Celtic studies (Medieval Studies)

The kings of East Anglia and Northumbria both died at the hands of the Great Heathen Army in the late 860s; one became a renowned martyr saint and one a villain. The latter, the Northumbrian Ælla, also became the antagonist in legends concerning the ancestors of the Uí Ímair, principal successors of the northern Great Army and leaders of the tenth-century Insular Norse.  According to a previously neglected text, 'De Northumbria post Britannos', another of northern England’s great dynasties claimed descent from Ælla. The Eadwulfings of Bamburgh were based in northern Northumbria, and appear to have gained leadership of their political community in the late ninth or early tenth century. With the rival position held by the Uí Ímair in the south, it is possible that Ælla’s later reputation and associated legends arose as a bi-product of tenth-century political conflict.

Prayers from the Ancient Celtic Church is a collection of prayers from the time of Patrick (d. ca. 460-493) to the Synod of Whitby (664), and also from the Celtic Christian tradition that remained after Whitby. A few of the prayers in this book may be familiar from their appearance in other prayer books. Some may be appearing in English for the first time. All prayers (with one exception) are rendered or revised into contemporary English with the hopes that they will be useful in private and corporate worship.

Includes prayers from The Antiphonary of Bangor, The Lorrha-Stowe Missal, The Book of Cerne, The Book of Dimma, St. Patrick, St. Columba and many other sources… some available in English for the first time.

This paper provides a brief introductory interpretation of some key archetypal motifs in the Celtic mythology of Tristan and Isolde.  The interpretation is based on elements taken from numerous interpreters of the myth, from Thomas of Brittany and Gottfried von Strassburg to the contemporary retelling by the French scholar, Joseph Bedier, from which the current author’s narrative is largely derived.  An archetypal tale of forbidden love, the story of Tristan and Isolde is one of the most profound and thoroughly developed archetypal stories of the hero journey, utilizing more than 60 archetypal symbols and motifs, rich with metaphorical imagery closely corresponding to the images found abundantly in the world’s myths, rites, shamanic initiations and Jung’s individuation process.  The narrative is augmented with amplification by archetypal images appearing in the Celtic tale that are also found in mythopoeic narratives of the ancient Greeks, Hebrews and other cultures.  Possible psychological meanings of the images are indicated, and a bibliography is provided for further research.

This essay focuses on the sections of Tecosca Cormaic (TC), an Old Irish wisdom text, which describe the time when Cormac was a gilla 'a youth of an age to bear arms'.  These sections provide evidence that, in early Irish society, a future king normally spent time among the members of a fían. This is a pre-print of the paper to be published in the The Gaelic Finn tradition II, the book encompassing literature and lore centred on the figure of Finn Mac Cumaill. The book will be launched at the Finn IV: FÍANAIGECHT, THE 4th INTERNATIONAL FINN CYCLE CONFERENCE held at the University of Limerick (23-25 June 2022)

University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Center for Celtic Studies Samhain Celebration Invited Lecture, October 31, 2004

In this public talk, I describe the most common Breton legends, which are rarely written in English. French books on Breton myths are filled with stories of the Atlantis-like sunken city of Kêr-Is, the Breton fairies known as Korrigans, and the Grim Reaper-like Ankoù. Added to these is a less well-known and very interesting- but not spooky- syncretized Breton folk character, Sant-Korneli. Here I discuss each of these realms of Breton folklore, while contrasting them with similar tales from other Celtic Nations.

This essay provides an analysis of how and when St Winefride’s cult became popular; how personal and political motives lead to the promotion of the cult (particularly at Holywell, Shrewsbury and Basingwerk) and also how her popularity extended beyond Wales. It includes interesting discussions of cures at the well, royal visitors and the post-reformation cult, and traces the origins of the cult and its development in a chronological fashion.

This essay highlights the main characteristics of the architecture of the Welsh house and provides an analysis of the influences on its design over the centuries. The various terms involved in the field are clearly explained before the discussion is expanded, and pertinent examples are used of different forms of architecture in Wales and their locations, demonstrating effectively the factors that influenced design and its development over the years.

