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Anonymous
Guest
Celtic Myths
Any one no anything about ot ?
Any one no anything about ot ?
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Anonymous
Guest
You're in luck, I love Celtic Mythology, which has sadly become less well known than Greek and Scandinavian myth.
There's lots of it: I suggest you look for the Irish Book of Invasions or the Welsh Mabinogion. Or perhaps there's something more specific you'd like to ask about?
There's lots of it: I suggest you look for the Irish Book of Invasions or the Welsh Mabinogion. Or perhaps there's something more specific you'd like to ask about?
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Anonymous
Guest
DanJW,
Thanks for the info. on where 2 find stuff ! if you know more pls tell !
Thanks for the info. on where 2 find stuff ! if you know more pls tell !
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Anonymous
Guest
DanJW,
Also, Do you Know anything about Brigantia and the Goddess Brigantia ?
Also, Do you Know anything about Brigantia and the Goddess Brigantia ?
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Anonymous
Guest
Laura, take a look at:-
http://members.nbci.com/bladesmaster/myths/mabinogion.html
There's a good translation of it in Penguin Classics. Any decent book shop will have it or be able to get it in. I think it runs to about 7 UKP. Just looked at their website:-
The Mabinogion
Anonymous
Translator Jeffrey Gantz
Introduction by Jeffrey Gantz
Penguin Classic · Paperback
Publication Date: March 1997
ISBN 0140443223 · 320 pages · £7.99
I suppose this is the wrong place to mention that the Norse stuff is much more fun?
http://members.nbci.com/bladesmaster/myths/mabinogion.html
There's a good translation of it in Penguin Classics. Any decent book shop will have it or be able to get it in. I think it runs to about 7 UKP. Just looked at their website:-
The Mabinogion
Anonymous
Translator Jeffrey Gantz
Introduction by Jeffrey Gantz
Penguin Classic · Paperback
Publication Date: March 1997
ISBN 0140443223 · 320 pages · £7.99
I suppose this is the wrong place to mention that the Norse stuff is much more fun?
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Anonymous
Guest
Thanks
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Anonymous
Guest
Yup, I can help you out with Brigantia. She is known by lots of names - usually as Brighde or Brigit (prounced phonetically or as Bride or Breed). She may be related to the Roman Goddess Minerva, and when Christianity arrived she became Saint Bridgit. The Hebrides are named after her.
She was a very important Goddess, principally of fire, but like all Celtic divinities she was multi-purpose, also being connected to wisdom, metal-work and forges, poetry (although few Celtic figures aren't associated with poetry) and lambs and milk, and is one of the Virgin Goddesses. Her feast day is Imbolc, on the 1st of February (prounced Im-bullke it means "In the Belly in Irish Gaelic, or pronounced Ee-mulk it means "Ewe's milk" in Scots Gaelic). It celebrates the lactation of cattle, and is also one of the Fire festivals, when hilltop bonfires were lit. In the Christian calender it is candlemas. Apparently some Christian Nuns carried on the worship of Brigit as a saint and kept her "Immortal Flame" - a torch that was never allowed to go out - until the were stopped by church officials.
That's just about all I know... I'm afraid I don't know of any specific stories about her, but a search of the net will turn up lots of info.
Hope that helps!
She was a very important Goddess, principally of fire, but like all Celtic divinities she was multi-purpose, also being connected to wisdom, metal-work and forges, poetry (although few Celtic figures aren't associated with poetry) and lambs and milk, and is one of the Virgin Goddesses. Her feast day is Imbolc, on the 1st of February (prounced Im-bullke it means "In the Belly in Irish Gaelic, or pronounced Ee-mulk it means "Ewe's milk" in Scots Gaelic). It celebrates the lactation of cattle, and is also one of the Fire festivals, when hilltop bonfires were lit. In the Christian calender it is candlemas. Apparently some Christian Nuns carried on the worship of Brigit as a saint and kept her "Immortal Flame" - a torch that was never allowed to go out - until the were stopped by church officials.
