Here is a ten min video of Neil showing you around Orkney Faerie Museum and Gallery. The only Faerie Museum in the UK! All paintings and drawings shown are available for sale at www.neilgeddesward.com One of a Kind Faerie Sculptures featured are from www.weefairytales.com. Email Neil at neil@geddesward.co.uk

More about Neil, the Artist

Neil Geddes-Ward draws inspiration from standing stones, dreams, witchcraft, Green Men and more, to paint beautiful images of what is now becoming known as Pagan and Visionary Art.

Other TV appearances include Carlton Country, Kilroy, Neil has been commissioned by many organisations as well as individuals, including The Children of Artermis, a witchcraft coven service.

Currently Neil is working on Faerie illustrations for a book called Faeriecraft : Treading the Path of Faerie Magic with his wife, Writer and Faerie Priestess; Alicen Geddes-Ward. This is due out on June 21st 2005 and is to be published by Hay House.

Neil has many prints and cards of his work on sale in the UK and outlets abroad, however these can also be bought direct from the artist on his site, please click here to view the catalogue.

[Source]

Pic: Gavatron

On 4th Jan 2010  we unwittingly credited this article to Dr Earl Smith. This was a mistake on our part. We would like to apologise to Sam Fleming for our error, and thank her for allowing us to keep this super article on our website. Originally published as “Murders and Unkindnesses” in the Samhain edition of “White Dragon”, 1998.

The Raven in Mythology

For centuries the corvids, ravens and crows in particular (corvus corax is the Latin name for the common raven and corvus corone for the carrion and hooded crows), have had a special place in the mythology of various cultures. In modern times this fascination has barely diminished. From Edgar Allen Poe’s literary classic to the film of James O’Barr’s cult graphic novel “The Crow”, these birds still exert a powerful hold over the psyche of a significant fraction of the population. The Goths who paint their faces with white make-up and the weekend warriors who expect Raven to take them to the Otherworld to meet the dead do not see the same animal as the farmers who set up decoys in order to shoot large numbers of them every year in late spring. This is, however, typical of a creature that presents a paradox wherever one looks. Corvids are sociable birds. They tend to form social groups, and this can be seen particularly in the case of rooks, which stay in their flocks all year round. Ravens, the largest of the family, reaching as much as 3 feet from beak to tail, form groups as juveniles, pairing off into lifelong monogamous and extremely territorial relationships at around the age of three. The courtship can involve such fun and games as synchronized snow sliding, and, of course, the synchronized flight test. The corvids can be found all over the world, and are the largest of the passeriformae, or songbirds. The common raven is widely distributed throughout the Northern hemisphere, and the adaptability and intelligence of this family have made it extremely successful.

As far as the mythology goes, the first confusion arises over the distinction between Crow and Raven, at least on the European side of the Atlantic. The two appear, in many instances, to be interchangeable, and the appearance of one or the other in a story depends as much on which author is transcribing it as it does on story itself. Whereas John Matthews gives Bran the raven almost exclusively, Miranda Jane Green ascribes to the God’s companion animal either the crow or the raven, much as both authors do for the Morrigan.

Pic: Waymarking

The confusion on the American side of the Atlantic is not so profound. There is a distinct geographical trend in the likelihood of Raven appearing in a story, and so we will start our examination there. Whereas ravens appear almost exclusively as signatory animals for deities in Europe, in the shamanic cultures of aboriginal North American tribes Raven appears as deity himself. From a dichotomy of cultures, we reach a dichotomy of characterization, for Raven in America, particularly the Northwest coast region, is both demiurge and trickster, both hero and villain, and often at one and the same time. Raven appears as simple Raven, as Dotson’ Sa (Great Raven), as Nankilstlas (He Whose Voice Must Be Obeyed) and also, in a Tlingit creation myth, as Nascakiyetl (Raven-at-the-Head-of-Nass, the Nass being a river). In nearly every single creation myth of the region I have encountered, Raven, in one of his guises, is either the actual creator of the world, or has a great part to play in it. In many, such as the Tlingit myth just mentioned, Raven appears in more than one of his guises – in this case both as Nascakiyetl, and as Yetl, the Raven.

Animals in Myths

This is possible because of the personification of the animal characters in the culture. Animals can take on human form without a second thought (although Raven is the greatest shapeshifter of them all, being able to change into anyone and anything to get what he wants), and can also lead human style lives. Orca, for instance, is the Chief of his own underwater city, and the drowned go to live there with the killer whales, according to the Haida people. Raven’s character is very similar to that of Coyote – indeed, the two appear in stories carrying out very similar roles, the former in the North, the latter in the South. Both Coyote and Raven are driven by greed: Raven’s for food, Coyote’s for more carnal pleasures. A Tlingit storyteller says that

Raven never got full because he had eaten the black spots off his own toes. He learned about this after having inquired everywhere for some way of bringing such a state about. Then he wandered through all the world in search of things to eat.