The standard explanation for the Quarter Festivals of the Insular Celtic year, which fall around 55 days earlier than the solar solstices and equinoxes, is that they represent a more practical agricultural division of the year. In this explanation spring is seen more sensibly to begin on February 1, the first day of calving season. Summer, likewise, more sensibly begins on May 1 when the bulls are put into the cow herd,  around the time of the appearance of the constellation Taurus. What I shall demonstrate is that the most likely origin of the Insular Celtic quarter-day festivals lies not in some theorized agricultural year but in a simple calendar shift whereby progressively over a long period of time the lunar festivals got out of whack with solar time.
Such a calendar shift is likely to have happened to the Insular Celts, as just such a shift with certainty happened to the Celts in the region around Lugudunum. We know this thanks to the preservation of the very-detailed Coligny calendar, found not far from Lyon. Classical commentary suggests that Britain and Gaul originally utilized the same 30-year calendar cycle, assumed to be that of the cycle of Saturn (Saturn's sidereal year equals 29.457 years). The  5-day week of the Coligny calendar is also described in early Irish law (the cóicde). Well-known is the similarity of the Gaulish month-name Samionios to Irish Samain, both occurring at what in each case was assumed to be the beginning of winter. If the early Irish Celts did utilize the same calendar as the pre-first-century-BC Gauls, the same calendar shift would have occurred in their time reckoning as well.

This discussion considers the Arthurian elements presented in De Excidio, Historia Brittonum and the Annales  Cambriae and analyses to what extent these may be indicative of the religious and political motives of their authors, rather than simplistically accepted as early primary sources recording reliable ‘evidence’ for an historical Arthur. The discussion is conducted using a framework for examining the texts, their wider historical and literary contexts, the authors’ motivations and the texts’ usefulness as historical ‘evidence’. It concisely distills all the relevant arguments and compares and contrasts various viewpoints. Finally it carefully unpicks the primary sources and demonstrates a number of problems concerning dating, later interpolations, inconsistencies, lack of clarity due to brevity (e.g. Arthur or Ambrosius?) and sensibly concludes that neither Historia Brittonum nor the Annales Cambriae can be viewed as reliable historical evidence, and that that the case for an historical Arthur is ‘unproven’.

Throughout history, the Druids have always been seen as sorcerers who had a strong bond with nature. Ancestral knowledge holders within Celtic society, directed all religious activity as the highest authority linked to the gods, practiced human sacrifices and festivals organized as Imbolc, Beltaine, Lugnasad or Samain, etc.. all aspects of which are discussed in this article.

The galloglass of medieval Ireland was the premier military kindred that supplied élite fighting men for Gaelic and Anglo-Norman lordships from the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries. Like other sections of Gaelic society the galloglass were organised into hereditary professional kindreds whose branches were settled in various lordships in Ireland. Galloglass kindreds that became attached to different aristocratic patrons competed with each other and an esprit de corps formed around how they acquitted themselves on the field. Their profession of arms meant that their role was not limited to training and fighting on behalf of their patrons; they also served as bodyguards to lords and constituted an essential element in supplying the vanguard of Gaelic military forces.

Clann Chruitín were among the most notable learned kindreds in Co. Clare in the late medieval period. They featured among the aos dána, the Gaelic learned class who specialised in, as the annals assert, ‘senchas agus le seinm’. Holding hereditary lands in west Co. Clare on the margins of the Atlantic coast, they attained the status of ollamhnacht in history (seanchas) and music (seinm) from the fourteenth century. Remarkably, learned members of Clann Chuitín continued to be associated with literary activity of he native tradition until the mid-nineteenth century when Séamas Mac Cruitín, self-described as ‘the last relic of the hereditary bards of Thomond’, died.

