Everything about Celtic Nations totally explained
Celtic nations are areas of modern
Europe inhabited by members of
Celtic cultures, specifically speakers of
Celtic languages. Since the mid-
20th century, people of many nations and regions have used modern
'Celticity' to express their identity. Over time, these nations and regions have come to be widely labelled as Celtic. These areas of Europe are sometimes referred to as the "Celt belt" or "Celtic fringe" because of their location generally on the north-western edges of the continent, and of the nations they inhabit (for example
Brittany is in the northwest of
France, the
Gaelic-speaking parts of
Ireland and
Scotland are in the northwest and west, respectively). However, these terms are sometimes viewed as derogatory, so residents of these areas tend to prefer the term "Celtic nations".
Until the expansions of the
Roman Republic and
Germanic tribes, the
British Isles and much of continental Europe was predominantly Celtic. Only extreme north-western regions retained their Celtic culture and language, because these expansions were halted and had little or no influence. In
Britain for example, the expansions of the
Roman Empire and then the
Anglo-Saxons supplanted the Celtic
Britons and the
Brythonic languages in most of what is modern-day
England.
The 'Six Nations'
Listed from north to south:
It is these 'Six Nations' that (alone) are considered Celtic by the
Celtic League,
Celtic Congress, and various other
pan-Celtic groups. Each of the six can boast a Celtic language of its own – the key criterion of Celticity for the organizations named.
Four of the 'Six Nations' (Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales) contain areas where a Celtic language is still used in a community (see
Gaeltacht,
Gàidhealtachd, and compare also
Breizh-Izel and
areas by Welsh language known as Y Fro Cymraeg). Generally these communities are in the west of the countries, in upland or island areas, and sometimes claim to be more Celtic than the anglicised/gallicised areas of the east, and big cities.
For certain purposes, such as the
Festival Interceltique,
Galicia and
Asturias,
Cantabria are considered three of the
nine Celtic nations. It should also be remembered that Welsh and Scots Gaelic speaking minorities are still extant, respectively, in the
Chubut valley region of
Patagonia in
Argentina, and
Cape Breton Island,
Nova Scotia,
Canada.
Other claims
In general most countries of Western and Central Europe can be considered to have been influenced by the Celts. In a number of them, there are also 'Celtic' movements, wanting recognition as a Celtic Nation. None of them has a living
Celtic language, unlike "the Six", and for those who base claims of Celticity around linguistics, this is a matter of controversy.
Iberian Peninsula
In the northwestern
Iberian Peninsula is an area influenced by Celtic culture. In particular this includes the regions of
Galicia,
Asturias,
Northern Portugal,
Cantabria and
León.
In none of these regions has a Celtic language survived (although some place names are of Celtic origin), which means that the most common criterion for Celticity, that of having a Celtic language, doesn't apply.
The main basis for these regions' present-day claim to Celticity is, rather, Celtic consciousness itself, which derives from a factual long-time tradition of Celtism in these regions, due to the fact that numerous Celtic tribes settled in the Iberian Peninsula (see
Celtiberians) and left their mark, culturally and genetically. Consequently, similarities in both the cultural (music, dance, folklore) and genetic aspects can be found between the inhabitants of these areas and those of other Celtic nations.
England
Celtic traditions and customs have continued in
England, particularly in extremities of the south west and the north (see
Devon,
Lancashire and
Cumbria). England lacks a Celtic language after the extinction of the
Old Devonian,
Cumbric and
Cornish languages; during the 'Celtic' era,
Great Britain was populated by a number of regional Celtic tribes, none of whom directly ended up forming the English nation, only the gene pool. In Celtic languages, it's usually referred to as "
Saxon-land" (
Sasana,
Pow Saws,
Bro-Saoz etc), and in
Welsh as
Lloegr (though the Welsh translation of English also refers to the Saxon route: Saesneg, with the English being referred to as "Saeson", or "Saes" in the singular). This is because the Celtic peoples of England succumbed to the invading Saxons and took on their culture and language, although spoken
Cumbric survived until the 12th Century. The northern half of England forms the historic land of
Hen Ogledd, Welsh for 'the Old North', and its population were known as the 'men of the north' to other Celtic peoples. Hen Ogledd, along with Wales and Cornwall, form the three Brythonic areas of modern Great Britain.
