Historians have no written records of the Celts until the Christian era, but much can be speculated. Although the Druids (Celtic priests) could read and write, they preferred to use oral tradition in the form of verse. Originally from Eastern Europe, the Celts migrated to Ireland at the end of the Bronze Age. They began to use iron in 700 BCE and excelled at working with the iron they found in the land.
According to Neill (1979), the Celts lived in two distinct groups. Inside each group the people live in isolated farm homesteads or small towns. These were called clans. The clans grouped into separate self-governing tribes. (There were over 150 known tribes.) Each clan had twenty seven different social classes. Lawyers held the highest position. Perhaps, demonstrating the Celtic respect for law.
Because there were so many tribes, it was not uncommon for disputes to break out between them. Duncan Norton-Taylor (1974) noted that the people "... Had no sense of national-hood." The Celts felt responsible not to the people as a whole, but to individuals.
The Celts were war-like and fearsome people. They were large and intimidating. They were rowdy, and spent the majority of their time hunting and playing games. They loved to eat and drink wine and beer.
The Celts also placed high value on appearances. According to Mary-Jane Cahill (1987) the men were muscular and tall. They had beards and long drooping mustaches. They wore breeches (long trousers). Warriors were very careful to put on a clean shirt every time they went into battle. It seemed to be the ritual that spearmen went into battle naked except for their neck torques (thick metal ornaments worn around the neck). Before going into battle all men washed their hair in lime and slicked it back. The lime was a dye, which would account for the reddish-brown color of the Celts hair.
|
| Celtic women had long hair which they kept braided. Redrawn by Joy Pieper |
|---|
Corbishley (1996) said that the women wore brooches, which fastened their striped cloaks. Their cloaks were "gaudy" with bright colors and embroidered with silver or gold. They were overly fond of ornaments and even sewed them on their clothes. The women were quite vain and placed high values on beauty.
A good appearance seemed to be mandatory for both men and women. Fat people were fined, because obesity was repulsive to the Celts. All Celts washed with soap, which was a practice the Greeks and Romans did not adopt until much later in the century (4th or 5th).
The Greeks and Romans looked upon the Celts as primitive and inferior. (O’Brien, 1972) This turned out to be a false assumption. The Celts were actually very intelligent. They taught themselves how to make weapons and are credited with many inventions.
The Celtic legal system was one of the few things that unified the people. It helped the people to build a strong economy. It was passed on orally by the Druid priests. The law was very thorough, covering everything from foster care to religious practices. For example, Norton-Taylor (1974) said that men and women were allowed to have more than one partner, but laws carefully restricted this practice. Celtic law was very clear, making sure that everyone knew what was right and wrong.
The Celts appear to have been very intelligent people. They established an intricate pattern of farming that is mirrored by farmers today. ( Norton-Taylor, 1974) They are also credited to inventing soap, chain-mail, wagon-wheel rims, horseshoes, chisels, and carpentry files. (Cahill, 1987) They cut roads throughout western Europe that were used for hundreds of years. The Celtic government was complex and carefully planned out.
The Celts also invented a sophisticated calendar using the moon to determine time. The bright half of the month, or the time of the waxing moon, was equal to fifteen nights. The dark half of the month, or the time of the waning moon, was equal to the other fifteen nights. They added thirty days (one month) at two and a half and three year intervals. The Celts built a complicated hillfort using a maze to keep enemies out.
| The Celts also had many major military accomplishments. By the sixth century BCE, they dominated most of France and the Low Countries, and had established Celtic enclaves in Spain. In 390 BCE they sacked Rome. Even though they were forced to retreat, they still established a foothold in northern Italy. |  Gaul was the area in and around modern-day France, where most of the Celts lived. The darkest area is where the Celts were densely populated, the lighter area was where they were somewhat populated. Drawn by Saima Sharoff. |
|---|
In 279 BC, the Celts marched on Greece. Ten years after arriving in Italy, the Celts attacked Rome again. This time they managed to seize the city. Seven months later they were driven out of Rome by starvation and dysentery, but they forced the Romans to ransom themselves in gold. According to Duncan Norton-Taylor (1974), the Celts were later rallied together by a man named Dumnorilx. The Romans captured and killed the new leader, therefore making the Celts more aggressive and rebellious. A new leader rose to lead the Celts against the Romans. His name was Ambiorix. He took his troops and ambushed the Roman armies as they passed through a certain ravine. This destroyed the popular myth of Roman indestructibility. In 52 BCE, after the death of Ambiorix, a leader that was the equivalent of Caesar gave the Celts new hope. Vercingetorix brought together an army that included three quarters of Gaul’s population.(Norton-Taylor, 1974) He and his army successfully destroyed Caesar’s grain depots. Finally in 45 BCE, they were forced to surrender.