The journeys of Raven form the basis of most of the myths in the region, and he travels around meeting animals of all descriptions and usually succeeds in contests of wit with them, either destroying and eating them or driving them off and securing their food. The Haida people make a distinction between the first part of the Raven cycle, in which he is truly creative, and the latter part, which consists of stories of his more risible behavior. Young men are not allowed to laugh during the early part of the cycle, which is referred to as “The Old Man Stories”. The Old Man Stories take in the creation of the world, sometimes a complex tale such as in the Tlingit and Tsmishian versions, sometimes a simple one, as in the Haida:

Not long ago no land was to be seen. Then there was a little thing on the ocean. This was all open sea. And Raven sat upon this. He said, ‘Become dust.’ And it became Earth.

They also cover one of the most widely known Raven stories, how he stole the Sun, the Stars and the Moon, and also fire (reflecting on the corvine fascination for shiny objects), and the almost universal flood tale, which brought about the end of the Age of Animal Beings and brings about the Age of Men, for which Raven is invariably responsible.

The Great Raven amongst Indigenous Peoples

Pic: Indigenous Peoples.net

In this guise, as Great Raven, Dotson’ Sa, or Nankilstlas, the irrepressible greed is there, the sarcastic and laconic nature, the almost audible heavy sigh that starts off every conversation (see, for instance, Raven’s first words in the story of the whale transcribed by Joseph Campbell), yet he is a character to be admired and respected, to whom homage is deserving.

Although there is no evidence that Raven was ever worshiped, as such, it is said by some that the Northwest peoples did used to leave food out on the beaches for ravens. In this form he is capable of inspiring awe and terror, although always there is that twinkle in the eye and the knowledge that it can be only moments before he says something that will inspire laughter, albeit often irritated laughter as he hits the nail of truth well and truly, and sometimes uncomfortably, on the head. His creative nature usually shows itself through circumstance rather than intent, through the desire to satisfy his own needs, rather than any altruistic principles, but he seems genuinely fond of human beings, as related in “Raven finds the First Men”, amongst others. He is the great shapeshifter, creative magic personified. In his later, perhaps younger guise, Raven, or Yetl/Yelth, is often the butt of his own jokes; these are the stories in which Raven is often undertaking a position taken by Coyote in the desert and plains regions of the South. In this guise, Raven is at his most devious and tricky, is also cruel, with little thought for anyone or anything other than his own stomach. He will go to great efforts to satisfy his appetite, from tricking his cousin Crow out of his entire Winter’s food supply, to tricking Deer into leaping onto some rocks so that he may be devoured, and even tricking an entire tribe into being killed by an avalanche so that he might eat their eyes.6 He is the Raven at whom the young Haida men are allowed to laugh, but is also the Raven of whom to be most wary. He can be much crueler than his demiurge culture hero self. This Raven will have you in fits of laughter while he distracts you from the fact he is tricking you into doing something for him you may not actually want to do, and which may cost you dearly. This Raven is also a great shapeshifter, and uses his ability to aid him in deceiving others to do as he wishes. Some of the stories do have Crow as the main character, and the main difference appears to be that Crow stories concern the themes of justice rather than greed, even if justice is not always seen to be done, as in the story of Raven and Crow’s Potlatch, mentioned above. The only time at which Raven’s position in the Northwest coast culture bears any similarity to that in European culture is in his guise as one of the servants of the medicine lodge tutelary Baxbakualanuchsiwae, the Kwakiutl Cannibal Spirit, whose initiates practice ritual anthropology. This is a comparatively recent trend in the culture, and is not widely mentioned.

Odin’s Ravens, Huginn and Muninn

By comparison, the ravens of European mythology are invariably messengers, or an alternate shape for various deities and spirits, the most widely known being Bran and the Morrigan, and of course Odin.

We are once again confronted by a dichotomy of character when we look at ravens and crows in European culture. Turning first to Odin’s ravens. Huginn and Muninn, we see at once a split between active and passive roles. Huginn is Thought, and Muninn is Memory, and Odin sends these two birds off around the world at daybreak, to bring him the daily news. In Grimnismal, Odin says: For Huginn I fear lest he return not home, but I am more anxious for Muninn.

Pic: Sodahead

This suggests that Odin valued memory more than thought, the passive act rather than the active, but that is an altogether more complex discussion. Interestingly, Odin’s wolves were Geri (no Spice Girl this, however) and Freki, whose names meant ‘The Ravener’ and ‘The Glutton’ respectively. Both of these terms are extremely applicable to ravens – ravener derives from raven – and echo the character of Raven in the tales of the Northwest Coast we have already considered. Wolves and ravens have an old and close relationship in the wild. In countries where both animals live together, a great deal of a raven’s food comes from scavenging carcasses left by wolves, particularly in winter. Both animals would have been a common sight on the battlefield, scavenging on the bodies of the slain. Corvids were also connected with the Valkyries, as in “choughs of the Valkyries”. Whether chough means chough (Latin name pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), in this case, or is an artistic rendering of raven, it is difficult to say. Valkyries may have been reflections of the “shield-maids” or skjald-meyer of the Huns, and it is worth pointing out that some sources state that the Irish battle Goddesses were not represented by ravens, but by the crow, particularly the hooded crow, or “scald-crow”.