Unlike many of the above examples, there's little political motivation behind this search for a more complex identity, but a recognition that local linguistic and cultural peculiarities can be traced back to Celtic origins. Cumbria, for example, retains some Celtic influences from local sports (
Cumberland wrestling) to superstitions, and traces of
Cumbric are still spoken, famously by shepherds to count their sheep.
Lancashire still retains Celtic culture, eg. its own wrestling system (
Lancashire wrestling) and other things such as cooking
Parkin cake and place names like
Pendle and
Cuerden. The name Lancashire derives from Lune-Castra (
Lancaster), a Celtic name, and the name '
Cumbria' is derived from the same root as Cymru, the Welsh name for Wales, meaning 'the land of comrades'. There is a current attempt to revive
Cumbric and about 50 words of a reconstructed, hypothetical "Cumbric" exist. However, most competent scholars believe that it would be little different from an archaic dialect of Northern Welsh. The county is also home to the
Rheged discovery centre profiling the Celtic history of Cumbria and surrounding areas.
English Celtic revivalism hasn't always been popular with its neighbours, many of whose own revivals have sought to counteract the majority culture of England within the United Kingdom. It also tends to be apolitical, in strict contrast to that of the "Six", Galicia or even Padania. Early revivalism concentrated on
King Arthur, fairy and folklore and also
Boudicca, whose statue stands outside the Palace of Westminster. Boudicca, who fought Roman imperialism, was looked up to by one or two Victorian English imperialists, who claimed "her new empire" was bigger than the Roman. Modern revivalism has focused more on music, mythology, rituals such as the Druids and a better understanding of Celtic festivals that have been observed in England since the Celtic period, and dialect or language.
Formerly Gaulish regions
Many of the French people themselves identify actively with the
Gauls.
The French- and
Arpitan-speaking
Aosta Valley region in
Italy also presents a casual claim of Celtic heritage and the
Northern League autonomist party often exalts what it claims are the Celtic roots of
Padania. Reportedly,
Friuli also has an ephemeral claim to Celticity.
Walloons are sometimes characterized as "Celts", mainly opposed to "Teutonic"
Flemish and "Latin" French identities; the word "Walloon" derives from a Germanic word meaning "foreign", cognate with "Welsh" and "Vlach".
Central European regions
Celtic tribes inhabited land in what is now southern Germany and Austria. Many scholars have associated the earliest Celtic peoples with the
Hallstatt culture.
Boii,
Scordisci and the
Vindelici are some of the tribes that inhabitted Central Europe, including what is now Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, Poland and the Czech Republic as well as Germany and Austria. The Boii gave their name to
Bohemia.
Celts also founded
Singidunum present-day
Belgrade,leaving many words in
Serbian language (over 5000).
The
La Tène culture also covered much of central Europe. The name of the culture is from the location in Switzerland.
Outside of Europe
In other regions, people with a heritage from one of the 'Celtic Nations' also associate with the Celtic identity. In these areas, Celtic traditions and languages are significant components of local culture. These include the the
Permanent North American Gaeltacht in Tamworth, Ontario, Canada which is the only Irish Gaelic gaeltacht outside of Ireland, the
Chubut valley of
Patagonia with Welsh speaking
Argentinians (known as "Y Wladfa"),
Cape Breton Island in
Nova Scotia, with
Gaelic-speaking
Canadians and southeast
Newfoundland with
Irish-speaking
Canadians. Also at one point in 1900's there were well over 12,000 Gaelic Scots from the
Isle of Lewis living in the
Eastern Townships of
Quebec, Canada, with place names that still exist today recalling those inhabitants.
Appalachia and parts of the
Southern United States were also heavily settled by Celts, with much of the culture reflecting this fact. In his autobiography the South Africa poet
Roy Campbell recalled his youth in the Dargle Valley, near the city of
Pietermaritzburg, where people spoke only Gaelic and
Zulu.
In addition to these, a number of people from the
USA,
Australia,
New Zealand,
South Africa and other parts of the former
British Empire may consider themselves to have 'Celtic nationality'.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Celtic Nations'.
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