In co-operation with Szczecin University, the Department for Sorbian Studies and the Department for Slavic at Leipzig university announce the Xth Celto-Slavica and invite papers. The conference will take place in Leipzig from the 26th to the 29th of October 2022, with academic sessions on the 27th and 28th. The Leitmotif is “Highlights in Celtic and Slavic: Comparanda and Inspirations”. The conference is open to anybody interested in the fields of linguistics, literature, culture (past and present) in Celtic and Slavic areas, in particular when touching upon cross-border issues.
The following schedule is planned (https://www.philol.uni-leipzig.de/sorabistik/institut/celto-slavica-conference#c684686):
Wednesday, 26th of Oct, evening céili (https://www.philol.uni-leipzig.de/sorabistik/institut/celto-slavica-conference#c684686)
Thursday/Friday, 27th/28th of Oct, academic sesions, venue: Albertina/Leipzig university (https://www.philol.uni-leipzig.de/sorabistik/institut/celto-slavica-conference#c684686);
Amongst others with Prof. John Koch and his plenary talk on "Some implications for Celtic origins of recent archaeogenetic evidence for Late Bronze Age migrations in western Europe" and Prof. Séamus MacMathúna and "Reflections on some Celtic, Scandinavian and Slavic Comparanda"
Saturday, 29th of Oct, trip to sound archive in Berlin (Humboldt-University) by bus 

Notes to the second edition.

This work has remained popular since it was first published in 2011, and so a decision was made to update and improve it. This current edition has been re-edited, and re-formatted, correcting the typography and layout.
      Extra discussions, analysis and research have been included to reflect and reference works published in the intervening years since 2011. Some large expansion and discussion to the text occurs in the chapters dealing with the material in the Lebor Bretnach, Ballymote version, concerning the ‘Miracles of Cairnech’, including more background material on Cairnech himself, and in the chapter on Aided Muirchertaig Meic Erca where further discussions on the threefold death and dating of the work occur.
      A major improvement is in the addition of the Irish language texts of both the above stories which are laid alongside the translations. This has meant that those translations have been improved, corrected and missing parts restored. Minor additions, editing  and corrections occur in all the other chapters.
    Also included is a map of Ireland and extra images to supplement the work. This edition therefore contains nearly fifty extra pages compared to the first edition, with reference to several more academic works, and a brand-new cover design.
    Were the legends of King Arthur influenced by the Irish tales of the hero Mac Erca? After four years of research and the translation of ancient Irish manuscripts, the forgotten story of the Irish Arthur can now be introduced and revealed for the first time in hundreds of years. From long forgotten manuscripts this book has pieced together a tale that will astound those seeking further research on the origins of King Arthur. Most of this material has never been seen or read before, with much of it newly translated into English for the first time, both narrative prose and ancient poetry.

In Traditio 70 (2015): ABSTRACT: The superior learning of King Aldfrith of Northumbria (685-704) was acknowledged in both Anglo-Saxon and Gaelic contemporary sources by such renowned scholars as Bede of Wearmouth-Jarrow, Aldhelm of Malmesbury, Adomnán of Iona, Stephen of Ripon, and Alcuin of York.  Both Aldhelm and Adomnán knew him personally, and texts composed by these two scholars and presented to Aldfrith help delineate the breadth of his educational background.  He was educated among the Gaels and their records described him as sapiens.  By examining texts of other seventh-century Gaelic sapientes, and the comments of Aldhelm and Bede about Gaelic intellectual life and educational opportunities, we can expand our purview of the scope of his education.  The nature of seventh-century schooling was peripatetic and Aldfrith’s dual heritage requires a broad search for locations.  Many scholars accept Iona as the likely source of his learned background, but this essay will argue that, among other likely locations in Britain and Ireland, Bangor in Northern Ireland is best supported by surviving evidence.  His benign reign is placed at the end of the first century of the Anglo-Saxon conversion but his education benefited the kingdom of Northumbria through generations of Gaelic scholarship, as exemplified by peregrini such as Columba and Columbanus, and sapientes like Laidcenn mac Baíth, Cummíne of Clonfert, Ailerán of Clonard, Cenn Fáelad mac Ailello, and Banbán of Kildare.  Aldfrith’s rule ushered in a period of cultural florescence in Northumbria which saw the first hagiography and earliest illuminated manuscripts produced in Anglo-Saxon England and which culminated in the extensive library authored by Bede (d.735).