Celtic Goddesses and the Raven or Crow

Many of the Celtic goddesses are linked with the raven or crow. In this mythology the goddesses are the aggressive deities, those associated with war and death. Badb, Macha and Nemain are all associated with crows and/or ravens, as is Nantosuelta, a Gaulish water and healing goddess. The wife of the Fomorian sea-god, Tethra, was said to be a crow goddess who also hovered above battlefields, and Scottish myth has the Cailleach Bheure, who often appeared in crow form. The association of the birds with death and war is an obvious reflection of its tendency to eat carrion, plenty of which is to be found in the aftermath of battle. This tendency led, eventually, to the persecution of the raven, as a harbinger of doom and destruction, and also to the common notion in modern European culture that the main attribute of Crow and Raven is their connection with the Otherworld. Upon Cuchulainn’s death, the Morrigan perched on his shoulder in the form of a raven.

Pic: Tale of Tales

The other main characteristic of Raven in Irish and Welsh myth is that of prophesy. The Morrigan was prone to prophesising, predicting the outcome of battle. King Cormac also came across the Badb as an old woman dressed in red garments (always a bad sign) who explained that she was washing the armor of a doomed king. Raven also acts as a messenger for the Irish/Welsh gods. Bran the Blessed (Bendigeidfran) is perhaps the best known of the Celtic gods associated with the raven, not least because of his association with the Tower of London, where ravens are still kept, wings clipped, in order to assure the safety of the realm. Bran’s head, which he ordered to be cut off after being mortally wounded in the foot, is said to be buried in the White Tower.

In “The Hawk of Achill” Cuchulainn’s father, Lugh, is spoken of in association with ravens and crows. Ravens warned Lugh of the Formorians’ approach. Ravens tended Cuchulainn when he was very ill, which is about the only time Cuchulainn appears to have had anything approaching a good relationship with the birds, save for when he was announced by two Druidic ravens on his entrance to Elysium. He was responsible for killing a flock of magical sea ravens, which were large and able to swim in the sea (it is possible, from the description, that the birds were, in fact, cormorants, and not ravens at all. Cormorants also have a certain mythology associated with them). Also associated with ravens is the son of Cerridwen, Afagddu, who was also known as Morvran, or Sea Raven. Cerridwen ’s intent had been to bestow the gift of Inspiration upon him. A rather bizarre association is that of ravens and chess. In the Welsh “The Dream of Rhonabwy”, Owain ap Urien and Arthur were playing a game which is thought to have been a chess equivalent. Three hundred ravens are mentioned in this tale as belonging to Owain, a gift from Cenferchyn. Arthur’s men attacked the ravens during play, and eventually Owain told them to retaliate, upon which they attacked Arthur’s men unmercifully. One of the pieces in chess is, of course, the rook, another member of the crow family (corvus frugilegus). In Cervantes’ “Don Quixote”, the hero says that Arthur was not killed at all, but was turned into a raven. Arthur is also sometimes associated with the cult of Mithras, which was popular with the Roman legions. The cult organisation was based upon seven ranks that a worshiper could pass through, and the first of these was Raven. The raven, reprising his most common role in terms of masculine European mythology, was Ahura-Mazda’s messenger and represented Mercury. Initiates are shown on frescoes and mosaics as holding a cup and the caduceus. Also along these lines, Lugus was a Gaulish god of intelligence, and a mighty warrior. A relief from Senlis shows Lugus with ravens and geese, and the ravens appear to be speaking to him. Both Lugus and Odin are also linked with the Roman Mercury, bringing us to the connection between ravens and the art of the healer.

The White Crow

In nearly all cultures, the raven or crow was originally white. In one of the Greek tales, Coronis, the daughter of Phlegyes was pregnant by Apollo. Apollo left a white crow (or raven) to watch over her, but, just before the birth, Coronis married Ischys. The crow informed Apollo of this, and Apollo was not impressed. He killed Coronis and Ischys, and turned the crow black for being the bearer of bad news. Luckily, Apollo retrieved the unborn child at the funeral, for the child became Aesclepius, the father of medicine.It is worth mentioning in passing Raven and Crow’s appearances in other cultures, if only briefly.

