Irish Translation Forum

am not!

Ignore him

dallas wrote:what i mean is.... were they like a religion or sumthin?

Luv
Dallas

Okay, here's the VERY quick, down and dirty history of the Celts (Celtic means something of the Celts)

The birth of the Celtic people began over 3,500 years ago with the earliest proto-Celtic culture, the Tumulus culture. A warlike and more advanced society that squeezed out the Únêtice culture for dominance over Europe by 1,500 BCE, the Tumulus culture had significantly greater social strata between the lowest members of society and their kings. They were more warlike, more industrious, and had a more organized and stratified class-based society that is distinctly recognizeable as Celtic.
Within Tumulus culture, there existed an occupation and status-based stratified social structure that was based on the village community, one of the primary markers of later Celtic civilization. Much the same way that the social structure of later Celtic society was based around the tuath, Tumulus culture centered around the village and one’s place within it. The Tumulus culture possessed a far greater emphasis on warfare than their mercantile Únêtice predecessors, and many of the newer orders of social hierarchy involved the evolution of a warrior-elite. The Tumulus culture was far more expansionist than the Únêtice, and this aggressive migration mindset emphasized the importance of a strong military structure led by well-trained professional warriors as opposed to the farmer-militia that preceded them. This warrior-nobility leadership and warrior-poet nature is something that exists in Celtic cultures to this very day.
Another evolution of culture between the Únêtice and the Tumulus culture is the development of fortified villages and hill forts. While the Únêtice were definitely active stoneworkers and capable builders, the Tumulus people, by their nature as warlike aggressors, took construction to new heights. This created a broadening of the craftsmen-classes away from a Neolithic agrarian model and into a pseudo-Celtic one. By this point in time, the Tumulus people had farmers, hunters, bronze workers, miners, stonemasons, an early form of engineer or construction planner, warriors, warrior-elite, and then the kings. The last defining marker of the transition of proto-Celtic to Celtic was the advent of iron use.
From this point on, as the proto-Celtic became the Celtic, with the successive waves of Urnfield, Hallstatt, and La Tène cultures, this occupation-based caste system become more solidified and organized, until it became the class-based social structure we find in the Fenechas (the laws of the Gael, the Celtic people of Ireland and Scotland). Regional variations evolved, of course, but the general basics were- the farmers, the builders, the craftsmen and metalworkers, the intelligencia, the warrior-elite, and the kings. Among the intelligencia were found the closest to priests that the Celtic people ever came to, the Draoithe, but this also included others of knowledge and wisdom.
The Celts spread from their roots in central-eastern Europe and spread north into western Germany, west all the way to Ireland and, according to legend, visited America, east as far as Turkey, south into Italy (where they sacked Rome), southwest into Spain and Portugal, and ruled over much of Europe for some time. After a long and brutal war against Rome, the continental Celts, called Gauls, fell and were absorbed into the Roman Empire. After a time, many Brythonic Celts in Britain were likewise absorbed. Only the Cymri (Welsh), Picti (early Brythonic Scots), and the Gael (Irish, some of whom would later move to Scotland and create the Albanach Scots) remained free of Roman conquest. The English later overran these nations, to varying degrees of success, but not until many many centuries later. Even so, the Celts were not wiped out, and are still seen in rural regions of these countries, and in the various Traditionalist and Reconstructionist movements in Diaspora.
The celts were (and are) a culture, not a religion. Though prior to the importation of foreign religious beliefs, the native Gaelic beliefs were inseperable from the culture and as such very much a part of it. This blending of native culture and belief is something seen today only in the Traditionalist movement and in those rural regions where Gaelic culture, Christian belief, and native superstitions and folklore are all blended together.
Despite some recent books attempting to revise history, they were not (nor are they now) an "enlightened cult of druid nature worshippers who harm none", but were instead hyper-aggressive, violent, vibrant, artistic, poetic, creative, honourable, brutal, and incredibly complex people. They fought wars at the drop of a hat, and their weapons technologies were more advanced than those of the Classical cultures (though their tactics were pretty much scream-and-leap, which cost them dearly). Their artwork is something incredible to behold and mystifying in its meaning and significance. They lived (and still live in many places) life to the fullest, enjoying feasts, fighting, and boastfull challenges. They are a people who have been shattered compared to their ancestral glory, but even in that shattered state are still a wonder to behold.

See?! It's dangerous to ask questions in this forum!!!

Breandan's very lengthy post contains a lot of good information. However, it's very difficult to treat the "Celts" as an ethnic group or as a culture, since there's no way to trace lineage and the culture varied greatly from place to place.

Basically, the Celts were groups of peole who spoke/speak Celtic languages.

Breandán, have you read JM Synge's book "The Aran Islands" about his time there in the late 1890s?

It's a fascinating pageturner. He describes the harsh elemental life they lived in a way I've never seen before, it's well worth having a look at.

Ailill wrote:Breandán, have you read JM Synge's book "The Aran Islands" about his time there in the late 1890s?

It's a fascinating pageturner. He describes the harsh elemental life they lived in a way I've never seen before, it's well worth having a look at.

No, haven't read that one, but it's now added to my list of books to read

wow i feel so speacail....u wrote that all for me *wipes tear* thats soo sweet... the reason i asked is cuz the celtics invadeded(sp?) portugal n i wannted to kno what they were... thanxxx u soo much y'all


Luv always Dallas

Dallas, the term celtic is used to describe a group of people that shared a similar culture and language. It is not necessarily a race or nationality. At the peak of the celtic culture their tribes were spread across europe from the british isles all the way to turkey. The Romans called them barbarians but in fact they had a high level of culture and were a very practical people. Their skill with forging metal into weapons and their ferocioussness gave them advantage onthe battlefield for many years until the romans took advantage of their lack of unity. If you have more specific questions Id be happy to help you.

thank u mr. 10 dollar words.... newhoo i do:>
ummm... why did they invade so many contries... did they change there history ie did they give them sum sort of advancement(sry cant spell)

Luv
Dallas