Celtic Resources & Links

History & Traditions

The Welsh Triads / http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=The%20Welsh%20Triads

Known in the Welsh as Trioedd Ynys Prydein, the Triads are groups of material in threes recounting events from Welsh history and mythology. They served as an index or device to jog the memory adopted by the cyfarwyddion, the storytellers of medieval Wales.

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European Middle Ages - the Peoples: the beginnings / http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MA/PEOPLES.HTM

by Richard Hooker (1996). An overview of cultural development in Europe from 6000BC to the Iron Age. Brief outline in clear form of the emergent cultures and introduction of indo-european peoples and culture.

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Examining the farming/language dispersal hypothesis / http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/slavic/faculty/andersen/Review_of_Examining.pdf

ed. by Peter Bellwood and Colin Renfrew (McDonald Institute Monographs). Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research (Distributed by Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK). 2002. A review of collected conference papers researching the spread of indo-european languages hypothesised to be facilitated by farming.

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P.N.A.S / Toward a phylogenetic chronology of ancient Gaulish, Celtic, and Indo-European / http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=166441

Indo-European is the largest and best-documented language family in the world, yet the reconstruction of the Indo-European tree, first proposed in 1863, has remained controversial. This glottochronological study helps in understanding the pros and cons of setting constant rates of language change. This phylogenetic network permits the estimation of time in analogy to genetics, and we obtain tentative dates for Indo-European at about 8100 BC, and for the arrival of Celtic in Britain at 3200 BC. While this study has been met with major objections, it remains valuable in the research of indo-european languages.

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Indo European Invasions of Europe / http://www.zianet.com/docdavey/europeinvasions.htm

Presented by W.G.Davey. A glottochronological study of indo-european, and part of a wider study of language. This study correlates to known historical and archaeological events; This study has accepted the strengths and weaknesses of glottochronology and seeks to find a reasoned middle ground.

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Elements of epigraphy Gauloise / http://archeoceram.ifrance.com/archeoceram/contenu/epiggaul.htm

Linked to the english translation, an assemblage of Gallic insriptions are presneted, drawing on P.Y.Lambert, 'The Gallic language'. Meanings of words, and the contexts they were recorded in.

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Rites of the Sacral Kingship / http://www.clannada.org/theology_sacralkingship.php

Celtic religious practice included the rites of the Sacral Kingship with the purpose of community good. Described in the 11th century Topographica Hibernica by Giraldus Cambrensis, the king-in-making literally mated with a white mare, which was then slaughtered, the blood and flesh collected and boiled in a cauldron. The king then bathed in and drank the broth and ate the flesh. By Tara NicScothach bean MacAnTsaoir.

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Why Wicca is not Celtic / http://www.clannada.org/wicca.php

Essential background reading on the differences between Celtic traditions, and those of the modern-day Wiccan religion. By by Iain Mac an tSaoir and Dawn O'Laoghaire.

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Plaid Cymru: Downloads - Policy Papers: One Wales - Coalition agreement between Plaid and Labour / http://www.plaidcymru.org/content.php?nID=44;catID=6;pubID=158;lID=1

This web page on the Plaid Cymru website provides a link to the historic agreement between the two major parties in the Welsh Assembly for the future prosperity of Wales, covering health, education, housing, the language, and further devolution from the Westminster parliament. The downloadable pdf is 177.2 kB.

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Channel 4 History: In Boudica's footsteps / http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/a-b/boud.html

An intimate journey retracing the origins and campaigns of the British revolt against Roman occupation lead by Boudica, queen of the Iceni in AD61. The presentation provides site location highlights and information. Boudica means 'victory' and was highly motivating in the Victorian age.
A companion to the TV presentation 'Fact or Fiction: Boudica' (2002).

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Sacred Texts: The Four Ancient Books of Wales by William F. Skene [1868] / http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/fab/index.htm

William Skene's anthology of dark-age Welsh Bardic poetry is one of the treasures of world literature. Extremely rare in printed form, here it is published on line by Sacred Texts. The poems, dating probably from the sixth century by internal evidence, are translated from four manuscripts: the Black Book of Caermarthen, the Red Book of Hergest, the Book of Taliessin and the Book of Aneurin, all of which were compiled from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries.