Pic: Malaysian Vets

 Dwarves that live on the slopes of Kilimanjaro its of meat roll down the slopes and turn into white-necked ravens. In Japanese mythology, the Karasu tengu, or minor tengu, is a supernatural being with the head and wings of a black crow. They serve Daitengu, which are fallen yamabuse (monks), tall men with big noses and red faces who can create tornadoes using fans of bird feathers they carry in their sandals. Raven appears as one of the forms of the god Ninsubur in Semitic tales, and the raven, crow and rook all appear in the flood tale of Siberian myth, not one of them returning to the ark, as they were far too busy eating carcasses of drowned animals. For this they were cursed, as the dove was blessed for bringing back a twig, although it seems obvious that there had to be land somewhere if there were carcasses lying around. The Russian Lapps tell tales of the Seide, which are invisible spirits that have the power, like the dead, of appearing in the form of birds. They relate how a Seide often flew up out of a chasm in the mountains in the shape of a raven. It seems obvious, taking all these things into consideration, that the reputation of crow and raven for being dark messengers of doom, and concerned solely with death and destruction and the more black side of nature is ill-deserved. They do serve as couriers, it is true – an old Scots metaphor for death is talk of someone as having gone “awa’ up the Crow Road” – but Raven has his wily beak into nearly everything, from the birth of medicine to the game of chess. The only thing you can be sure of with this character is that he is to be found at the extremities. In Haida mythology, it is even one of Raven’s guises who determines the length of life of a new-born child. The constancy of Raven is his quest to fulfill an appetite – whether this be food, news, the sight of the slain on the battlefield, spirits of the dead for the Underworld, healing or prophecies of the future. The appetite is sometimes Raven’s, sometimes that of the deity he signifies, but the appetite is always there. He is a creature of need, of want, of greed and gluttony, and can also demonstrate a possessive and jealous nature, but from that need and want, from the satisfaction of that appetite, great acts of creativity arise. Those acts of creativity, his greatest acts of magic, are not usually under his control, are not generally by his design, but arise through his attempts to satisfy the hunger he has. The animal seeking to sate his hunger on the dead, linking him with the Otherworld, is one and the same as that which tries to fill his belly with the farmer’s crops, linking him with the 12-bore shotgun. Raven can do almost anything, and will, but only if he gains by it. His smaller cousin, Crow, is a much more merciful and fair character. His concern is with justice, albeit oft times extreme justice, and he tempers Raven’s greed in the European myths. Raven, in particular, is a creature of paradox, and to take him at face value is to ignore his devious nature. One last point. The collective nouns for crows and ravens are murder and unkindness respectively. You have been warned. [Source]

Pic: Folklore Society

The Folklore Society are working very hard to record and preserve the folklore traditions of our society. It has been going for well over a century and has access to JSTOR and any student knows that this is one of the most respected online archives of scientific papers that there is! From their website: The Folklore Society (FLS) is a learned society devoted to the study of traditional culture in all its forms. It was founded in London in 1878 and was one of the first organisations established in the world for the study of folklore.

The term ‘folklore’ describes the overarching concept that holds together a number of aspects of vernacular culture and cultural traditions, and is also the name of the discipline which studies them.

The Folklore Society’s interest and expertise covers such topics as traditional music, song, dance and drama, narrative, arts and crafts, customs and belief. We are also interested in popular religion, traditional and regional food, folk medicine, children’s folklore, traditional sayings, proverbs, rhymes and jingles.

Under the terms of the registration of our charitable status, our aims are to foster the research and documentation of folklore worldwide, and to make the results of such study available to all, whether members of the Society or not.

Publications

Pic: Folklore Society

The society has published scholarly studies of folklore continuously since 1878, both in periodical and book form. Our prestigious journal Folklore is published on our behalf by Taylor and Francis (three issues per year). Folklore began with volume 1 in 1889, and continued our earlier journals Folk-Lore Record and Folk-Lore Journal; all volumes, except for the most recent five years, are available online to members of our society via www.JStor.org.

Our newsletter, FLS News, is also issued three times a year.

Under the imprints of Mistletoe Books and FLS Books, the Society has published a wide range of monographs and pamphlets on different aspects of folklore, as well as collaborating in the books of other publishers.

Library and Archives

The society holds a substantial library and archive, which are housed by University College London Library, and constitute a unique resource for the study of folklore, both old and new. Our library and archives are accessible to members of the society and scholarly researchers, and our information services are available to everyone.

Conferences and other events

We hold regular conferences, lectures, seminars and other events in London and elsewhere, on a wide range of topics, and we support other related organisations’ conferences and events.

Our prestigious Katharine Briggs Lecture, held in November each year, was established in 1981 in memory of Dr Katharine Briggs. Scholars of international repute are invited to address the Society.

 Find out all the details on the Folklore Society website.

IRFT Radio will start streaming the Celtic Myth Podshow from tomorrow, Sunday 10th January 2010. The Celtic Radio station is run and hosted by Sean Owens.

After a bit of a break the radio station is about to hit the internet again with a great line up of music, story, interviews and much much more.

IRFT radio heartily supports our belief that the Oral tradition of the seanchaidhthe should be continued. We believe the ancient stories of the Celtic peoples should be heard by as many people as possible. Gone are the days when the Celts through their Bards, Druids Sheannachi carried the stories of their heritage with them on their travels. Over the centuries many stories have been lost of forgotten.
So we intend to bring these stories alive for anyone who is interested in rich and colourful mythology and heritage of their Celtic ancestors, and it’s great to know there are like minded people out there. IRFT Radio will also be playing unique story and song from our friends The Bards of Mystic. We really looking forward to hearing more of their work.

