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After Celtic lands became Christianised, there were attempts by Christian writers to euhemerize or even demonize most of the pre-Christian deities, while a few others became Saints in the church. The Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology , who were commonly interpreted as divinities or deified ancestors, were downgraded in Christian writings to ...
Ancient Celtic religion, commonly known as Celtic paganism, [1] [2] [3] was the religion of the ancient Celtic peoples of Europe. Because there are no extant native records of their beliefs, evidence about their religion is gleaned from archaeology, Greco-Roman accounts (some of them hostile and probably not well-informed), and literature from ...
The root also appears in the names of Celtic polities, most prominent among them the Carnutes, meaning something like "the Horned Ones", [5] and in several personal names found in inscriptions. [6] Maier (2010) states that the etymology of Cernunnos is unclear, but seems to be rooted in the Celtic word for "horn" or "antler" (as in Carnonos). [7]
More tentatively, links can be made between ancient Celtic deities and figures in early medieval Irish and Welsh literature, although all these works were produced well after Christianization. The locus classicus for the Celtic gods of Gaul is the passage in Julius Caesar 's Commentarii de Bello Gallico ( The Gallic War , 52–51 BC) in which ...
Irish mythology is the best-preserved branch of Celtic mythology. The myths are conventionally grouped into ' cycles '. The Mythological Cycle consists of tales and poems about the god-like Tuatha Dé Danann , who are based on Ireland's pagan deities, and other mythical races like the Fomorians . [ 1 ]
The Celtic god Sucellus. Though the Celtic world at its height covered much of western and central Europe, it was not politically unified, nor was there any substantial central source of cultural influence or homogeneity; as a result, there was a great deal of variation in local practices of Celtic religion (although certain motifs, for example, the god Lugh, appear to have diffused throughout ...
Many types of trees found in the Celtic nations are considered to be sacred, whether as symbols, or due to medicinal properties, or because they are seen as the abode of particular nature spirits. Historically and in folklore, the respect given to trees varies in different parts of the Celtic world.
The Silver Bough is a work on Celtic folklore by Florence Marian McNeill, a Scottish folklorist. The Silver Branch is the title of the second book in Rosemary Sutcliff's children's book series The Roman Britain Trilogy. [26] The Silver Bough is also the title of a 1948 novel by Scottish novelist Neil M. Gunn. He references frequently the Silver ...