Ancient Celtic women
The
Knowledge of the situation of Celtic women on the European mainland is almost entirely obtained from contemporary Greek and Roman authors, who saw the Celts as barbarians and wrote about them accordingly. Information about Celtic women of the British Isles comes from ancient travel and war narratives, and possibly the orally transmitted myths later reflected in Celtic literature of the Christian era. Written accounts and collections of these myths are only known from the early Middle Ages.
Archaeology has revealed something of the Celtic woman through artefacts (particularly grave goods), which can provide clues about their position in society and material culture.
Duration and extent of Celtic culture
The Celts (
The Celtic mainland was characterised by this culture from c. 800 BC at the earliest until about the fifth century AD (end of the
Linguistically, the Celts were united as speakers of Celtic languages, which were and are Indo-European languages related most closely to German and Latin, with clear common features.[3]
Women in Celtic society
References to Celtic women are rare and, with the exception of medieval source material from Brittany and the British Isles, derived from the writings of the Celts' Greek and Roman neighbours. In addition, the overwhelming majority of these sources come from the first century BC and the first century AD. The main problem, however, is the fact that the term Celtic spans such an enormous area, from Ireland to Anatolia; there is no reason to expect that the position of women was the same over this whole area. Source material must, therefore, be clarified by archaeological evidence, which, however, can only answer certain kinds of questions.
Evidence
Archaeology
Archaeological finds are almost entirely burials; in the Hallstatt culture area, which is the dispersion area of this cultural material, especially at Dürrnberg near Hallein, this material can already be identified as Celtic in the Late Hallstatt phase (sixth century BC). The grave goods of female inhumations indicate cultural exchange with southern Europe, especially the North Italian Este and Villanovan cultures.[4]
Female burials are associated with specific grave goods, such as combs, mirrors, toiletries (nail cutters, tweezers, ear spoons[5]), spinning whorls (flywheel of a pindle, a tool for making yarn,[6]) pottery vessels, necklaces, earrings, hairpins, cloak pins, finger rings, bracelets and other jewellery. A large majority of graves have no gender-specific grave goods, but where such goods are found, they almost always belong to female graves.[7]
The
Another example of a richly furnished female grave is a grave chamber of the necropolis of Göblingen-Nospelt (Luxembourg), containing an amphora of fish sauce (garum fish sauce from Gades was a widely popular food seasoning), a bronze saucepan with strainer lid, a bronze cauldron, two bronze basins with a bronze bucket, a Terra sigillata plate, several clay cups and jugs, a mirror and eight fibulae.[10]
Archaeological finds in the 19th century were often interpreted in light of contemporary ideas about gender without consideration of differences between modern and ancient cultures. Gender roles were assumed to be unalterable and, accordingly, grave goods were identified as "male" or "female" without ambiguity. Only when it became possible to determine the sex of human remains through osteological analysis was this approach revealed as overly simplistic.[11]
Literary sources
Written evidence is first transmitted by the Greeks: the historian and geographer
Among the works of Roman historians are the universal history of
Among later historians, there is also
Social position
Irish: is ó mhnáibh do gabar rath nó amhrath
English: It is women who fortune or misfortune give.