Do also pop along to the IRFT website ( http://www.irftradio.comlu.com/index.html) where you will find the show schedule, plus some great information. For example they have 126 Irish(Gaeilge) lessons on their website, also links to free help with Scots Gaelic, Breton (Brezhoneg), Cornish(Kernewek), Manx(Gaelg Vannin) and Welsh(Cymraeg) Languages. Some of the IRFT website is still being updated, but once finished the site and the radio show will be a veritable box of Celtic Wonders   Enjoy !

http://www.irftradio.comlu.com/bards.html

http://www.radioshaker.com/radio-stations/world-music/celtic/radio-irft-celtic-radio.html

Pic: FAE Magazine

This truly beautiful magazine has been available for some time now but at the beginning of December in 2009, it becamer available in the US as well as its native UK. The standard of the art and articles inside the magazine is phenomenally and consistently high. In addition, if you want to know about the Fairy community – where the latest Faires and Midsummer Ball’s are taking place, you need this magazine! From their website:

A magazine for fairy lovers in the UK, Europe and beyond! FAE – Faeries and Enchantment Magazine is a REAL full colour foil embossed glossy faerie lifestyle magazine printed on FSC accredited paper, with faerie art, fashion, folklore, news, views, events, music, films, meditations and much more. Every issue has more exclusives than you can shake a faery wand at!

FAE is produced and published in Cornwall, and printed in the UK. It is published on each Samhain (31st October), Imbolc (1st February), Beltane (1st May) and Lamas (1st of August) which are the lunar festivals of the Celtic year. FAE Magazine is for all those magical and enchanted fae folk who choose to walk on the faery path…

World wide subscriptions to FAE are avaiable from our FAE shop. We also have an up to date faerie news section and all the latest fairy events from around the world. [FAE]

In addition to all the things they mention above, they have an incredibly informative website to support the magazine with up-to-daye news, fashion tips for aspiring Fey (such as how best to mount your pointy ears), workshops in Communion with the Faeries, and an online shop where you can get the magazine, fairy oracle cards, and all manner of Fae accessories!

Below is a sample of the content and its quality that you can find inside the magazine:

Source: FAE Magazine

Pic: BBC

The BBC reports that people from around the world are aiming to unlock the secrets of their ancestors during a trip to Tayside. Visitors from places including the US, Australia, Canada and the UK are involved in the first Angus and Dundee Roots Festival.

They will attend workshops on local surnames and tracing family histories and will visit graveyards and historic tourist attractions over the next week. Organisers are aiming to cash in on the growing ancestral tourism market.

It is estimated that there are about 2.5 million people with Dundee and Angus ancestry across the world.

Originally posted 2008-09-24 09:48:45. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Pic: Collex

As a student studying Celtic Studies, whether at a College or University or at home like us, a search engine that catalogues and searches artefacts relating to the Celtic periods is such a brilliant idea and useful resource that we all ought to have it added to our Favourites bar in our browsers. Such a search engine does exist and is called Finding the Celtic. Click on the image to the left to see an example search that I performed for La Tene objects. As a guide, I can do no better than quote from their explanation page.

What is Celtic Studies?

Celtic Studies is concerned primarily with peoples who speak a language in the Celtic family of languages. It is necessarily multidisciplinary in nature, drawing upon fields such as history, archaeology, anthropology, and ethnology, although its beginnings were essentially outgrowths of the fields of linguistics and literary studies.

It is worth saying who the Celts are not and what Celtic Studies is not. The Celts are not a "race": race is a social construct that emerged in the 18th century and has been in a state of flux ever since. There is no genetic basis for Celtic identity. Even if we take genetics into account, recent research demonstrates that there is no correlation between genetic "fingerprints" and Celtic-speaking peoples.

There is and was no "Celtic Empire," no single Celtic way of life, nor Celtic "spirit" – these are projections upon the Celts as "Other" (or reactions to such projections). Each Celtic group, and their cultural expressions, need to be examined as specific and unique entities in their historical and cultural contexts, with special consideration to Celtic languages.

What is the significance of Celtic Studies?

There have been calls in the United States to reground students in the canon of "Western Civilization," meaning especially Greek and Roman cultures, but recent scholarship in Europe, especially in archaeology, has enabled a more nuanced and less hegemonic view of the origins of Western Civilization. Cultures and civilizations once considered antithetical to the Greeks and Romans – the "barbarians" – have received greater recognition for the contributions they have made to ancient and medieval Europe. Perhaps most famously of these statements came from the 1991 Venice exhibition which deemed the Celts the "founders of Europe."

There have also been debates between scholars attempting to identify and analyze the ethnic components of the early British North American colonies and their impact on the emergent United States, especially in the American South. Some scholars assert that Celtic peoples (natives of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Man and Brittany) made essential contributions to American culture which have been overlooked because the American academy generally fails to engage in the study of Celtic peoples. Other scholars complain that many such arguments are flawed because they oversimplify definitions of "Celtic" and fail to appreciate the convoluted interactions between differing but similar groups in the British Isles and early British Empire. With a lack of centers of Celtic Studies in the United States, it difficult to turn such debates into fruitful, sustained discussions and allow them to inform the framework in which American history is evaluated.