That's just about all I know... I'm afraid I don't know of any specific stories about her, but a search of the net will turn up lots of info.
Hope that helps!
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Anonymous
Guest
The Mabinogion
just to say I have a Beautiful copy of The Mabinogion.
published by HarperCollins, Translated by lady Charlotte Guest and illustrated by Alan Lee , the guy that did that famous Lord of the Rings poster. Its worth buying it just for the illustrations!!!
Callisto
just to say I have a Beautiful copy of The Mabinogion.
published by HarperCollins, Translated by lady Charlotte Guest and illustrated by Alan Lee , the guy that did that famous Lord of the Rings poster. Its worth buying it just for the illustrations!!!
Callisto
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Anonymous
Guest
Where do u find such cool info ?
Callisto, u should get people 2 pay 2 c that !
Callisto, u should get people 2 pay 2 c that !
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Anonymous
Guest
Anyone know anything about acnient celtic myths and legends? Also does anyone have any ideas, theories, etc on where these 'stories' originated?
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Anonymous
Guest
What do you want to know?
As for where they originated, well stories just tend to do that. May as well wonder where the Greeks or Egyptians or Norse got their stories from.
As for where they originated, well stories just tend to do that. May as well wonder where the Greeks or Egyptians or Norse got their stories from.
Don't say I never give you anything
Mabinogion & welsh fairy tales
^ That site has the Mabinogion in easily downloadable chunks and even better than that 83 welsh fairy storys.
Most welsh fairy storys are really not the kind of thing you would read to a 'sensative' child and are nothing like sleaping beauty & cinderella etc. Enjoy.
Mabinogion & welsh fairy tales
^ That site has the Mabinogion in easily downloadable chunks and even better than that 83 welsh fairy storys.
Most welsh fairy storys are really not the kind of thing you would read to a 'sensative' child and are nothing like sleaping beauty & cinderella etc. Enjoy.
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Anonymous
Guest
Of course, the tales in the Mabinogion started out in Wales, most likely, then they travelled to France with the Normans. There they got polished up a bit and then they came back and got translated back into Welsh, apparently.Lord_Flashheart said:
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Anonymous
Guest
Dunamis said:
Eithne Ní Bhraonáin (known as Enya) has a nice site about
ancient celtic myths and legends at the following address:
http://www.enya.org/stories/main.htm
THE SALMON OF KNOWLEDGE by Brendan McMahon is my
favorite, probably because it encompasses fishy things:
http://www.enya.org/stories/story06.htm
According to Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, "The legends have their roots in
an oral tradition and were only written down much later, in many
cases in order to preserve them. Much of this early Irish literature
has been lost. However, there are a number of manuscripts
which have survived fairly intact (and there are many others not
yet translated into English). These are:
The Book of the Dun Cow - 11th century
The Book of Leinster - 12th century
The Book of Ballymote & The Yellow Book of Lecan - 14th century
The Book of the Dean of Lismore - 15th century"
Kind regards,
Garry W. Denke
Geologist/Geophysicist
Note that 'Celtic' is a catch-all phrase which is used to describe a large section of the Iron Age population of Western Europe - which is a problem as there were cultural differences in various areas, just as there are today. See The Atlantic Celts: Ancient People or Modern Invention? by Simon James, for example.
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Anonymous
Guest
JerryB said:
Actually 'Celtic' is a group of Indo-European languages:
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary
Main Entry: 2Celtic
Function: noun
Date: 1739
: a group of Indo-European languages usually subdivided into Brythonic and Goidelic and now largely confined to Brittany, Wales, western Ireland, and the Scottish Highlands -- see INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES table
And depending on the context a Celtic speaking 'Celt':
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary
Main Entry: Celt
Pronunciation: 'kelt, 'selt
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin Celtae, plural, from Greek Keltoi
Date: 1550
1 : a member of a division of the early Indo-European peoples distributed from the British Isles and Spain to Asia Minor
2 : a modern Gael, Highland Scot, Irishman, Welshman, Cornishman, or Breton
Kind regards,
Garry W. Denke
Geologist/Geophysicist
A
Anonymous
Guest
JerryB said:
The word 'culture' is germane to both.
