Celtic Jewelry

Celtic Jewelry is one of my most admired forms of Celtic art. As I have mentioned before, Celtic art and history are my passions.

As usual, my favorite pieces of Celtic jewelry come from the ancient past. But today’s jewelry is not that much different. As Celts, we still wear brooches, necklaces, rings, and other items that echo the styling of the ancient Celts. Even torcs are making a comeback with history enthusiasts, myself included.

As for ancient jewelry, I admire several specific pieces. I am endlessly impressed with the craftsmanship of the ancient Celts and what the accomplished. May people cannot do such tasks even with the help of machinery. But the ancients did it all from what they got from the earth. I do not think many people give ancient artifacts the appreciation they truly deserve. And so much can be learned from them.

When you type in a search for Celtic jewelry, what you get is mostly shopping websites that sell Celtic rings, specifically Claddaghs. I always knew Claddaghs to be Irish rings of love, but did not know what they meant exactly until recently. Claddaghs are as symbol of not only love, but friendship and loyalty as well. You can learn more about the Claddagh on the Celtic Symbol Dictionary.

My favorite modern Celtic jewelry is of course the sterling silver Knotwork rings, earrings, and necklaces usually found in matching sets. Several years ago, my mother gave me a Knotwork ring with a blue glass stone. It has always been my favorite ring and the stone is the same color as my birthstone. There are other rings similar to it, but I have not seen one that is identical.

Celtic jewelry is some of the most beautiful jewelry in the world. It is worn by not just those with a Celtic heritage, but by other who also appreciate its beauty.

Read more about historical and modern Celtic Jewelry.

Celtic Art

Celtic Art is widely admired by people of today and times long past. History, art, and Celtic culture are the three things I absolutely love. Today, many people associate Celtic art with simply Knotwork and Illumination, but there is so much more!

Often today, people think of Celtic art as mostly Knotwork. However, Knotwork was originally more Germanic, brought to Celtic lands by the Saxons and Vikings. Knotwork did not appear in Celtic culture until around the 500s CE, after the start of converting the pagan Celts to Christianity and Saxon invasions. Knotwork is prevalent in ancient Scandinavian art. As the Celts were geographically close to Scandinavian countries and endured Viking invasions, it is more than reasonable to understand how the two cultures would influence each other artistically. To me, pure Celtic art is the styles from before any invaders influenced Celtic style. However, today Knotwork is known only as Celtic and as the Celtic art by most.

My personal favorite is art from the Le Tene period. The Le Tene period of Celtic art started in the sixth century BCE and lasted until the Roman conquest. This also happens to be my preferred time of Celtic history in general. Le Tene is named after the spot in which the first artifact of its style was found. This style of Celtic art is comprised of mostly spirals and animal designs inlaid with coral, stone, or enamel. It is found on personal items, weaponry, and vessels. Actually, nearly everything was decorated as the Celts took great pride in their appearance and showing their wealth. In fact, artisans were among the privileged class during this time in Celtic history. Hallstatt art is also art of great beauty. I am always amazed by the detail and near perfection displayed in ancient Celtic art. Both the Le Tene and Hallstatt periods are considered prehistoric. As a prehistoric society, the Celts of the Bronze and Iron Ages created amazing pieces of work. It is astounding to consider what an ancient artisan would have to go through to create such a piece of art.

Regardless of one’s own personal preference, there is a ton of art produced by the Celts to appreciate and new artwork is being created all the time by modern Celts. Celtic art is something that just about everyone loves regardless of heritage.

Click here to read more about Celtic Art!

The Legend of King Arthur

The Legend of King Arthur is a popular story that almost everyone loves. The tale of how Arthur, the son of the High King, destined to rule Britain is often a dreamy but tragic story of bravery, honor, adventure, love, betrayal, and sadness.

There are several different versions of how the legend goes. However, the common telling is of a young man who obtains a magical sword and with the support of the Knights of the Round Table, rules successfully. There is also always the account of Lancelot who betrays Arthur by having an affair with his wife Guinevere. In most stories, Arthur eternally rests in Avalon after being fatally wounded by Modred.

Often the details that change from story to story are the relationships. An individual may have a different name or relation to Arthur when compared with other accounts. Arthur’s own foster parent(s) are also different at times. Other changes are the order in which events happen, if they happen at all. In some versions, components are left out altogether.