This study traces the fortunes of the midland Uí Néill dynasty Clann Cholmáin from the period of our earliest documentary sources, about the mid-sixth century, until the death of the early tenth century king Flann Sinna. This study highlights the organised, hierarchical but flexible system of kingship operated by Clann Cholmáin in the midlands. It is argued that deputyship was an important organising principle, as suggested by the use of the title 'king of Mide' and other lesser local kingships. It is also shown that Clann Cholmáin and the system of kingship they operated in Mide can be fitted into
existing models on how kingship was organised among the wider Uí Neill grouping.

This paper presents a list of freeholders of Kilfenora Diocese in County Clare from 1601. The fortuitous survival of this list shows a snap-shot of Gaelic social hierarchies and landholding in an area almost wholly unaffected by anglicizing changes. The value of the list is its survey of land denominations and proprietorship and its focus on the church lands of the Corcomroe division of the diocese. It is speculated here that the list was compiled by a cleric at the cathedral chapter of Kilfenora and that its purpose was to ascertain church lands and property in order to put the administration of the diocese—including its revenues from the diocesan temporalities—on a more sure footing.

L’auteur entend revenir sur un fait tenu pour acquis depuis plus de soixante-dix ans par les chercheurs comparatistes, à savoir que le dieu Dagda serait dans la religion celtique irlandaise le pendant du Taranis des Gaulois. D’une part, les éléments archéologiques gallo-romains démontrent la distinction catégorique entre Sucellus, l’homologue gaulois du Dagda, et le dieu de l’orage assimilé au Jupiter des Romains. D’autre part, le portrait du Dagda que livre la littérature médiévale goïdélique le caractérise en réalité parfaitement et uniquement en tant que dieu souverain de type Mitra suivant les canons de la théologie indo-européenne.

This essay explores J.R.R. Tolkien’s engagement with John Rhys’s reading of Welsh fairy stories. Rhys had argued that fairy stories were dim memories of a pre-Celtic aboriginal population. The essay argues that Tolkien discovered hobbits behind Rhys’s image of these aboriginal little people.

The paper identifies a medieval hunting preserve (Formaoil na Fiann) centred on Moytura, Co. Sligo, site of a famous mythological battle between the Fomorians and the Tuatha Dé Danann. A comparative study is undertaken of the royal Formaoil of the kings of Connacht as described in AcalIam na Senórach which extended over parts of counties Roscommon and Galway . There is a discussion on raiding into the Formaoil of Moytura including discussion of the great raid of 1398 which seems to have inspired a late account of Cath Muighe Tuireadh (the battle of Moytura).

In order to explore the origin and significance of Samhain, the Celtic " Festival of the Dead " , it is necessary that it be viewed in the context of the wider Celtic belief system, the central tenet of which was metempsychosis – the transmigration of the soul and its reincarnation after death.

The dualism of the Celtic calendar is identified in the Coligny calendar and in the Irish traditional calendar. On this basis, we wonder about the existence of a spatial correlation of this organization of time. Moreover, Greek, and Roman cosmogonic conceptions express the solidarity between time and space. The text prolongs studies on Lugdunum and other places where the vitality of the Celtic tradition is expressed by offering a synthetic version of works on seven sites in present-day Galicia and another three in the rest of the Iberian Peninsula under Celtic influence. It shows how the use of local topographies by Iron Age settlers, revealed by archaeological remains, indicates the implementation of a dualistic symbolic mechanism of apprehension of the communitarian landscapes continued, in some cases, under Christianity. Thus, the correlation of Celtic dualistic conceptions of time and space and their solidarity in creating the physical frameworks of social life from a cosmological discourse of mythical and ritual foundation is shown. Résumé : Le dualisme du calendrier celtique ancien est identifié dans le calendrier de Coligny et le calendrier traditionnel irlandais. Sur cette base, on s'interroge sur l' existence d'une corrélation spatiale de cette organisation du temps. De plus, les conceptions cosmogoniques grecques et romaines expriment la solidarité entre le temps et l' espace. Le texte prolonge des études sur Lugdunum et d' autres lieux où s' exprime la vitalité de la tradition celtique, en proposant une synthèse de travaux sur sept sites de la Galice actuelle et sur trois autres situés dans la Péninsule Ibérique sous influence celtique. On montre comment l'utilisation des topographies locales par les peuples de l'Âge du Fer, révélée par les vestiges archéologiques, indique la mise en oeuvre d'un mécanisme symbolique dualiste d' appréhension des paysages communautaires qui, dans certains cas, s' est poursuivie sous le christianisme. La corrélation entre les conceptions dualistes celtiques du temps et de l' espace et leur solidarité dans la création des cadres physiques de la vie sociale à partir d'un discours cosmologique de fondement mythique et rituel est ainsi mise en évidence.