Kind regards,
Garry W. Denke
Geologist/Geophysicist
No, it isn't - hence the old adage that the two cultures are seperated only by a common language Anyone with a passing knowledge of the varied archaeology of the Iron Age across western Europe will see that there was no homogenous 'Celtic' culture, any more than there is an 'American' culture that dictates how things are in the UK in modern times.
Anyone with a passing knowledge of the varied archaeology of the Iron Age across western Europe will see that there was no homogenous 'Celtic' culture, any more than there is an 'American' culture that dictates how things are in the UK in modern times.
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"The word 'culture' is germane to both."
what are you defining as a culture? Are you sure germane is describing exactly what you mean?
On the original question, when "celtic" is applied to something in the west of scotland it means either to do with the greenandwhite soccer team, or its a word used to mean Old And Mysterious And Probably Eldritch.
One of those portmanteau words with lots of resonance but almost useless unless we pin down the meaning first.
For example: Green Men (as in foliate heads not as in Little Green Men) are often ascribed to celtic culture. But in the UK they are overwhelmingly English in terms of early date and quantity. So what do people mean by it?
If I could spell Mabinogian I'd certainly recommend it as a good read!
Kath
what are you defining as a culture? Are you sure germane is describing exactly what you mean?
On the original question, when "celtic" is applied to something in the west of scotland it means either to do with the greenandwhite soccer team, or its a word used to mean Old And Mysterious And Probably Eldritch.
One of those portmanteau words with lots of resonance but almost useless unless we pin down the meaning first.
For example: Green Men (as in foliate heads not as in Little Green Men) are often ascribed to celtic culture. But in the UK they are overwhelmingly English in terms of early date and quantity. So what do people mean by it?
If I could spell Mabinogian I'd certainly recommend it as a good read!
Kath
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Anonymous
Guest
JerryB said:
Yes
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary
Main Entry: 1cul·ture
Pronunciation: 'k&l-ch&r
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin cultura, from cultus, past participle
Date: 15th century
1 : CULTIVATION, TILLAGE
2 : the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education
3 : expert care and training <beauty culture>
4 a : enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training b : acquaintance with and taste in fine arts, humanities, and broad aspects of science as distinguished from vocational and technical skills
5 a : the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon man's capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations b : the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group c : the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes a company or corporation
6 : cultivation of living material in prepared nutrient media; also : a product of such cultivation
Germane
Kind regards,
Garry W. Denke
Geologist/Geophysicist
A
Anonymous
Guest
THE SALMON OF KNOWLEDGE
by Brendan McMahon
In Celtic tradition spirits have been associated with springs and wells from the earliest times. In ancient Gaul the tutelary spirit was occasionally a god, such as Grannos or Borvo: more often the custodian of the healing spring was a fertility goddess, always beautiful, sometimes dangerous, and these female deities have metamorphosed over time into the faeries of popular tradition.
Sanctuaries were often erected at the holy site, as they were also in later, Christian centuries, and at them festivals were held. Because of their symbolic associations with fertility they played a part in the great religious feasts of the Celtic year, particularly Midsummer's Day, when the wells were visited and worshippers left votive offerings. This surely is the origin of the more recent, indeed, still current custom of dropping pins in the well or tying scraps of rag to a nearby bush. Water spirits in Gaul were known as 'Niskas' or 'Peisgi', possibly ancestors of Cornwall's degenerate modern 'piskie', though the word may derive from Old Celtic 'peiskos' or Latin 'piscos', both meaning fish.
