Celtic Language: Origins--

Modern day Celts

Since we just got our assignments for which culture we are to study, I thought I'd do some background research into the language of the Celts in Ireland. The transfer of oral knowledge comes through language, so a thorough understanding of how the language works will hopefully give me a nice base for future blog posts on the Celts as well as a base for studying the functions and systems of language as it relates to ancient Ireland.

Source

The Celts are best known for their early use of iron in conquest and dominion. It was because of their military dominance that they were able to spread over most all of today's Europe. The difference between the Celts and other dominant military forces, though, was that they had very limited central leadership. There was no one set king, but there were rí túaithe (leader of one kingdom), ruiri (oversaw the rí túaithe), and rí ruirech (kings of provinces). Even this source of centralized leadership ended up being a hassle, as the constant skirmishes for power between kings made way for constant changes in the heads. The Celts managed to stay conglomerated as one through these difficult circumstances by their culture alone. A common language worked as a glue to keep the area stuck together.

The main hero of the Ulster Cycle

As is common when people are separated by a body of water, the Celtics on Ireland soon developed their own variations on the original language. This Goidelic branch of the Proto-Celtic tongue became the common language on Ireland. An important set of books called the Ulster Cycle gives a glimpse into the dialect and way of life of the Irish Celts. These books date back to the beginning of writing on Ireland in the 6th century AD, just after the Romans gained dominance in the area. The tales of the characters are believed by scholars to accurately represent the way of life on the island before the Roman invasion.

The frequent references to the bards and druids in the cycle suggest that the Celts put a particular emphasis on education. The social classes are believed to consist of three basic types: The warriors, the druids and bards (educated populace), and everyone else. This is interesting because it would be the druids and bards that did most of the oral influence and knowledge handling. There was enough emphasis on this class of "scholars" that they were included in the historical text of the area as a large part of the celebrations and doings around that time. The bards and their poems set a originality to the area that allowed it to flourish and, even to this day, leave remnants of Celtic culture that many still cling to as their own in modern-day Ireland. The most evident are the heavy Goidelic roots in today's Irish language. It's always interesting to me that a culture can put such a mark on a place that no matter what hands it falls into (even a traditionally strong Roman culture!), the Celtic culture was tough enough to weather the storm and continue.

Sources: 1, 2, 3