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Celtic mythology is the body of belonging to the Celts.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) The Ancient Celts. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed a polytheistic religion, having many gods and goddesses. The mythologies of continental Celtic peoples, such as the Gauls and Celtiberians, did not survive their conquest by the Roman Empire, the loss of their Celtic languages and their subsequent conversion to Christianity. Only remnants are found in Greco-Roman sources and archaeology. Most surviving Celtic mythology belongs to the Insular Celts peoples (the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland; the Celtic Britons of western Great Britain and Brittany). They preserved some of their myths in oral lore, which were eventually written down by Christian scribes in the Middle Ages. Irish mythology has the largest written body of myths, followed by Welsh mythology.
The supernatural race called the Tuatha Dé Danann is believed to be based on the main Celtic gods of Ireland, while many Welsh characters belong either to the Plant Dôn ("Children of Dôn") or the Plant Llŷr ("Children of Llŷr"). Some figures in Insular Celtic myth have ancient continental parallels: Irish Lugh and Welsh Lleu are cognate with Lugus, Goibniu and Gofannon with Gobannus, Aengus and Mabon with Maponos, and so on. One common figure is the sovereignty goddess, who represents the land and bestows sovereignty on a king by marrying him. The Otherworld is also a common motif, a parallel realm of the supernatural races, which is visited by some mythical heroes. Celtic myth influenced later Arthurian legend.
The nature and functions of these ancient gods can be deduced from their names, the location of their inscriptions, their iconography, the Roman mythology they are equated with, and similar figures from later bodies of Celtic mythology.
Celtic mythology is found in distinct if related, subgroups, largely corresponding to the branches of the Celtic languages:
Rome introduced a more widespread habit of public inscriptions and broke the power of the druids in the areas it conquered; in fact, most inscriptions to deity discovered in Gaul (modern France and Northern Italy), Roman Britain and other formerly (or presently) Celtic-speaking areas post-date the Roman conquest.
Though early Gaels in Ireland and parts of Wales used Ogham script to record short inscriptions (largely personal names), more sophisticated literacy was not introduced to Celtic areas that had not been conquered by Rome until the advent of Christianity. Many Gaelic myths were first recorded by Christian monks, albeit without most of their original religious meanings.
The myths are conventionally grouped into 'cycles'. The Mythological Cycle, or Cycle of the Gods, consists of tales and poems about the god-like Túatha Dé Danann and other mythical races. Many of the Tuath Dé are thought to represent Irish deities. They are often depicted as kings, queens, druids, bards, warriors, heroes, healers and craftsmen who have supernatural powers. Prominent members of the Tuath Dé include The Dagda ("the great god"), who seems to have been the chief god; The Morrígan ("the great queen" or "phantom queen"), a triple goddess associated with war, fate and sovereignty; Lugh; Nuada; Aengus; Brigid; Manannán; Dian Cecht the healer; and Goibniu the smith, one of the Trí Dé Dána ("three gods of craft"). (2026). 9780141941394, Penguin. ISBN 9780141941394 Their traditional rivals are the monstrous Fomorians (Fomoire), whom the Tuath Dé defeated in the Cath Maige Tuired ("Battle of Moytura"). Other important works in the cycle are the Lebor Gabála Érenn ("Book of Invasions"), a history of Ireland, and the Aided Chlainne Lir ("Children of Lir").
The Ulster Cycle consists of heroic legends about the Ulaid. It focuses on the mythical Ulster king Conchobar mac Nessa and his court at Emain Macha, the hero Cú Chulainn, and their conflict with the Connachta and queen Medb. The longest and most important tale is the epic Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley).
The Fianna Cycle is about the exploits of the mythical hero Fionn and his warrior band the Fianna, including the lengthy Acallam na Senórach ("Tales of the Elders").
The Kings' Cycle comprises legends about historical and semi-historical kings of Ireland (such as Buile Shuibhne, "The Madness of King Sweeny"), and tales about the origins of dynasties and peoples.
There are also mythical texts that do not fit into any of the cycles; these include the tales of journeys to the Otherworld (such as The Voyage of Bran), and the Dindsenchas ("lore of places"). Some written material has not survived, and many more myths were probably never written down.
While further mythological names and references appear elsewhere in Welsh narrative and tradition, especially in the tale of Culhwch and Olwen, where we find, for example, Mabon ap Modron ("Divine Son of the Divine Mother"), and in the collected Welsh Triads, not enough is known of the British mythological background to reconstruct either a narrative of creation or a coherent pantheon of British deities. Though there is much in common with Irish myth, there may have been no unified British mythological tradition per se. Whatever its ultimate origins, the surviving material has been put to good use in the service of literary masterpieces that address the cultural concerns of Wales in the early and later Middle Ages.
According to the Syrian rhetorician Lucian, Ogmios was supposed to lead a band of men chained by their ears to his tongue as a symbol of the strength of his eloquence.
The first-century Roman poet Lucan mentions the gods Taranis, Toutatis and Esus, but there is little Celtic evidence that these were important deities.
A number of objets d'art, coins, and altars may depict scenes from lost myths, such as the representations of Tarvos Trigaranus or of an equestrian ‘Jupiter’ surmounting the Anguiped (a snake-legged human-like figure). The Gundestrup cauldron has also been interpreted mythically.
Along with dedications giving us god names, there are also deity representations to which no name has yet been attached. Among these are images of a three-headed or three-faced god, a squatting god, a god with a snake, a god with a wheel, and a horseman with a kneeling giant. Some of these images can be found in Bronze Age Bog in Britain, indicating the symbols were both pre-Roman and widely spread across Celtic culture. The distribution of some of the images has been mapped and shows a pattern of central concentration of an image along with a wide scatter, indicating these images were most likely attached to specific tribes and were distributed from some central point of tribal concentration outward along the lines of trade. The image of the three-headed god is centrally concentrated among the Belgae, between the Oise, Marne, and Moselle rivers. The horseman with the kneeling giant is centered on either side of the Rhine. These examples seem to indicate regional preferences for a common image stock.
Mercury was the most venerated of all the deities, and numerous representations of him were to be discovered. Mercury was seen as the originator of all the arts (and is often taken to refer to Lugus for this reason), the supporter of adventurers and of traders, and the mightiest power concerning trade and profit.
Next the Gauls revered Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva. Among these divinities, Caesar described the Gauls as holding roughly equal views as other populations: Apollo dispels sickness, Minerva encourages skills, Jupiter governs the skies, and Mars influences warfare. MacBain argues that Apollo corresponds to Lugh, Mercury to Manannan mac Lir, Jupiter to the Dagda, Mars to Neit, and Minerva to Brigit.
In addition to these five, Caesar mentions that the Gauls traced their ancestry to a god he likened to Dis Pater (possibly Irish Donn).
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