Celtic=speaking peoples do figure prominently in the history of Europe and North America, and their role is more complex than as the inherently primitive and intransigent "Other." Although certain aspects of the definition of "Celtic" have troubled scholars for decades, since the mid-1990s there has been renewed deliberation about the usefulness and historicity of the label "Celtic." Mainstream practitioners of Celtic Studies have attempted to answer their critics by grounding their definitions in specific linguistic and cultural features which are often reflected in material culture as well as in literature over a wide range of time and space.

Identity and ethnicity are subjective and context-specific concepts open to constant reinterpretation. The dynamic and contested nature of the application of these concepts will be made explicit in the numerous annotations attached to the artifacts in the web site collection. Attempts to define "Celticity" lead naturally to examining ideas about culture and identity.

Discussion of identity, culture, and migration has obvious relevance to the understanding of America itself. An awareness of the fluid nature of ethnicity, and of American identity as determined largely by choice and self-identification, can promote inclusiveness and tolerance. An appreciation for the diversity within our own nation, and a better understanding of the breadth of cultures outside of the United States, is essential in fostering a spirit of mutual respect and co-operation fundamental to any nation aspiring to international leadership.

Despite the potential of Celtic Studies to inform aspects of European, British and American Studies, and the increased popular interest among students in schools and universities, the field of Celtic Studies remains underdeveloped in American academia. The leading essay in the first yearbook of the Celtic Studies Association of North America warns that the field is in a critical state in North America:

Celtic Studies is at risk of attenuating and perhaps even disappearing as an academic field outside of Celtic countries. The field presents a paradox: despite the much more lively presence of Celtic Studies in certain areas of the academy in the last 30 years [...], there are signs of the waning of scholarly and administrative support for the field, with fewer appointments in the field, fewer library resources allocated, and so forth. More conservative, in part as a function of being smaller fields that are de facto controlled by mentoring and patronage systems centered on a small number of senior scholars, Celtic Studies and other traditional humanistic disciplines have not always kept up with the changes that have transformed the humanities in the last 50 years. Such disciplines find it difficult to compete with more ‘glitzy’ fields in the humanities in the attempt to secure scarce resources.

Why an Online Collaboratory?

The neglect of this field has had a corresponding effect on the educational canon: the ancient and modern Celts are generally overlooked in textbooks about art, history and literature. This website will provide a vital resource for teachers at high school and university levels, providing an introduction to the study of Celtic peoples based on the modern, mainstream discipline of Celtic Studies. It will allow the reader to put material artifacts, historical documents, and literature in their larger cultural and historical contexts, and to reveal the interaction between, and varied interpretation of, scholars in the many fields in the humanities.

The Finding the Celtic Project is intended to serve as a catalyst to the development of Celtic Studies in the United States by providing a low-barrier means of publishing primary sources (representations of material artifacts, textual documents, etc.) and the latest interpretations of these sources. FtC will enable users to access little known resources and to participate in "virtual" dialogues with experts engaged in this and related fields. Our extensions of the COLLEX technology will have important spin-off benefits for other digital humanities projects.

We should all support and use this excellent resource! Well done to the Project members.

[Source]

Pic: BBC Merlin Ning

When you think of Merlin, instantly the image of a man with a long white beard, pointy hat and a gnarly staff helping a great king springs to mind. But where does this very distinct, vivid image come from, queries the BBC?

It’s certainly very different from the Merlin depicted in the new BBC drama series beginning on Saturday, which will tell a family-friendly story of the wizard in his formative years.

But the "reality" of the character through the ages is actually quite diverse.

In the TV documentary Merlin – The Legend, historians and experts discuss his origins, his influence through the ages and his supposed Welsh links.

It was the little-known clergyman Geoffrey of Monmouth who first wrote about Merlin in the 12th century in his book The History of the Kings of Briton.

According to Dr Juliette Wood from Cardiff university, the Merlin who appeared in his writing was not a real person, but a figment of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s imagination.

Geoffrey’s purpose was to create a myth for the new Anglo-Norman aristocracy because they had left France and they had to justify who they were and why they were conquering this new country.

she tells Merlin – The Legend.

In order to do this he draws on Welsh tradition and he creates this powerful magician figure who becomes the person who organises the birth of Arthur and looks after King Arthur.

Merlin is a fusion of two characters. One is wonder child Ambrosius, the other is the bard Merddyn Wilt and Geoffrey simply says that there was a character called Merlinus Ambrosius and suddenly we have Merlin.

According to Dr Wood, Geoffrey not only connected Merlin with the origins of the country in his book but also with Stonehenge telling stories which manipulated his audience into believing he had magical powers without ever stating categorically that he did.

Merlin is also a re-appearing figure in the famous Black Book of Carmarthen, which was written 750 years ago.

Maredudd ap Huw from the National Library of Wales said that here he was depicted as a very sorry, tragic character.

He has obviously had some bad experiences in a battle. He has become a figure who is living wild outside the boundaries of society.

He explained.

