The carnyx is a wind instrument that was common in Celts during the Iron Age, between and . It is a type of trumpet made of bronze with an elongated S shape, held so that the long straight central portion was vertical and the short mouthpiece end section and the much wider bell were horizontal in opposed directions. The bell was styled in the shape of the head of an open-mouthed boar or other animal.
The Celts used the carnyx in warfare, probably to incite troops to battle and to intimidate opponents, as Polybius recounts.
Etymology
The word
carnyx is derived from the
Gaulish root
carn- or
cern-, meaning 'antler' or 'horn,' and the same root of the name of the god
Cernunnos.
[Delmarre, 1987, pp. 106–107] It is cognate with the
Welsh language corn and
carn.
Archaeology
Symbolism
In Iron Age Britain, animal symbolism deliberately conveys aggression and ferocity, with examples including a
boar on the
Witham Shield, the snouted
Deskford carnyx in Scotland and the dragon pair sword scabbard from the
River Thames.
There is evidence to suggest that the carnyx would be held by a chieftain, as shown by a potential Gaulish king Bituitus figure.
Tintignac
In 2004, archaeologists discovered a first-century-BC Gallic pit at
Tintignac in Corrèze, France. The deposit contained more than 500 fragments of metal objects, including seven carnyces, one of which was nearly complete. Prior to this discovery, fragments of only five carnyces had been found, in modern-day Scotland, France, Germany, Romania, and Switzerland.
Four of the carnyces had boar's heads, the fifth appears to be a serpent-like monster; they appear to represent a ritual deposit dating to soon after the Roman conquest of Gaul.
The Tintignac finds enabled some fragments found in northern Italy decades before to be identified in 2012 as coming from a carnyx.
[ UPI.com Carnyx identified in Italy]
Tattershall Ferry, Lincolnshire
The first example found in Britain was dredged from the
River Witham at Tattershall Ferry (), Lincolnshire, in 1768. It is interpreted as a
votive offering consigned into the river during the Iron Age. Made from hammered sheets of
bronze fastened together with tin solder, it was destroyed during an attempt to analyse the composition of the metal used to make it.
Deskford, Banffshire
The next example found in Britain is the Deskford Carnyx, discovered at the farm of Leitchestown (
),
Deskford,
Banffshire, Scotland, in 1816. Seemingly, it too was placed as a ritual deposit. Only the boar's-head bell survives. It was donated to Banff Museum, and is now on loan from Aberdeenshire Museums Service to the Museum of Scotland. The location and age of the Deskford Carnyx in the Pictish heartland suggests the instrument may have had a ceremonial use and was not used only in warfare. Before 2004 this was the best surviving example, and generally copied in earlier reconstructions.
[Hunter]
The Deskford find was made almost entirely of brass, a metal used almost exclusively by the Romans after their conquest of Southern Britannia and strictly controlled by them, so just as with the vast majority of Iron Age and Roman-era Celtic brass found in Britain, the carnyx may have been made "with some care" from recycled metal.
Norfolk
In 2025 a collection of
Iron Age military hardware was unearthed in west Norfolk, within the former territory of the
Iceni tribe.
The items were probably buried within the first century AD. The finds included a bronze carnyx, a bronze war standard in the shape of a boar's head, and five
. The carnyx requires extensive conservation but is exceptionally complete: one conservator described it as "the most complete carnyx ever found".
It is unusual or unique in having the ears of the animal head intact.
Roman archaeology
Roman-struck coins suggest that a war trumpet was used by the Celts, which they called a carnyx. These celtic trumpets are dissimilar to Roman trumpets that are not described as having a "monster headed extremity".
The Celtic or Gaulic carnyx was used by the Celts in a similar way to how a standard functioned for the Romans and there is an example of a Dragon-headed carnyx in the base of Trajan's Column.
The carnyx has been described as identical to a
Dacian draco. There is a clear similarity between Celtic carnyx and the Dacian La Tène dragon standard and jewellery with dragons and serpents.
A dragon-headed carnyx also appears to be held by a Gaulic woman on the breastplate of Augustus.