Because of all these accomplishments, both military and non-military, the Celts were able to maintain a 700 year reign in Gaul. (Cahill, 1987) They also kept all invaders out until the Vikings. The Vikings began invading in 814 CE. In 1014 CE Irish king, Brian Boru and his army ended the Viking terrorism.
Their complex political system was based on clans or tuatha. These clans were united legally by a world court held annually.
Celtic religion did not remain the same throughout their history. It changed drastically over time. Celts started off as polytheistic people. They believed in many gods. These gods were a lot like Roman and Greek gods. They could be vengeful if they weren’t pleased. As a result of this, the Druids had some gruesome practices. One of which was human sacrifices. According to Corbishley (1996) the priests sacrificed criminals. If there were no criminals available, innocent men were used. A popular form of human sacrifice was to put all the people about to be sacrificed into a basket and then hang the basket over a huge fire. Roman historian, Tacitus, said that Druids chose to "drench their altars in the blood of prisoners, and consult their gods by means of human entrails."(Corbishley, 1996)
| The wild boar was the symbol of one of the Celtic gods. Redrawn by Saima Sharoff | 
|
|---|
Celts believed that the soul was immortal. After a person died, he/she was believed to go to "heaven". The Celtic version of heaven was a better earth, with no sickness, calamity, or old age. All people (especially women) were beautiful. The sun was always shining, and the birds were always singing. No one was ever hungry or thirsty because food and drink appeared magically (Norton-Taylor, 1974).
Religion was very important to the Celts. So important that they divided their wear into four seasons according to religious festivals. The first festival began on February first, and was called Imbolc. The people prayed to Brigid (goddess of flocks and fertility) for the birth of spring lambs and for ewes rich with milk. The second festival began on May first. This festival was to honor the Druids and to pray to the god Belenos for the fertility of crops and cattle. The third festival began on August first and was called Lugnasa. This festival was to thank Belenos for a good harvest. The final festival marked the new year and began on November first. The actual festival was on October thirty first. Here, the Celts remembered the time chaos turned to order. During this festival, called Samain, the dead were believed to have come back to the land of the living. It was considered a very dangerous time, when demons and ghosts stalked the living and chased the children.
By 600 CE, the Celts had moved to Ireland and had been converted to Christianity. Saint Patrick was credited with converting the pagans. He was captured by the Celts and enslaved for six years. He escaped to the European mainland. There, he became a monk and was later appointed as a bishop. He was then compelled to go back to Ireland and convert the people. In order to accomplish his goal, he fit Christianity into the pagan religion. (Cahill, 1987)
According to Neill (1979), the Celts did not accept traditional Catholicism. They preferred the monastic way of life. The monks would give up everything and live in a monastery. They spent all of their life teaching, doing hard labor, and in prayer. By 500 CE, 700 monasteries had been set up in Ireland. The Celts considered the life of a monk a great act of self denial. (Martin & Moody, 1967)
The Celts seemingly loved art. During the Halstatt period (800-700 BC), art was focused on nature. Artists took their art from nature, but stylized it. Humans were sketched and almost appeared to be abstract. Artists used geometric shapes to draw men and women (Norton-Taylor, 1974). Animals were drawn with much more realism. Sword Art was found on the blades of swords. Here, animals were recognizable by outline only.
After the Halstatt period, a new kind of art became the style. It was known as "New Celtic Art" (La Tene). La Tene style was complex and flamboyant. Artists covered pots and other things with intricate designs. This type of art possessed a cryptic quality. It too was concerned with the natural world more than with humans.
The Celts used many different types of metals to do their metalwork. They were especially skilled in using gold, bronze, and silver. They made strange and beautiful patterns in the metal. These patterns do not seem to have any special meaning.
Aristocratic Celts enjoyed poetry and music greatly. Poets memorized and created hundreds of poems. The master poet was respected so much that he could even bring the king to humiliation. Fili were the poets’ apprentices. They memorized poems and Celtic myths, which were especially important to the people. Both the poets and the fili used elaborate verses to tell stories.
The Celts certainly were people of wonder. They were smart, artistic, and strong. They were passionate in their beliefs. However, a mystery still surrounds these people, because so little is known about them.
|
|
| The picture on the left is a picture of a Celtic tool. Click here to find out more about the Celts. | If you click on the right hand picture, you will be able to find out more about Celtic women. |
Return to Index