Brendan McMahon's Full Fish Story At:
http://www.enya.org/stories/story06.htm
Kind regards,
Garry W. Denke
Geologist/Geophysicist
by Brendan McMahon
In Celtic tradition spirits have been associated with springs and wells from the earliest times. In ancient Gaul the tutelary spirit was occasionally a god, such as Grannos or Borvo: more often the custodian of the healing spring was a fertility goddess, always beautiful, sometimes dangerous, and these female deities have metamorphosed over time into the faeries of popular tradition.
Sanctuaries were often erected at the holy site, as they were also in later, Christian centuries, and at them festivals were held. Because of their symbolic associations with fertility they played a part in the great religious feasts of the Celtic year, particularly Midsummer's Day, when the wells were visited and worshippers left votive offerings. This surely is the origin of the more recent, indeed, still current custom of dropping pins in the well or tying scraps of rag to a nearby bush. Water spirits in Gaul were known as 'Niskas' or 'Peisgi', possibly ancestors of Cornwall's degenerate modern 'piskie', though the word may derive from Old Celtic 'peiskos' or Latin 'piscos', both meaning fish.
Brendan McMahon's Full Fish Story At:
http://www.enya.org/stories/story06.htm
Kind regards,
Garry W. Denke
Geologist/Geophysicist
Iron Age cultures across Western Europe were not some homogneous lump thinking and feeling the same thing. Whilst it's true they shared some common interests and ideas (as if the case with the US and UK today), this doesn't mean that they shared the same outlook on a variety of subjects. Hence, the idea of 'Celtic' culture is defunct. One might as well say that culture in the UK is ostensibly American, (which is obviously not true). Don't make the same mistakes that some modern pagan schools have made about their imagined forbears.
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Thing is, most of the pagans I know are very aware that most of their "heritage" casts back to around 1955. They're quite happy with that, so fair play to them.
There are various translations of the Book of Invasions and the other irish literature around (I am kind of reading an old copy of the Charlotte Gregory translations that I borrowed from my Granny) which is perhaps some of the "purest" celtic surviving mythology. In reality it amounts to a fairly small amount compared with Classical mythology, and much of it is quite hard to understand from a modern worldview.
There is a thread here which is vaguely pertinent to the current discussion.
There are various translations of the Book of Invasions and the other irish literature around (I am kind of reading an old copy of the Charlotte Gregory translations that I borrowed from my Granny) which is perhaps some of the "purest" celtic surviving mythology. In reality it amounts to a fairly small amount compared with Classical mythology, and much of it is quite hard to understand from a modern worldview.
There is a thread here which is vaguely pertinent to the current discussion.
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'The Mabinogion' translated in 1906 by Lady Charlotte Guest is a good place to start for those interested in 'celtic' mythology/tales but it's by no means purely 'celtic'.
It's Arthurian tales and the story of Taliesin, although Welsh by association are more than influenced by the French/Normans.
A good book to start with if you can track it down- it's always being reprinted: is 'Celtic Fairy Tales' by Joseph Jacobs, originally printed in 1892. My edition is 1994. It has a good selection of Irish, Welsh, Cornish tales although it's not particularly 'academic'.
It does list the bog standard myths though, from 'Deirdre' to 'Kilhwch & Olwen'.
It's Arthurian tales and the story of Taliesin, although Welsh by association are more than influenced by the French/Normans.
A good book to start with if you can track it down- it's always being reprinted: is 'Celtic Fairy Tales' by Joseph Jacobs, originally printed in 1892. My edition is 1994. It has a good selection of Irish, Welsh, Cornish tales although it's not particularly 'academic'.
It does list the bog standard myths though, from 'Deirdre' to 'Kilhwch & Olwen'.
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Anonymous
Guest
Lots of celtic mythology has been lost-
what's the deal with those horned serpents?
Who was Senua?
The heroic stories that have survived tell just a fraction of the tale, in my opinion.
what's the deal with those horned serpents?
Who was Senua?
The heroic stories that have survived tell just a fraction of the tale, in my opinion.
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Anonymous
Guest
JerryB said:
Your argument is with these folks...
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Good luck in your endeavors.
Kind regards,
Garry W. Denke
Geologist/Geophysicist