— Irish proverb, Acallam na Senórach (The Colloquy of the Ancients)[13]
Women as secular and religious leaders
The social position of women differed by region and time period. The mainland Celtic "Princess" tombs of Bad Dürkheim,[14] Reinheim,[15] Waldalgesheim[16] and Vix show that women could hold high social positions; but whether their position was a result of their marital status is unclear. Thus modern authors refer to them as both "ladies" and "princesses".[17] The chariot found in the grave of an elite female person in Mitterkirchen im Machland is accompanied by valuable goods like those listed above.[18] Plutarch[19] names the women of Cisalpine Gaul as important judges of disputes with Hannibal. Caesar[20] stresses the "power of life and death" held by husbands over their wife and children. Strabo [21] mentions a Celtic tribe, in which the "Men and women dance together, holding each other's hands", which was unusual among Mediterranean peoples. He states that the position of the sexes relative to each other is "opposite... to how it is with us."[22] Ammianus Marcellinus,[23] in his description of the manners and customs of the Gauls, describes the furor heroicus[24] (heroic fury) of the Gallic women, as "large as men, with flashing eyes and teeth bared."[25]
Recent research has cast doubt on the significance of these ancient authors' statements.[26] The position of Celtic women may have changed, especially under the influence of Roman culture and law, which saw the man as head of his household.[27]
British female rulers, like
Whether a Celtic princess
In later times, female cultic functionaries are known, like Celtic/Germanic seeress
On the lead
Female slaves
According to Caesar, favorite slaves were thrown on their masters' funeral pyres and burnt along with their corpses.[38]
Childrearing
That caring for children was the role of the women is stated by ancient authors. In addition, in families of higher social standing, there was an institution of foster parentage (Old Irish: aite [foster father] and muimme [foster mother], similar to the Gothic atta [dear father], German Mama and English mummy), in which children of household were given away. The cost which the birth parents had to pay to the foster parents was higher for girls than for boys, because their care was considered more expensive. But there was also a form of foster parentage in which no fee was charged, designed to tighten the links between two families.[39]
Matriarchy
Ancient evidence
The mythic rulers of British Celtic legends and the historical queens Boudicca, Cartimandua and (perhaps) Onomarix can be seen only as individual examples in unusual situations, not as evidence of a matriarchy among the Celts. The transmitted texts of pre-Christian sagas and ancient authors speak strongly against its existence.[26]
Modern speculation
The idea of a Celtic matriarchy first developed in the 18th and 19th centuries in connection with the romantic idea of the "
In 1938 in his work Die Stellung der Frau bei den Kelten und das Problem des keltischen Mutterrechts (The Position of the Woman among the Celts and the problem of the Celtic Matriarchy), Josef Weisweiler pointed out the misinterpretation:
About the social structure of the Pre-Indo-European inhabitants of Britain and Ireland we know no more than about the situation of the pre-Celtic inhabitants of what would later be Gaul. […] It is therefore inaccurate and misleading, to speak of a matriarchy of the Celts, since a significant portion of this race was, we know for sure, always and continually organised as a patriarchy
— Josef Weisweiler, Die Stellung der Frau bei den Kelten. p. 272.
The feminist author Heide Göttner-Abendroth assumes a Celtic matriarchy in Die Göttin und ihr Heros (1980), but its existence remains unsubstantiated. Marion Zimmer Bradley depicted a matriarchal reinterpretation of the stories of King Arthur, Lancelot and the Holy Grail in The Mists of Avalon (1987), which were dominated by the female characters. She employed the contrast between the Celtic matriarchal culture and the Christian patriarchy as a theme of her work.[41] Ingeborg Clarus attempted in her book Keltische Mythen (1991) to reduce the Celtic sagas of Britain to a battle between the sexes, as part of her theory about the replacement of a matriarchy by a patriarchy. She thus continues the evolutionary theories of the 19th century. She calls matriarchy the "Pre-Celtic heritage of Ireland", and she claims that the transition to patriarchy took place in the 1st century AD in the time of King Conchobar mac Nessa of Ulster.[42]
Matrilineality
Describing the Celtic expansion into southern and southeastern Europe around 600 BC, Livy claims that the two war leaders Bellovesus and Segovesus elected by the army were the sons of the sister of Ambicatus, king of the Bituriges.[1] Here perhaps matrilineality could be a reason for the selection of these leaders, rather than the king's own sons, but other reasons cannot be ruled out, even if the story is not fictional.[47]
Among the
Legal position
Nearly all of the following legal matters seem to have been similar, with some regional variation, both on the mainland and in the British Isles.
General legal position
General legal equality – not just equality between men and women – was unusual among the Celts; it was only a possibility within social classes, which were themselves gender-defined. Celtic women were originally not allowed to serve as legal
Marriage law
In British Celtic law, women had in many respects (for instance marriage law) a better position than Greek and Roman women.