And from the hardship that he had suffered out came this wisdom that was respected by other people and held in high esteem. In other medieval texts, it seems Merlin’s character becomes more established and art historian Peter Lord says the reappearing character of an old, bearded man in a long gown makes him seem like a "medieval hoody". Geoffrey of Monmouth has it of course that Carmarthen was the birthplace of the wizard. He supposedly lived in a cave on the hill overlooking the town and it is also thought the cave is his tomb.

Pic: Dummidumbwit

A festival celebrating Carmarthen’s links with Arthurian legend has been running in the town since 2004 and people from all over the world make pilgrimages to the town.

During the time of the Tudors, it is thought the character of Merlin and King Arthur were used to bring stability to the country after the wars of the Roses. This is demonstrated in Thomas Malory’s epic Le Morte D’Arthur.

Here Merlin is depicted as an advisor to his king and a stabilising influence from the old world in the tumultuous modern times.

In the 17th and 18th Centuries, a growing interest in ancient Britain led to Merlin being depicted as a druid and bardic figure in both literature and art.

And in the 19th Century, as the world went industrial, Merlin was depicted more as a romantic figure. He is overwhelmed by the seductive wiles of a woman in stories and art.

It is perfect for the 19th Century because of the strong gender polarities.

said Dr Wood.

Here is masculine, patriarchal Merlin with all of its own certainties giving way to this very, very seductive, very attractive but slightly dangerous power of femininity.

Even Nazi Germany is said to have seized on Merlin’s powerful image to create their own myths and national identity.

The head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler is believed to have seen himself as a Merlin type figure who would advise the king – Hitler.

Their seizing of the Arthurian legends led to friends and fantasy authors JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis drawing on the complex Merlin associations to wage a literary war on the Nazis.

But what about now? What relevance does the bearded 12th Century wizard have on our technology-obsessed, disconnected and alienated society?

Pic: 1to10 Reviews

According to Dr Wood, his influence is alive and well in everything from Harry Potter to new age spiritualism. You can find him in Dumbledore and in Harry Potter himself. Through him children can do what they have always wanted to do which is become magicians themselves. she said.

People now are very interested in somehow getting into a spiritual nature and Merlin has really become a Shaman.

This is something that reflects the earliest Merlin, who was taken over by this kind of poetical ecstasy.

Whatever you take from the tales and depictions of Merlin, he has certainly been a powerful and influential character since he was created around 800 years ago. If only he was real…

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Pic: Wiki

The map to the left shows us the spread of the Anglo-Saxon peoples amongst the Celtic peoples furing the fifth century. As usual, click on the picture to enlarge it. Wiki says: In the fifth century, raids on Britain by continental peoples had developed into full-scale migrations. The newcomers are known to have included Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians, and there is evidence of other groups as well. These groups captured territory in the east and south of England, but at about the end of the fifth century, a British victory at the battle of Mons Badonicus halted the Anglo-Saxon advance for fifty years. Beginning about 550, however, the British began to lose ground once more, and within twenty-five years it appears that control of almost all of southern England was in the hands of the invaders.

Kent appears to have been conquered by the Anglo-Saxons prior to Mons Badonicus. There is both documentary and archaeological evidence that Kent was colonized primarily by Jutes, from the southern part of the Jutland peninsula. According to a well-known legend, Hengist and Horsa, two brothers, landed in 449 as mercenaries for a British king, Vortigern.

After a rebellion over pay and the death of Horsa in battle, Hengist established the kingdom of Kent. This account now is thought by some historians to be mostly legendary, although essentially the underlying story of a rebelling mercenary force may be accurate, and the date for the founding of the kingdom of Kent is thought to be approximately the middle of the fifth-century, in agreement with the legend.

This early date, only a few decades after the departure of the Romans, also suggests that more of Roman civilization may have survived into Anglo-Saxon rule in Kent, than in other areas.

The Anglo-Saxon invasion may have involved military coordination of different groups within the invaders, with a leader who had authority over many different groups and Ælle of Sussex may have been such a leader. Once the new states began to form, conflicts among them began and dominance of the other nations could lead to wealth in the form of tribute. A weaker state also might ask for the protection of a stronger neighbour against a warlike third state.

Overlordship, for either reason, was a central feature of Anglo-Saxon politics; it is known to have begun before Æthelberht’s time, although the details are unknown, and kings were being described as overlords in this sense, as late as the ninth century.

Sources for this period in Kentish history include The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written in 731 by Bede, a Northumbrian monk. Bede was interested primarily in the Christianization of England, but since Æthelberht was the first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity, Bede provides more substantial information about him than about any earlier king. One of Bede’s correspondents was Albinus, who was abbot of the monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul (subsequently renamed St. Augustine’s) in Canterbury.

Also of importance is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of annals assembled in about 890 in the kingdom of Wessex, which mentions several events in Kent during Æthelberht’s reign. In addition to these, there is a history of the Franks written in the late sixth century by Gregory of Tours which mentions events in Kent. This is the earliest surviving source to mention any Anglo-Saxon kingdom.

Some of Pope Gregory the Great’s letters survive that relate to the mission of St. Augustine to Kent in 597; these letters provide information about the mission specifically, but also can be used to draw conclusions about the state of Kent and its relationships with its neighbours. Other sources include regnal lists of the kings of Kent and early charters.