Others
-
The carnyx also appears on the side of the Gundestrup cauldron.
-
A small bronze boar carnyx dating from the Iron Age was found in Suffolk, England in 2021.
Literature
The name is known from textual sources, carnyces are reported from the Celtic attack on the
Delphi in 279 BC, as well as from
Julius Caesar's campaign in
Gaul and the
Claudius invasion of Britannia in 43 CE by
Aulus Plautius. Around 60—30 BC,
Diodorus Siculus wrote:
- Their trumpets again are of a peculiar barbarian kind; they blow into them and produce a harsh sound which suits the tumult of war.
[Diodorus Siculus, Histories: 5.30]
Objects from Tintignac
Objects found at
Tintignac were exhibited at the 2012 exhibition "Les Gaulois, une expo renversante" (
The Gauls, a stunning exhibition).
File:CarnyxDeTintignac1.jpg|The carnyx of Tintignac, discovered in Corrèze, France
Image:CarnyxDeTintignac2.jpg|A carnyx found at Tintignac
Image:CarnyxDeTintignac3.jpg|A carnyx found at Tintignac
Image:CasqueCygneDeTintignac.jpg|A helmet in the shape of the head of a bird, found at Tintignac
Other objects
File:Museum of ScotlandDSCF6322.jpg|The Leichestown Deskford carnyx and reconstruction, Museum of Scotland
File:Laténium-oreille-carnyx.jpg|Piece from a carnyx, Switzerland
Modern reconstructions
The reconstruction of the Deskford Carnyx was initiated by Dr. John Purser, and commenced in 1991 funded jointly by the Glenfiddich Living Scotland award and the National Museums of Scotland. In addition to John Purser as musicologist, the team consisted of the archaeologist Fraser Hunter, silversmith John Creed, and trombonist John Kenny. After 2,000 years of silence the reconstructed Deskford Carnyx was unveiled at the National Museum of Scotland in April 1993.
In 1993 Kenny became the first person to play the carnyx in 2,000 years, and has since lectured and performed on the instrument internationally, in the concert hall, on radio, television, and film. There are numerous compositions for the carnyx and it is featured on seven CDs. On 15 March 2003 he performed solo to an audience of 65,000 in the Stade De France in Paris.
On 15 June 2017 "The Music of the Forest", a specially commissioned work by Lakeland composer, Christopher Gibbs, featuring a reconstructed carnyx, received its world premiere at Slaidburn Village Hall. The four-part song cycle evoked the landscape and history of the Forest of Bowland and was performed by the Renaissance Singers of Blackburn Cathedral under the direction of Samuel Hudson. The carnyx was played by John Kenny.
In 2024, the Football Association of Wales commissioned a reconstructed carnyx from a Belgian metalsmith to incorporate into pre-match performances as "another way of expressing our Welsh identity to the world". It was first played before a UEFA Nations League fixture on 19 November 2024, versus Iceland, by a trumpet player from the Barry Horns fans' brass band.
Gallery of reconstructions and reenactors
Bibracte Dumnorix.jpg|French museum display
NMoS Carnyx war-horn at museum's reopening 02.jpg|The Deskford reconstruction at the Museum of Scotland
Hallein Keltenmuseum - Lure.jpg|German reconstructions
Carnyx bagad arduina12200.jpg|French reconstruction
In popular culture
The carnyx is featured in the opening battle scene of the 2000 film
Gladiator, and is used as a musical instrument in the soundtrack of its 2024 sequel
Gladiator II.
It appears in several battle scenes of the French film,
Druids (2001). A carnyx appears near the beginning of the 2012
Pixar computer-animated film
Brave. The carnyx is used in the Gallic soundtrack in
Sid Meier's
Civilization VI. The bard
Cacofonix from the
Asterix series is often pictured carrying or occasionally blowing a carnyx.
See also
-
Dord (musical instrument), another type of Celtic trumpet that has been revived
-
Draco (military standard)
-
Kabura-ya
-
Lituus
-
Lur
Notes
-
Delmarre, Xavier (2003) Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (2nd ed.) Paris: Editions Errance.
External links
