Don't Know Much About Mythology - Kenneth C. Davis [129]
CHAPTER FIVE
AN AGE OF AXES, AN AGE OF SWORDS
The Myths of the Celts and Norse
In this great carnage on Murtheimme Plain Cuchulainn slew one hundred and thirty kings, as well as an uncountable horde of dogs and horses, women and boys and children and rabble of all kinds. Not one man in three escaped without his thighbone or his head or his eye being smashed, or without some blemish for the rest of his life. And when the battle was over Cuchulainn left without a scratch or a stain on himself, his helper or either of his horses.
from the Táin,
translated by Thomas Kinsella
Break no more my heart today—
I will reach my grave soon enough,
Sorrow is stronger than the sea…
—“The Poem of Derdriu,” from The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu
An age of axes, an age of swords, shattered shields
An age of tempests, an age of wolfs, before the age of men crashes down.
—Poetic Eddas
The Romans, in their first encounters with these exposed, insane warriors, were shocked and frightened. Not only were the men naked, they were howling and, it seemed, possessed, so outrageous were their strength and verve. Urged on by the infernal skirl of pipers, they presented to the unaccustomed and throbbing Roman sensorium a multimedia event featuring all the terrors of hell itself.
—THOMAS CAHILL, How the Irish Saved Civilization (1995)
How do we know what the Celts believed?
Did the Druids practice human sacrifice?
What did Druids have to do with Stonehenge?
Who’s Who of the Celtic Gods
What was The Cattle Raid of Cooley?
How does eating a mythical fish make you really smart?
What do the Celts have to do with Halloween?
What is the Mabinogion?
What mythology besides Celtic came storming out of northern Europe?
How do a giant’s armpit and a cow help create the Norse world?
Who’s Who of the Norse Gods
Who is the most important hero in Norse myth?
MYTHIC MILESTONES
Celtic and Northern Europe Before the Common Era
3500–3200 Stone circles and alignments and rows of standing stones are built throughout northern and western Europe.
Stonehenge begun in southern England (completed about 1500); its alignment with the sunrise on the summer solstice seems connected to its purpose. Sacrifice of some kind may have taken place there as well. The quarrying, mining, and transportation of these large stones over long distances suggests a sophisticated social organization, but no written records have been found.
c. 3000 Elaborate passage graves are constructed in Ireland.
c. 2300 European Bronze Age; bronze objects begin to appear in tombs.
c. 1200 Urnfield culture emerges in Danube area, so named because cremated ashes are placed in large urns in communal burial fields.
c. 1000 Earliest fortified hilltop sites in western Europe.
c. 800 Celtic Iron Age begins in Hallstatt (Austria).
753 Rome founded.
c. 500 Graves in France show Greek and Etruscan imports—indications of trade between Celts and Mediterranean civilizations; burials include chariots and weapons.
450 Celtic La Tène culture emerges in west and central Europe and a distinctive art style arises. The La Tène style emphasized elaborate patterns of interwoven curves and spirals and featured highly stylized plants and animals that had little resemblance to nature.
c. 400 Celts expand into British Isles.
Greece’s Golden Age flowers in Athens.
390 Celtic tribes burn Rome.
c. 350 Celtic tribes cross to Ireland.
272 Celtic invaders sack Delphi in Greece.
228 Celts settle Galatia in Asia Minor (modern Turkey).
c. 100 Fortified Celtic settlements are built in western Europe.
70 Rome’s Golden Age: