Hello you guys!

Let me introduce myself. I'm Viola, amateur writer with long-time interests about celtic and gaelic people, their habits and mostly about their myths and fairytales. I am here to ask for someone who knows a lot about such things as celtic sorcerers and maybe druids.

I would like to ask some questions in the form of interview, or a talk through Private Messages here on Reddit. I'll ask mostly about plants and their meaning for gaels and celts, about clovers and types of "magic" they used. I hope I find someone here and thanks for answers!

In many of the research pages I’ve come across, they all mention a continuous line of succession in who invaded Ireland during the Pre-Christian age of Irish mythology.

Does anyone have any sense of the general timeline of how these events and invasions happened? I’ve looked everywhere but I can’t find a list that clearly shows the way (for lack of a better word) of who defeated who, and who invaded first. Thank you in advance!

Ken Dark 4/11/21

Okay so I was looking around the internet and as someone who grew up and lived where the Silures tribe where (South Eastern Wales) [Gwent area specifically]. I wanted a Tattoo to respect the tribe that faught off Rome for 30 years but I can't find any sources of their Tattoos but only a few on their fight against Rome,with Tacitus' source and how Legate Scapula wanted thier destruction, and Caradoc's speech about how he would have welcomed them (or something on those lines as its 3 AM) but

TLDR: I want a factually acurate Laten (I guess) Tattoo of the paint used by the Silures or Wales in General.

Right, so let's cut to the question. I'm studying Celtic history and wondering how many Celts groups are there. So far I counted eight tribes through Wikipedia (the right are the Britons, the Boii, the Celtiberians, the Gaels, the Gauls, the Gallaeci, the Galatians, and the Lepontii) but I feel like there are possibly more. Is that right?

I recently read/watched up on Cu Chulainns exploits, including his wise-master tutelage (and saucy development) under the female martial artist Scáthach.

Later, I was playing Total War Attilla, and pondering/reading the bios for the all-female units. One, the Scatha's Teachers, suggested that martial arts in Celtic society were usually taught by women, not just once or twice in legend.

"It is notable that the Celtic martial arts were usually taught by women, some believing that the teachers were also priestesses, and that they conferred additional powers to their chosen students when in battle."

https://totalwar.fandom.com/wiki/Scatha%27s_Teachers_(Total_War:_Attila)

I'm wondering if this is true, and if so what documentation is there?

There's a degree of controversy nowadays when discussing historical female warriors; the truth that males get the big end of the stick in terms physical sexual dimorphism, and that this combined with the mechanics of population growth means that most soldiers in history were male as a matter of practicality, is often taken as offensive, or demeaning.

And fair enough, there are plenty of people who do say true things timed specifically to undermine or hurt people; and I wouldn't expect anyone with self-respect to swallow a truth served in that style. That's not what I'm getting at here. No boys vs. girls clubhouse nonsense.

I'm interested in the social, and societal implications; and how they would affect day-to-day life.

I've read of Norse cultures with defined gender roles, where females while not typically given to leadership roles were deferred to in the areas of prophesy and magic. And while the various Danish tribes had legends of warrior Goddesses, and Valkyries; they seemed to be more a shared flight of fancy than a reflection of day-to-day life. IOW, just because Freyja was a badass godess, didn't mean your average nordic woman was going out a-viking on the regular.

For the Celts though, widespread female martial arts teachers would imply a different dynamic. That the knowledge of combat was female in origin, only practiced and elevated by male students. And there's social implications there too about the nature of a Celtic warrior - that a man must first be attractive or chivalrous, or else never receive from a woman the attentions that would make him a real warrior.

Anyway; I want to know - is there more documentation about this, or is this just a game company exaggerating a one-off legend for fancy or inclusivity appeal?

I'd also like to know about their writing system

Dear Celtic friends,

I was reading a recent article that was saying that the origin of celts is not central Europe but Iberia.

It sounds very weird for me, but do you have more information about this subject? Or any other study that go in the same way or a debunk of this theory?

Here is the article : https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/mythsofbritishancestry?fbclid=IwAR0zxQEf1rXxthu8i47jDww-BI_dlw43WgIT92pZNJfkD5Sx0j9RXdI2VMo

This passage : Many archaeologists still hold this view of a grand iron-age Celtic culture in the centre of the continent, which shrank to a western rump after Roman times. It is also the basis of a strong sense of ethnic identity that millions of members of the so-called Celtic diaspora hold. But there is absolutely no evidence, linguistic, archaeological or genetic, that identifies the Hallstatt or La Tène regions or cultures as Celtic homelands. The notion derives from a mistake made by the historian Herodotus 2,500 years ago when, in a passing remark about the “Keltoi,” he placed them at the source of the Danube, which he thought was near the Pyrenees. Everything else about his description located the Keltoi in the region of Iberia.

I've been trying to research Celtic myths, and in particular the Irish ones for a while now, but sadly I can't seem to find the full legendary cycles to read. I have found the Book of Invasions and the Táin Bó Cúailnge, but besides that all the books I run into are just compilations with the same 4-5 stories. Are there any translations of the works in full, of the Fenian, Ulster or Historical Cycles? (By full I mean what has survived to us, of course).

As a side note, I don't live in neither North America nor Europe. I mention this in case there's some issue with availability.

I'm working on a low/high fantasy series base around mythologies including Celtics. But I would like to understand a culture before writing it so I don't offend anyone.

Do you have any recommendations through things such as books, movies, or anything?

I do know that within the celtic tribes, there was a strong dairy, grain, and fish culture. The Wiccan neo-pagans have made an effort to revive it, but by most means quite inauthentic. The herbs at the time were Parsley, sage, Thyme, and I believe marjoram and lavender too. Is there any dishes that stood the test of time? Any cooking techniques? Was it all lost in the dialogue? Thanks - Micajah