Caesar provides an example of the subordinate position of women: according to him, men had the power of life and death over their wives, as they did over their children, in a similar manner to the Roman pater familias. If the head of a high ranking family died, his relatives would gather and interrogate the wives as well as the slaves, when the death seemed suspicious. Should they consider their suspicions to be correct, they would burn the wives, after torturing them in every possible way. However, he also describes the financial role of the wives as remarkably self-sufficient.[50]
Caesar also says that among the Britons, up to a dozen men (father, sons and brothers) could jointly possess their women.[51] The resulting children would be assigned to whichever man was willing to marry the woman. Today this is seen as a common cliche of ancient barbarian ethnography and political propaganda intended by Caesar to provide a moral justification for his campaigns.[52]
In general, monogamy was common. Having several legal wives was limited to the higher social classes.[53] Since marriage was seen as a normal agreement between two people (cain lanamna, 'agreement of two'), it could be dissolved by both partners. A "temporary marriage" was also common. The position of the wife (Irish: cét-muinter, 'first of the household', or prím-ben, 'chief woman') was determined by the size of the dowry she brought with her. There were three kinds of marriage: that in which the woman brought more than the man, that in which both brought about equal amounts and finally that in which the woman brought less. If the husband wished to carry out a clearly unwise transaction, the wife possessed a sort of veto power. In a divorce, the wife usually had full control over her dowry. The concubine (Irish: adaltrach, cf. Latin adultera, 'adultress') had much less power and was subordinate to the main wife. She had a legal duty (Lóg n-enech) to assist the first wife in case of illness and could be harassed and injured by her with impunity for the first three days after her marriage, with only very restricted rights of self-defence (pulling hair, scratching and punching back). After these three days, the ordinary punishments would apply to both in the event of injury or murder.[54]
Adultery by the wife, unlike adultery by the husband, could not be atoned for with a fine. A divorce in the case of adultery could only occur with the agreement of both parties and the wife was not permitted to seek one so long as her husband maintained intimate relations with her. If she was pregnant with her husband's child, she could not have intercourse with other men before the birth of the child, even if thrown out by him. These rules were binding for Celtic noblewomen, but they may have been less strictly binding on the lower classes.
Inheritance law
The inheritance law of the British Celts disadvantaged women, especially daughters, in similar ways to marriage law. Only if the inheritance came from the mother or if the daughters originated from the last marriage of a man and the sons from an earlier marriage, were the two genders treated the same.
A daughter inherits no land from her father, except if she has no brothers, if she is an inheriting-daughter (ban-chomarba), and even then she inherits only for her lifetime.
— Josef Weisweiler, Die Stellung der Frau bei den Kelten. pp. 227 f.
After that, the inheritance returned to her paternal relatives (Fine). This institution of the 'inheriting-daughter' has a parallel in ancient Indian law, in which a father without sons could designate his daughter as a putrikā (son-like daughter).[35]
In Gallic law, widows (old Irish: fedb, Welsh: gweddwn, Cornish gwedeu, Breton: intañvez) inherited the entire property left behind by their husband. They could dispose of this property freely, unlike in Old Irish law, in which the widow was under the control of her sons. Only a right to make gifts and a restricted power of sale were granted to her, which was called the bantrebthach ('female householder'). The right to make gifts was restricted to transfers within the family.[55]
Welsh women only received the right to inherit under king Henry II of England (1133–1189).[55]
Cáin Adomnáin
The abbot and saint
... had to stay in a pit so deep that her genitals were covered and had to hold a spit over the fire so long for it to be roasted, further she had to serve as a candlestick holder till it was time to sleep. In battle, she carried her rations on one shoulder and her young child on the other. On her back she bore a 30 foot long pole with an iron hook, with which she would grab opponent amongst her enemies by their braids. Behind her came her husband, who drove her into battle with a fence post. As trophies one took the head or the breasts of the women.
— Adomnan, Cáin Adomnáin[25]
According to legend, an experience of Adomnan and his mother had been the impetus for this legal text. The view of a slain Celtic woman and her child—"mother's blood and milk streaming over"—on the battlefield, shocked his mother so much that she forced her son, by fasting, to compose this law book and to present it to the princes.[56]
Sexuality
In the Trencheng Breth Féne (The Triad of Irish Verdicts, a collection of writings dating from the 14th to the 18th centuries) the three female virtues were listed as virginity before marriage, willingness to suffer, and industriousness in caring for her husband and children.[57]
The ancient authors regularly describe Celtic women as large, crafty, brave and beautiful. Diodorus and Suetonius, in particular, describe the sexual permissiveness of Celtic women. According to Suetonius, Caesar spent a lot of money on sexual experiences in Gaul. His legionnaires sang in the triumph that he had seduced a horde of Gallic women, calling him a "bald whoremonger".[58]
Celtic women were described as fertile, prolific and good breastfeeders. These are all clichés of the Greeks and Romans about barbarian peoples.
