Celtic Mythology
About Celtic Mythology
Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, the religion of the Iron Age Celts.Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure. Among Celts in close contact with Ancient Rome, such as the Gauls and Celtiberians, their mythology did not survive the Roman Empire, their subsequent conversion to Christianity, and the loss of their Celtic languages. It is mostly through contemporary Roman and Christian sources that their mythology has been preserved. The Celtic peoples who maintained either their political or linguistic identities (such as the Gaels in Ireland and Scotland, and the Celtic Britons of southern Great Britain and Brittany) left vestigial remnants of their ancestral mythologies, put into written form during the Middle Ages.
The Celts were an Indo-European people in Iron Age and Medieval Europe who spoke Celtic languages and had cultural similarities, although the relationship between ethnic, linguistic and cultural factors in the Celtic world remains uncertain and controversial.The exact geographic spread of the ancient Celts is also disputed; in particular, the ways in which the Iron Age inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland should be regarded as Celts has become a subject of controversy.
Refusing to acknowledge Roman rule, the Celts were formidable fighters under any circumstances. Exceedingly good at hit-and-run warfare, they were adept at scattering to isolated areas in small groups — taking their Gods with them.
The famed Asterix comic strip gives an amusing indication of what the Gaulish contingent of Celts felt about the Romans. Ireland (never conquered by the Romans) became another stronghold, and so did the bits of Britain nobody else much wanted. Wales, for example. They also infiltrated the Orkneys, Baleiric Islands, bits of Scandinavia and the Caucasus.
The Celts were doing alright until Christianity came along. The Church nicked some of their Gods for promotional sainthood purposes and thus began the conversion process. Only by building churches on already sacred sites could Celts be converted.
It's only a theory, but we feel the Christians may have cut down the trees that produced the Apples of Immortality. This might have been responsible for reducing the status of Celtic Gods to trolls and fairies. Such creatures are not really immortals — they grow older and smaller but don't actually die. It's all rather sad when you think of LUGH the Shining One reduced to the status of a leprechaun and having to hide his golden investments at the end of a rainbow.
But the power of the Druids is still contained in the yew trees. Just check out all the yew trees growing in churchyards. And thanks to neo-pagan reconstructivism, the deities of the Emerald Isle and elsewhere are still a force to be reckoned with. Traditional mead is still brewing up a treat, and the Morrigan in particular enjoys widespread worship in far-flung places. It's only a short flight to Celtsville as the crow flies.
Although the Celtic world at its height covered much of western and central Europe, it was not politically unified nor 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 worshipped. However, from what has survived of Celtic mythology, it is possible to discern commonalities which 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 a number of distinct, if related, subgroups, largely corresponding to the branches of the Celtic languages:
Ancient Celtic religion (known primarily through archaeological sources rather than through written mythology)
mythology in Goidelic languages, represented chiefly by Irish mythology (also shared with Scottish Gaelic mythology)
- Mythological Cycle
- Ulster Cycle
- Fenian Cycle
- Cycles of the Kings
mythology in Brittonic languages
- Welsh mythology
- Cornish mythology
- Breton mythology
Ireland is the richest source of the myths and legends.
Ireland’s myths, are contained in collections first written down by early Christian Irish monks but, in common with all other Celtic societies, related orally by countless generations before that.
Although heavily influenced by the Christian ethos of the monks, the original pagan magic and majesty are not entirely lost in the tales of our prehistoric ancestors. They tell how the first people came to Ireland. They talk of ancient gods and ancient heroes, of magic and bravery. They bring to us the people of ancient times giving us names such as Deirdre, Oisin, Niamh, Diarmuid, Fionn and Gráinne; names that are not just remembered but are still very much in use today. We will hear of terrifying gods and courageous warriors, of a monstrous cyclops and of women of great beauty and mystery.
The Four Cycles of Irish Mythology
Many of the Irish legends are made up of stories about adventures, great battles, voyages, invasions and gods but today we categories them into 4 main cycles: The Mythological Cycle, The Finn Cycle, The Ulster Cycle and The Historical cycle.
The Mythological Cycle
The Mythological Cycle of Irish legends is made up of stories about former gods and the origins of the Irish. One of the most popular stories from the Mythological Cycle would be Children of Lir, a tragic story of a step-mother jealously over 4 children that she had turned into swans. Other stories from this cycle include The Wooing Of Étain, Cath Maige Tuireadh and The Dream of Aengus.
Although The Mythological Cycle is the least preserved out of all the Irish Legend cycles sources can be found in Metrical Dindshenchas or Lore of Places and the Lebor Gabála Érenn or Book of Invasions.
The Fenian Cycle
The Fenian Cycle is also referred to as Finn Cycle or Finnian Tales and is stories based around the Irish mythical hero Fionn mac Cumhaill and his warriors, Fianna Éireann. The Fianna Éireann was warriors who lived in forests as mercenaries, bandits and hunters.
People also refer to the Fenian Cycle as the Ossianic cycle as Fionn mac Cumhaill’s son, Oisín, was supposed to have written most of the poems found in the cycle.
The famous story Salmon of Wisdom is part of the Fenian Cycle. This is when Fionn is admitted to the court of the High Kings at Tara after passing three major tests which then he became leader of the Clan Bascna. Fionn mac Cumhaill went onto be leader of the Fianna Éireann after killing a goblin by the name of Aillén mac Midgna. Every Samhain Aillén would terrorize the people on the Hill of Tara by playing music on his harp leaving every warrior helpless. Fionn used a magic spear that left him immune to the music and killed the goblin.
The Ulster Cycle
The Ulster Cycle is about legends and heroes of Ulaid, eastern Ulster and northern Leinster. They are written in manuscripts from the Medieval period but some early stories can be dated the Early Christian period in Ireland. Events in the Ulster cycle are to have taken place during the time of Christ with some historians believing the Ulster Cycle to be historical when others believed they were actually purely mythical.
The most important story of the Ulster cycle was the Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley). The story tells of a war against Ulaid (Ulster) by the queen Connacht Medb Medb and her husband Ailill. They set out to steal to steal a stud bull by the name of Donn Cuailnge.
There is also Deirdre of the Sorrows that tells a story of beauty, lust, and the death of Ireland’s most beautiful woman.
Historical cycle/King cycle
During the medieval period in Ireland professional poets (bards) would record the history of the family or king they served. They did this in poems mixed with mythological and history resulting in stories that make up the Historical cycle.
Stories from the Historical cycle included High Kings such as Labraid Loingsech or Brian Boru and also included stories such as The Frenzy of Sweeney (Buile Shuibhne).
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