Germania_Echoes

Hi everyone,


I'm writing my next story and am working on my Celtic character. I love ancient Celtic culture and cannot decide which land I want to associate him with. So please tell if me if the following idea would work:


In the early first century AD (taking trade routes, common customs, etc) into mind, is it possible for a Celt to be a mixture of Gaulish/French Celtic, Irish Celtic, and British Celtic (as in Boudicca)? Could different Celt groups have
interacted between Gaul / Ireland / Britain in any way?

Were the customs, languages, etc, fairly similar? Was it even possible for these groups to interact?


Germania_Echoes

Gary

The simple answer to your question is yes there was cultural and trade exchange between the south of Britain and Belgic Gaul. May I strongly suggest Barry Cunliffe ,Iron Age Communities in Britain: An Account of England, Scotland and Wales from the Seventh Century BC until the Roman Conquest. Routledge. New York. 2004.

Ireland may be a bit more problematic, but with the maritime skills of the coastal Celtic tribes and the evidence of trade since the Bronze age on the Atlantic seaboard, the exchange of marriage partners across the Irish sea is within the bounds of the possible.

Salah

The Belgae, mentioned by Gary above, had a strong presence in both Gaul and Britain. One tribe, the Atrebates (ruled by Commios the Greater during Caesar's Gaulish War) even had land in both Gaul and Britain.

The theory has been put forward that Belgian tribes also invaded Ireland in the 2nd or 1st Centuries BC, and gave their names to some mythical Irish tribes (e.g. the Fir Bolg).

The tribes of Gaul, western Germania, and southern Britain all appear to have been speaking dialects of the same language; a man from southern Britain could have undoubtedly made himself understood amongst at least some of the Continental tribes.

The Caledonian tribes who lived in Scotland before the Picts appear to have spoken a Brythonic language. Brythonic languages include Gaulish, and its modern relatives Breton and Welsh. Many personal names and place names coming from Britannia and Caledonia (e.g. Calgacos, leader of the Caledonians who fought Julius Agricola) are also found on inscriptions from contemporary Gaul. So overall, the Caledonians and Britons, and the Celtic tribes of Gaul and other regions in Europe, could probably all communicate with one another.

Ireland was a different story, as its Celtic peoples have always used the other branch of the Celtic language tree, Goidelic (or Gaelic). There was undoubtedly trade going on between Irish and Gallo-British tribes. By the 3rd Century AD at the latest, the Irish were well known in Britain, but as piratical raiders. Niall of the Nine Hostages, ancestor of the O'Neill family, was a famous leader of the Irish raiders that attacked late Roman Britain and Gaul.

The interactions between Gaul and Britain were definitely close. Julius Caesar claims that the druids of Gaul were sent to Britain so that they could complete their education in druidic rites. When he fought the Veneti, a coastal Gaulish tribe, they were aided by kinsmen and allies from Britain; after defeating the Veneti, Caesar used this aid a justification for his raids on Britain.

Germania_Echoes

Good morning, everyone.


Salah ad-Din & Gary, thank you for your responses. I will consider studying the Belgae; it is fascinating to know that different Celtic groups had an innate connection. Quite different, I understand, from the ancient Germanic tribes, who always seemed to be at odds!


Germania_Echoes

Ri Fhionngaill

There is no such thing as Celtic culture. The three main branches, Brythonic (British), Gaulic, and Gaelic are about as similar to each other as German and Icelandic.

The former includes the inhabitants of the mainland British Isles. The Picts, who had a large part of pre-Celtic culture and thus were culturally different to their southern neighbours with a language that was not mutually intelligible, inhabited Scotland from 296AD. Before that, there were the Caledonii, who were just standard Brythonic Celts. Apparently, Romans destroyed the region to such an extent that the pre-Celtic culture was revived, with a ruling class that was still Brythonic Celtic, but that's just one explanation - the most plausible. The Picts on the western coast were, by the way, already Christian. No-one has any idea how, but their carved stones imply that they'd already converted. They were a naval power, and their trade connections went to the Meditteranean and beyond.

The other Britons were more or less the same, culturally, with regional gods and occasional linguistic differences. Note that the Bretons were not Brythonic Celtic until the Irish and Saxons forced Cornish and Welsh to go there, before that they were Gaulic.

Ireland was Gaelic. It was probably beginning to colonise the Hebrides, the Isle of Man, and Cornwall at this point. Gaelic is a different Celtic group which was previously unique to Ireland. The cruithne of northern Ireland are referred to as British, but as no-one knows who or what they were, it's probably a good idea to assume that they were also Gaelic - their noble class used Gaelic names. Ireland, once Christianised, sort of rose above the others with its laws and literature. It was to Ireland that druids went for their education after the Roman conquest of Britain, and Ireland that preserved the knowledge of the world in the Dark Ages. But, at the time you're writing about it wasn't that different, other than culturally. They were raiders, mostly. As pointed out, there were a few famous ones whose names are still recorded; Riada, Colla Uais, and Niall Noigiallach, who raided and settled along the coast of Britian.

The Gauls were more similar to the Britons in their religion and laws, and also their language, which is why the dispossessed Britons fled to Brittany (hence the name - Little Britain) when the Irish and Saxons attacked.

Yes. The Gauls and the British married each other a lot. The Irish married the Picts, and sometimes the cruithne, whoever they were, especially from the north of Ireland. The British and the Picts both had extensive trade routes.

It wasn't possible for Gaels and Picts to interact, as they spoke two different languages. The Picts and the other Britons had separate languages. Whether the Irish could understand the Britons is unknown, but I doubt it. I suspect that most of those on the frontiers, or in the Irish colonies, would be bilingual.

The languages were fairly similar. It's a similar sort of thing to a German, who would a few words in Norwegian, a Norwegian would understand Icelandic, etc. But the only ones who'd be able to communicate would be the Britons and the Gauls. Culturally, their religions worshipped the same gods, mostly, but their religious practices and superstitions were different - the same theme, but different. There were many things that were equivalents to things in other Celtic groups, but they weren't often the same.

It's the same for customs, although the Gaels and the Picts different from the other Celtic groups quite a lot here.

Germania_Echoes

Hello, Ri Fhionngaill. Thank you for your comprehensive descriptions of differing Celtic cultures. This was just what I needed for my research.


Germania_Echoes

Salah

The date 296/7 AD has no special significance to the Caledonians/Picts. It was simply the first time that the name "Pictii" was used by a Roman writer to describe these peoples.

PADDYBOY

Agreed
The Caledonians were just one of the Pictish tribes.(probably the largest)

Ri Fhionngaill

I was probably a little too specific relying on one theory. But the Picts were far more united after 296AD, into two reasonably centralised, equal-sized High Kingdoms. Their army had also changed; it was also far more organised. Something happened that changed their culture and political system.

Germania_Echoes

Hello all,


I have decided that, since Gaulish and Brythonic Celtic customs / languages / deities were similar, my character's father will be a Gaul. Despising the Romanization he sees among the Gauls, this man migrates to Britannia and meets a Brythonic Celtic woman. Were names similar enough that a Gaulish Celtic name could have been used / understood among British Celts such as the Trinovantes or the Iceni?


Germania_Echoes