The statement of Gerald of Wales that incest had a pervasive presence in the British Isles is false according to modern scholars, since he complains only that a man can marry his cousins in the fifth, fourth and third degrees.[66][67] Incest played a key role in British Celtic myth, such as in Tochmarc Étaíne ('The Courting of Étaín') as in other ancient cultures (like Ancient Egypt or the pair of Zeus and Hera in classical Greece). In actual social life, however, a notable meaning cannot be found.[68]
Health
Skeletal finds in graves provide the following age statistics for the ancient Celts: the average age at death was 35 years old; 38 for men and 31 for women.
Appearance of Celtic women
Clothing
On account of the poor survival rate of materials (cloth, leather) used for clothing, there is only a little archaeological evidence; contemporary images are rare. The descriptions of ancient authors are rather generalistic; only Diodorus transmits something more detailed.[71] According to his report, normal clothing of Celtic men and women was made from very colourful cloth, often with a gold-embroidered outer layer and held together with golden fibulae.[72]
The women's tunic was longer than the men's; a leather or metal belt (sometimes a chain) was tied around the waist. The regional variation in fashion (as well as differences based on age and class) were more complex than the simple tunic. The boldly patterned dresses seen on vases from Sopron in Pannonia were cut like a kind of knee-length maternity dress from stiff material with bells and fringes attached. Tight-waisted skirts with bells in the shape of a crinoline are also depicted. An overdress with a V-shaped cut which was fixed at the shoulders with fibulae was found in Noricum.[73] The chain around the waist had hooks for length adjustments, the leftover chain was hung on a chain-link in a loop. The links of this chain-belt could be round, figure-8 shaped, with cross-shaped or flat intermediate links, doubled, tripled, or more with enamel inlays (see Blood enamel). The so-called Norican-Pannonian belt of Roman times was decorated with open-worked fittings. A pouch was often hung from the belt on the right side.[74]
In the British Isles during the Iron Age, ring-headed pins were often used in place of fibulae on dresses and for fixing hairdos in place. This is demonstrated by the different positions the needles are found in burials.[75]
On a first century AD Celtic gravestone from Wölfnitz , a girl is depicted in Norican clothing. It consists of a straight under-dress (Peplos) which reaches to the ankles, a baggy overdress reaching to the knees, which is fastened at the shoulders with large fibulae. A belt with two ribbons hanging down at the front holds the dress in place. In her right hand she holds a basket, in her left hand she holds a mirror up before her face. On her feet there are pointed shoes. Her hair is mostly straight, but coiffed at the back.[76]
In everyday life, Celtic women wore wooden or leather sandals with small straps (Latin: gallica, 'Gallic shoe').[73] Bound shoes made from a single piece of tanned leather tied together around the ankle are often only detectable in graves from the metal eyelets and fasteners which survive around the feet.[77]
Three mannequins with reconstructed Helvetic/Celtic women's outfits were displayed in the exhibition Gold der Helvetier - Keltische Kostbarkeiten aus der Schweiz (Gold of the Helvetii: Celtic Treasures from Switzerland) at the
Jewelry
Gold jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, rings) were worn as symbols of social class and were often of high craftsmanship and artistic quality. Girls of the Hallstatt and early La Tène culture wore
Over a colourful shirt she wore a twisted gold torc and a thick cloak closed with a fibula.