Charters were documents drawn up to record grants of land by kings to their followers or to the church, and they provide some of the earliest documentary sources in England. None survive in original form from Æthelberht’s reign, but some later copies exist. There also is a surviving lawcode of Æthelberht’s.

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Pic: Ireland History.org

The opinion is held widely but, it would seem, erroneously, that the copy of the Four Gospels seen in St. Brigid’s Convent Kildare, by Giraldus Cambrensis in 1185 was no other than the Book of Kells. This marvellous volume is often referred to as the Gospel-book of Kildare and, if other than the Book of Kells, has disappeared for ever. Of it Giraldus said :  It contains the Four Gospels according to St. Jerome, and almost every page is illustrated by drawings illuminated with a variety of brilliant colours. In one page we see the countenance of the Divine Majesty supernaturally pictured, in another the mystic forms of the Evangelists, with either six, four or two wings : here is depicted the eagle, there the calf; here the face of a man, there of a lion, with other figures in almost endless variety. . .

If you apply yourself to a close examination and are able to penetrate the secrets of the art displayed in these pictures, you will find them so delicate and exquisite, so finely drawn, and the work of interlacing so elaborate, while the colours with which they are illuminated are so blended, and still so fresh, that you will be ready to assert all this is the work of angelic not of human skill. The more often and closely I scrutinise them, the more I am surprised, always finding them new, and discovering fresh causes for increased admiration.

This book, Giraldus says further, was reputed to have been written in the time of the virgin, St. Brigid. Others attribute the "Book of Kells" in its original form to Colm Cille.

Excellent though the penwork of the Book of Kells unquestionably is, it is held by some to be surpassed by portions of the Book of Armagh, completed in 807 by Ferdomnach the scribe, who died in 845. Of this work Professor Westwood, who examined it with a magnifying glass says : "I have counted in a small space, scarcely three quarters of an inch in length by half an inch in width, in the Book of Armagh no less than one hundred and fifty-eight interlacements of a slender ribbon pattern formed of white lines edged with black ones." Other beautifully ornamented and illuminated manuscripts are the Book of Durrow and the Garland of Howth preserved in Trinity College, Dublin, the Stowe Missal in the Royal Irish Academy, and the Gospels of Mac Riaghail, written by a scribe of Biorra in the beginning of the ninth century, and preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.

The Oldest Writing Appliances on Record

Pic: Ireland History.org

Taimhlidhe and Tamhlorgain are the oldest writing appliances on record. They were birch tablets and staves, often coated with wax, on which the inscription was impressed with a graph or style. These were in use in Pagan times and subsequently. Bards were entitled to use the tamhlorga for protection against dogs. The tamhlorga was sometimes called a slisneach. The people of Connacht are said to have regarded slisneacha as swords when seen in the possession of Patrick and his followers as they approached, and so thought to murder them. These again were superseded by parchment, pen and ink : the parchment was made from the skins of goats, sheep, c’alves ; the pens from the quills of geese, crows and swans.

Thus came books and illumination, and for the protection of the books came satchels, covers, shrines, some of the latter very beautiful. A book-satchel is mentioned among a number of presents given by St. Patrick to Fiach bishop of Sletty ; and Colm Cille, according to the Leabhar Breac, blessed one hundred polaires noble, one coloured. In the Tripartite Life,2 the polaire is defined as a tablet. " An alphabet is written for him " is quite a frequent statement in the Life of the Apostle, particularly on occasions of ordination or consecration.

Illumination developed rapidly after the coming of the faith. St. Doig of Inniskeen, who flourished in the sixth century, was " a most skilful writer of books," and St. Ultan is referred to in the next century as " a most accomplished writer and illuminator of books." Penmanship was brought to extraordinary perfection in the monasteries. Even the ink was unique, some of the illumination preserving its original freshness after the lapse of centuries. The great glory of Irish illuminated manuscripts is the " Book of Kells," a vellum copy of the Four Gospels, in Latin. When stolen out of the sacristy at Kells, in Meath, in 1006, the Annals referred to it as the great Gospel of Colm Cille, " the principal relic of the western world on account of its cover." Though the penmanship appears to have been regarded as of no exceptional excellence by comparison with other native manuscripts of the period, Margaret Stokes extolled it thus :

It is no exaggeration to say that, as with the microscopic works of nature, the stronger the magnifying power brought to bear upon it, the more is its perfection seen. No single false interlacement or uneven curve in the spirals, no faint trace of a trembling hand or a wandering thought can be detected. This is the very passion of labour and devotion, and thus did the Irish scribe work to glorify his book.

It is the most astonishing book of the Four Gospels which exists in the world," declares Professor Westwood of Oxford. And, referring to the designs, he adds : " How men could have eyes and tools to work them out, I am sure I, with all the skill and knowledge in such kind of work which I have been exercising for the last fifty years, cannot conceive. I know pretty well all the libraries in Europe, where such books as this occur, but there is no such book in any of them . . . there is nothing like it in all the books that were written for Charlemagne and his successors.

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