My favorite version is the one written by Marion Zimmer Bradley called the Mists of Avalon. It is a more modern rendition of the Arthurian legend and takes the point of view of Arthur’s half sister Morgan le Fay, or Morgaine in the book. I suppose it could be the imagery that attracts me, or the fact that it’s from a woman’s point of view, but generally I like how each of the characters are portrayed. The personalities just seem more human and probable than in other stories where the personalities are exaggerated. Of course, there are other reasons I like this version above others.

The story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is such a widespread legend that there are similar tales within other cultures as well. Even within the Celtic culture, there are multiple names for some of the characters. New ideas about the legendary King Arthur continue to appear even in modern culture. Multiple movies have been made on the subject and I cannot image the telling of the tale would end anytime soon.

You can read more about the Legend of King Arthur here.

Clothing of the Ancient Celts

What the Celts wore throughout history has changed over the centuries and ranges from a variety of different styles depending on region, but during the time when the Celtic peoples populated much of Europe, there was a general style that they all seemed to follow. Like the rest of their culture, their clothing may have followed a common idea, but the individual style and decoration varied.

In the article about the Clothing of the Ancient Celts, we learn what their wardrobe generally consisted of. It is fascinating to see, as with most civilizations, how fashions and tastes changed in time to reflect what was popular and what was influenced by outside sources. Prior to the Roman Conquest, the Celtic fondness for attractive possessions and new and interesting things effected what their own items looked like. Even before being conquered by any other nation, they practiced trading, often with the Greeks. But archaeology shows that they may have traveled much further than the Classical world as remains of people of Celtic origin have been found as far East as Asia. This would suggest that they may have even traded with goods from that far away. There is other evidence that they had imported goods from Turkey and we know that some Celts did indeed travel there.

Looking back at the origins of Celtic garb, we can see where the kilt may have originated. The ancients wove their cloth into patterns similar to those seen today, including checkered patterns. Their tunics made from this patterned cloth was worn with a belt and could easily resemble the makings of a simplified kilt. Over time, styles changed and a large plaid cloth was wrapped around the body to create the original kilt, also known as the Great Kilt. Nowadays, kilts are pretty much ready to wear and don’t commonly involve wrapping seven to nine yards of fabric around your body.

Celtic clothing is a topic that requires a lot of attention, not only because fashion changes over the years, but also because much of what we know about what they wore is from accounts told by observers of their culture, not by the Celts themselves. There is still some missing information as to just what exactly the Celtic people dress in even up to as recently as the 18th century.

Celtic Social Structure | Ancient Civilizations

The composition of society and how it’s managed is something that affects everyone in every day whether we take the time to acknowledge it or not. Throughout time there have been many ways a civilization has been organized, be it socialism, capitalism, a republic, democracy, etc. It is a subject of debate even these days as we continually try to find the best possible way to manage a society. There are many similarities between today’s societies and that of previous time in history.

One thing that is standard in all cultures is the hierarchy. All have a ruler, upper and middle classes, and a lower class. A person’s profession and wealth was, and still is, often the determining factor upon which class that person is classified in. There are a set number of laws, either written or understood, and a common religion is often attached to the culture and can even have influence over the governmental aspects. The Romans may be the most well known ancient culture that is closest to our own modern American government. They had elected officials, collected taxes that funded public works, and were the superpower of the ancient world. But although the Romans had what could be seen as an advanced culture compared to the political systems that came after it, there are other societies that were sophisticated in their own right and should probably be applied today. I feel that the social structure of the Celts is one of those societies.

Unlike the Romans, and most other cultures, the Celts gave equal rights and made fair provisions for the women of their population far before the women’s liberation movement of the 1800s in America. Celtic women would shared the same rights as men and would even take part in war and. Even though it wasn’t common, they could become rulers and retain their own property.

Aside from equal rights between genders, it seemed as though the Celtic people had an answer for everything and judged individual issues with the guidance of their laws. Unlike today in the US, people of superior status in the Celtic world were held to a higher standard. If they broke the law, they would be reprimanded more than a person of a lower status because they were supposed to be setting the example for the rest of the population. Unfortunately, this is not what it is like today, but perhaps it should be. Too often are our “superiors” allowed to get away with breaking the law when average citizens cannot.

These are only a few examples of how the laws and the social order of Celts were more sophisticated and reasonable than not only almost every other culture in history, but in some instances even ours. The regulations of the Brehons, written down my Christian monks, are complex and fascinating.

If you would like to know more about the basic community organization of the ancient Celts, read the Celtic Social Structure article on the Celtic Encyclopedia.