— Cassius Dio, Roman History 62.2.4
The Hallstatt-period limestone statue of a Celtic woman found at the entrance to the tomb of the "Lady of Vix" wears a torc and sits on a throne.[83]
Head coverings and hairstyles
Since almost no depictions of women survive from the La Tène period, archaeologists must make do with Roman provincial images. In these, women are seldom depicted bare-headed, so that more is known about headcoverings than about hairstyles. Celtic women of this time wore winged caps, felt caps in the shape of upturned cones with veils, cylinder-shaped fur caps, bronze tiaras or circlets. The modius cap was a stiff cap shaped like an inverted cone which was especially common in the first century AD around Virunum. It was worn with a veil and rich decoration and indicated women of the upper class. The veil worn over the cap was often so long that it could cover the entire body. In north Pannonia at the same time, women wore a fur cap, with a spiked brim, a veil cap similar to the Norican one and in later times a turban-like head covering with a veil.[84] Among the Celtiberian women a structure, which consisted of a choker with rods extending up over the head and a veil stretched over the top for shade, was fashionable.[85]
The hair was often shaved above the oiled forehead. In the Hallstatt period, hairnets have been found; in some accounts, individual emphasised braids (up to three) are mentioned, but most women tied their hair back in a braid. The hair was often coloured red or blonde.[86] The seer Fedelm in Irish sagas is described with three braids, two tied around her head and one hanging from the back of her head down to her calves.[84] Unlike married women, unmarried women usually wore the hair untied and without a headcovering.[87]
Hair needles for fixing caps and hairdos in place are common grave finds from the late Hallstatt period. They have ring-shaped heads which could be richly decorated in some regions. From the La Tène period, such needles are only rarely found.[88]
Women in Celtic mythology
In the mainland Celtic area, a great number of
In the mythology of the British Celts almost no goddesses are present. The female figures named in the local Irish sagas mostly derive from female figures of the historically unattested migrations period, which are recounted in the Lebor Gabála Érenn (Book of the Taking of Ireland). They were originally described as mythic people, transformed into deities and later into demons after their respective expulsions by the following wave of invaders - mostly these resided in the Celtic Otherworld. An enumeration of the most important female figures of history (not exclusively Irish) is found in the account of the poet Gilla Mo-Dutu Ó Caiside which is known as the Banshenchas (contains 1147 entries). A similar development occurred in Britain, especially in Wales.
Very often these mythic female figures embody sovereignty over the land or the land itself (see
All kinds of legal issues in marriage are described in the Celtic myths: The marriage of a sister by her brother (
The already mentioned Queen of Connacht, Medb, broke with all conventions and selected her own husbands, whom she later repudiated when she tired of them. To each warrior from whom she desired support, she promised the 'Favour of her leg' (Lebor Gabála Érenn) and even marriage to her daughter Findabair - when Findabair discovers this, she takes her own life out of shame.
Other female figures from Celtic mythology include the weather witch
References
- ^ Ab urbe condita5.34
- ^ a b c Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur. pp. 32 ff.
- ^ Bernhard Maier: Lexikon der keltischen Religion und Kultur. pp. 187, 295 f.
- ^ Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur. pp. 43, 307 f.
- ^ Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Bilder ihrer Kultur. pp. 351, image 658.
- ^ Since the wooden body of the spindle does not survive, it is the clay whorl which is most commonly found in graves; stone weights from wooden looms are also common
- ^ Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, pp. 78, 149, 387, 633, 1849 f.
- ^ Arnulf Krause: Die Welt der Kelten, pp. 131 f.
- ^ Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, p. 810.
- ^ Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, p. 650. The reconstructed grave chamber is depicted in Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Bilder ihrer Kultur. p. 323, image 567.
- ^ Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, pp. 632 f.
- ^ Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur. p. 181.
- ^ Translated from German translation by Josef Weisweiler: Die Stellung der Frau bei den Kelten. p. 233.
- ^ Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, pp. 102 f.
- ^ Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, pp. 1570 f.
- ^ Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, pp. 1971.
- ^ Alexander Demandt: Die Kelten, p. 50; Bernhard Maier: Geschichte und Kultur der Kelten. p. 142.
- ^ Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Bilder ihrer Kultur. p 320, Image 561, 562.
- ^ Plutarch: Mulierum virtutes 6.
- De bello Gallico6,19: … vitae necisque potestatem.
- ^ Strabo Geôgraphiká III 3, 7
- ^ Strabo Geôgraphiká IV 4, 3
- ^ Ammianus Marcellinus Res gestae XV 12, 1
- ^ The name is modern, modelled on the furor Teutonicus of Lucan Bellum Civile 1.255
- ^ a b c Helmut Birkhan. Nachantike Keltenrezeption. pp. 598 f. To understand this statement properly, it is necessary to know that Romans at this time had an average height of 1.5 metres, while Celtic women in the time of Caesar were sometimes 1.55 m tall. They were, therefore, from the point of view of ancient historians, actually as large as (Roman) men.
- ^ a b c d Bernhard Maier: Lexikon der keltischen Religion und Kultur. pp. 132 f.
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- ^ Tacitus, Annales 12,40.
- ^ Tacitus Agricola 16
- ISBN 978-1-85-109440-0, p. 1396; David Rankin: Celts and the Classic World, pp. 248 f.