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Athena Review: Description by Tacitus of the Rebellion of Boudicca (AD 60-61) / http://www.athenapub.com/tacitus1.htm

Here is presented the account provided by Tacitus (AD110-120) of the revolt by Boudica. A contemporary transcription of the English translation by Arthur Murphy 'Works of Tacitus' (1794) of the Latin recorded in The Annals (Book XIV). Companion pages.
Source material. Presented in Athena Review. Journal of Archaeology, History, and Exploration. vol 1:1 (1996)

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Sub-Roman Britain: an Introduction / http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/early/origins/rom_celt/romessay.html

Christopher Snyder provides an introduction into the period of British history spanning the fifth and sixth centuries. With their independence from the Roman Empire, the sub-Roman Britons developed a culture comprising a hybrid of Roman, native British ie Celtic and Christian elements. The first two centuries of the Early Middle Ages, this period also saw the birth of new medieval kingdoms that would become England, Scotland, and Wales.

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British Archaelogy: Decline and Fall / http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba55/ba55feat.html

Neil Faulkner looks at the evidence that Roman culture was fading in Britain from as early as the early 200s and had all but gone a century later. This study shows that long before the withdrawal at the start of the fifth century, a gradual but inexorable collapse affected towns, villas and villages.

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A History of Tartan / http://www.bbc.co/dna/h1g2/A794405

This site looks at the Tartan and its origins in Ireland and how the Scots carried on the tradition when they moved to re-found the kingdom of Dalriada. It describes how the leine was later changed to include stripes that signified the rank of the wearer, and explores the continuing evolution of the tartan into the plaid that is commonplace today, including the standardisation of the tartans for the clans and how at the time of the Highland Clearances in 1745, the wearing of the tartan was banned.

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Early Medieval Resources for Britain, Ireland and Brittany / http://members.aol.com/michellezi/translations/translations.html

This is a resource page providing access to translations of a large array of important medieval texts, including legends, prose and lives of saints.

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Early Irish astrology: an historical argument / http://cura.free.fr/xv/11ellis1.html

Peter Berresford Ellis provides a review of early Irish astronomical/astrological knowledge, the influence of the Arabic zodiacal systems in later times and the similarities to Vedic knowledge in Celtic systems.  An excellent source for native Celtic terms and explanations for planets, constellations and practicioners of astrology. This article was first published in Réalta (vol 3. n. 3, 1996), the journal of The Irish Astrological Association.

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Hallstatt Elite Burials / http://www.unc.edu/celtic/topicsindex.html

Select the topic to enter; The Hallstatt period of Celtic development brings us to 550BC and the archaeological find that had remained untouched for 2500 years provided unambiguous information of the elite of early Celtic society. Presented by the University of North Carolina, also presented is a timeline of Celtic art and culture http://www.unc.edu/celtic/timemap/timeline/timeline.html covering the period 800BC to AD1000.

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Etrusia - Roman History: Why Claudius Invaded Britain / http://romans.etrusia.co.uk/whyinvade.php

An immediate cause for the invasion in AD 43 was that war between the Celtic tribes of the southeast threatened to disrupt trade with Rome. This situation offered both a reason for invading and an opportunity to build an alliance with one tribe by offering military aid. Heather Wake provides insights into the invasion of Britain.

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Brigantes Nation - Roman/Celtic Time Line / http://www.brigantesnation.com/timeline/timelineearlyromanobritish.htm

This timeline is focussed on the British Celtic culture and those cultures which had influence on the British Celts. It is also more specifically focused on those activities which would have had effect on the Brigantes tribe of Britain during the late British iron age.

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King Arthur's Court - Knights and Ladies of Arthur's realm / http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/mainmenu.htm

Part of The Camelot Project website, this menu page provides access to a wealth of information about principle Knights and Ladies found in the Arthurian Romances, as well as magical items such as Excalibur.