might be appears to be irretrievably lost. Surviving figurative monumental sculpture comes almost entirely from Romano-Celtic contexts, and broadly follows provincial Roman styles, though figures who are probably deities often wear torcs , and there may be inscriptions in Roman letters with what appear to be Romanized Celtic names. The Pillar of the Boatmen from Paris, with many deity figures,
6800-515: 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 later storyteller is to misunderstand their literary and religious function ... Cú Chulainn is no more a former god than Superman is." Examining these Irish myths, Barry Cunliffe stated that he believed they displayed "a dualism between
6885-460: The wheel, and the bull. There were gods of skill and craft, such as the pan-regional god Lugus , and the smith god Gobannos . Celtic healing deities were often associated with sacred springs , such as Sirona and Borvo . Other pan-regional deities include the horned god Cernunnos , the horse and fertility goddess Epona , the divine son Maponos , as well as Belenos , Ogmios , and Sucellos . Some deities were seen as threefold , for example
6970-439: Was seen as the originator of all the arts (and is often taken to refer to Lugus for this reason), the supporter of adventurers and of traders, and the mightiest power concerning trade and profit. Next the Gauls revered Apollo , Mars , Jupiter , and Minerva . Among these divinities, Caesar described the Gauls as holding roughly equal views as other populations: Apollo dispels sickness, Minerva encourages skills, Jupiter governs
7055-499: Was the local Celtic spirit guardian of the spring that originally provided all water for the settlement, as many modern sources suggest. Or perhaps Stephanus of Byzantium was correct in stating in his geographical dictionary that Nemausos, the city of Gaul, took its name from the Heracleid (or son of Heracles ) Nemausios. An important healing-spring sanctuary existed in the town; it was established in some form at least as early as
7140-421: Was the religion of the ancient Celtic peoples of Europe. Because there are no extant native records of their beliefs, evidence about their religion is gleaned from archaeology, Greco-Roman accounts (some of them hostile and probably not well-informed), and literature from the early Christian period. Celtic paganism was one of a larger group of polytheistic Indo-European religions of Iron Age Europe. While
7225-551: Was there any substantial central source of cultural influence or homogeneity; as a result, there was a great deal of variation in local practices of Celtic religion (although certain motifs, for example, the god Lugh , appear to have diffused throughout the Celtic world). Inscriptions of more than three hundred deities, often equated with their Roman counterparts, have survived, but of these most appear to have been genii locorum , local or tribal gods, and few were widely worshiped. However, from what has survived of Celtic mythology, it
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