The earliest evidence of a Celtic language dates from the 6th century BC. Continental Celtic languages are evident only in inscriptions and place-names. Literary tradition dates from about the eighth century in Old Irish.
By the early first millennium AD, following the expansion of the Roman Empire and the spread of the Germanic peoples, Celtic culture had become restricted to the British Isles (Insular Celtic), and the Continental Celtic languages ceased to be widely used by the sixth century. "Celtic Europe" today refers to the lands surrounding the Irish Sea, as well as Cornwall and Brittany on either side of the English Channel. Galicia (NW Spain), Northern and Central Portugal (together with Galicia, part of ancient Gallacea) and Asturias (Northern Spain) are also clearly seen as Celtic lands, but without a surviving Celtic language.
Of course, Arthurian legend (Camelot, Guinevere, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table) are part of Celtic legend. In Carmarthen (West Wales) there is the remnant of an old oak tree, known as Merlin's Oak - "and when Merlin's oak shall fall down, then shall fall Carmarthen Town".
My next post will be the legend of the strange birth of Taliesin at a salmon weir.
The Celts
The Celts were a diverse group of tribes in Iron Age Europe. Celtic culture formed in the Early Iron Age (1200 BC-400 AD) in Central Europe. By the later Iron Age, Celts had expanded over a wide range of lands: as far west as Ireland and the Iberian Peninsula, as far east as Galatia (in modern day Turkey), and as far north as Scotland.
The oral tradition is important in the Celtic culture, with songs and stories being a living embodiment of the tribal history. Professional bards were commonplace, and bardic organisation still exists today, for example in the Gorsedd Circle and Eisteddfodau in Wales.
This blog covers some of the myths and legends of the Celts in Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
The oral tradition is important in the Celtic culture, with songs and stories being a living embodiment of the tribal history. Professional bards were commonplace, and bardic organisation still exists today, for example in the Gorsedd Circle and Eisteddfodau in Wales.
This blog covers some of the myths and legends of the Celts in Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
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