- Proto-Celtic *ṷelī-s, cf. fili, Welshgweled, "to see"; Latin vultus, "visage"): Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. pp. 487 f.
- ^ Johannes Hoops: Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde. Vol 32, Walter de Gruyter, 2006, p. 111.
- ^ Bernhard Maier: Die Religion der Kelten. Götter, Mythen, Weltbild. p. 158 f.
- ^ a b Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, pp. 530 f.
- ^ Arnulf Krause: Die Welt der Kelten, p. 70.
- ^ Wolfgang Meid: Die Kelten. p. 107; Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur. pp. 989 f.
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- ^ Bernhard Maier: Lexikon der keltischen Religion und Kultur. pp. 342 f.
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- ^ a b Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. pp. 592 f.
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- ^ a b David Rankin: Celts and the Classic World. pp. 248 f.
- ^ Wolfgang Meid: Die Kelten. pp. 105.
- ^ Bernhard Maier: Lexikon der keltischen Religion und Kultur. p. 227.
- ^ a b Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur. pp. 1032 f.
- ^ Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur. pp. 91 f.
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- ^ Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur. pp. 989 f.
- ^ Arnulf Krause: Die Welt der Kelten, pp. 131 f.; David Rankin: Celts and the Classic World, p. 131.
- ^ Caesar De bello Gallico 5, 14
- ^ Bernhard Maier: Geschichte und Kultur der Kelten. p. 228; David Rankin: Celts and the Classic World, pp. 248 f.
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- ^ Wolfgang Meid: Die Kelten. pp. 111 f.; Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, pp. 1562 f.
- ^ a b Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, pp. 2014.
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- ^ Wolfgang Meid: Die Kelten. p. 117.
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- ^ Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, pp. 339.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus: Bibliotheca historica V 30.
- ^ Bernhard Maier: Lexikon der keltischen Religion und Kultur. p. 194.
- ^ a b Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur. pp. 163, 1076 ff.
- ^ Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, pp. 702, 927.
- ^ Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, p. 1593.
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- ^ Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, p. 1147.
- ^ Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Bilder ihrer Kultur. p. 355, Images 667, 668.
- ^ Sylvia und Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexikon der keltischen Mythologie. pp. 40 f., 144 f.
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- ^ Sylvia und Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexikon der keltischen Mythologie. p. 331.
- ^ Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, pp. 1955 f.
- ^ a b Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, pp. 715 f., 950 f.
- ^ Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur. p. 163.
- ^ Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur. pp. 163, 1067 f.
- ^ a b Bernhard Maier: Lexikon der keltischen Religion und Kultur. p. 228.
- ^ Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, pp. 1343 f., 71.
- ^ Sylvia und Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexikon der keltischen Mythologie. p. 257.
- ^ Sylvia und Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexikon der keltischen Mythologie. pp. 294 f.
- ^ Sievers/Urban/Ramsl: Lexikon zur Keltischen Archäologie. A–K und L–Z, p. 72.
Bibliography
- Josef Weisweiler: "Die Stellung der Frau bei den Kelten und das Problem des "keltischen Mutterrechts"." Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie, Vol. 21, 1938.
General works on the Celts
- ISBN 3-7001-2609-3.
- Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Bilder ihrer Kultur. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien 1999, ISBN 3-7001-2814-2.
- ISBN 3-406-43301-4.
- ISBN 978-3-593-38279-1.
- Bernhard Maier: Geschichte und Kultur der Kelten. C. H. Beck, München 2012, ISBN 978-3-40-664140-4.
- ISBN 978-3-15-017053-3.
Particular aspects of Celtic culture
- Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. Praesens Verlag, Wien 2009, ISBN 978-3-7069-0541-1.
- David Rankin: Celts and the Classic World. Croom Helm Ltd. 1987, Paperback 1996 by Routledge, London/New York, ISBN 0-415-15090-6.
- ISBN 3-491-69109-5.
Reference works on the Celts
- Sylvia und Paul F. Botheroyd: Lexikon der keltischen Mythologie. Tosa Verlag, Wien 2004.
- ISBN 3-520-46601-5.
- ISBN 978-3-7001-6765-5.
Matriarchal religion
- ISBN 978-3-88-104234-5.
External links
- Lisa Bitel: Land of Women: Tales of Sex and Gender from Early Ireland. Cornell University Press, Ithaca N.Y. 1998, ISBN 0-8014-8544-4.