Three words in Scottish Gaelic which appear to be loans from Pictish (preas, bad & dail) attest short vowels. In Brittonic (c.500-550) such vowels became lengthened due to the operation of the New Quantity System giving 'prys', 'bod' & 'dôl'. There is no good reason why such vowels should be shortened in Scottish Gaelic and it might suggest that the NQS did not operate in Pictish. The NQS is one of the numerous features of Brittonic directly derived from Late Spoken Latin. Such a linguistic conservatism would sit well with the historically justifiable view that Pictish is largely a somewhat less latinised form of Brittonic.

Any comments or corrections would be appreciated.

Un motif schématique de cavalier au javelot nous a été légué sur une série de stèles et linteaux remontant au premier âge du fer celtique qui ont été retrouvées en remploi dans les fortifications de deux oppida de peuplement salyen appartenant à la zone géographique des Alpilles dans le département des Bouches-du-Rhône.
L’auteur entend revenir sur les deux hypothèses d’interprétation qui ont été proposées à ce jour de ce signe du sacré figeant un cavalier qui brandit un javelot dans une gestuelle d’attaque prêt à frapper. La première, abandonnée depuis longtemps, associait le motif équestre à l’expression d’un culte solaire hérité de l’Âge du Bronze. La seconde, généralement admise aujourd’hui, fait du cavalier la représentation d’un guerrier ‘héroïsé’ à mettre en rapport avec l’affirmation durant le premier âge du fer des cultes rendus aux ancêtres chez les Gaulois du Midi qui marchait de pair avec la célébration d’une élite sociale, celle de l’aristocratie équestre. Cette seconde lecture du fait archéologique en tant qu’ ‘expression cultuelle héroïque’ n’apporte pas davantage satisfaction, du fait que le culte des héros qui sous-tendrait la réalisation de la gravure consiste en réalité non pas en un culte rendu aux personnages issus des gestes épiques appelés ‘héros’ mais en un culte des ‘héroïsés’ qui seraient les meilleurs membres d’une communauté glorifiés dans l’Au-delà. Or l’existence d’un tel culte, si elle est fantasmée depuis longtemps dans la littérature scientifique moderne, ne ramène à aucune réalité des sociétés antiques du premier Âge du Fer.
Si le motif du cavalier des stèles hallstattiennes des Alpilles ne saurait donc pouvoir évoquer la codification d’un guerrier héroïsé lambda, il semble envisageable par contre, du fait à la fois de sa typologie stable et de son prolongement dans l’iconographie successive de la Tène méridionale, qu’il puisse correspondre à la représentation symbolique simplifiée mais canonique d’une figure mythique ou épique. Dans cette perspective, le recours au comparatisme celtique insulaire offre une piste intéressante à exploiter pour identifier cette figure archétypale divine du guerrier gaulois résumée à deux éléments essentiels, sa monture et son javelot de type gaesum : la confrontation des sources médiévales irlandaise et galloise atteste d’une unité conceptuelle théologique certaine au sujet du dieu panceltique Lugh/Lleu –également adoré des Celtes continentaux - qui occupait une position prépondérante dans leurs panthéons respectifs et qui était identifié à la fois comme l’inventeur de la monte équestre et le champion guerrier par excellence dont les attributs était un javelot et une monture magiques offrant la victoire au combat.


Mots clés :
iconographie halsttatienne - mythogramme - Glanum - Mouriès - comparatisme interceltique – Lugus""

The Antiphonary of Bangor was a book used in the liturgy of hours at the Abbey of Bangor. It contains canticles, hymns, prayers, and liturgical responses (thus, the name "Antiphonary"). It is a valuable book in the insights it gives on ancient Celtic Christian worship and theology. Some of the prayers can be used in today's Christian worship.