Anyone know about the Celtic Gods?

[Darkfantasy]

Hi,
I'm trying to Research Celtic Gods and Goddess's, mostly from Scotland. But I'm having a hard time to find the main ones as there are so many. Could anyone tell me the names of the main Gods so I can research them? Did Scotland have many Gods because I couldn't find many. Or did all the Celts worship the same Gods?

Thank you for your help
x

 

[Alexandra]

Begin here: List of Celtic deities

This list is just a start but it will set you on the right track.

 

[Filk]

Whew! That list is a bit much to take in. If you go to the Celtic Mythology wikipedia page, there are some good references and such and a link to this comprehensive page: Celtic Religion - what information do we really have

Hmmm. I think I'll be doing some research this afternoon.

 

[Shockley]

There are two major problems with Scotland:

- For much of its classical existence, Scotland was dominated by a people called the Picts. The Picts are something of a mystery - we don't know their broad ethnicity (whether Celtic, Germanic, Proto-Indo-European, etc.), their language is indecipherable based on a few of the place names, etc. We have no real idea as to what their mythology was. We have a few myths that are purported to be of Pictish origin, but they depict a knowledge of the Scythians and other early Steppes people (pointing to a later origin).

- The Scots themselves are an Irish tribe (Gaelic, specifically) who invaded what was then Pictland in the very early middle (dark) ages. So, when we think of the Scottish Celts we are really talking about Irish Celts. For that reason, there probably is no noteworthy distinction between what we call Scottish Celts and Irish Celts in terms of mythology.

 

[Alexandra]

There are two major problems with Scotland:

- For much of its classical existence, Scotland was dominated by a people called the Picts. The Picts are something of a mystery...

Unless one is writing a work of historic fiction this is not a problem, tis an opportunity.

 

[Shockley]

Of course, though its an absolute hindrance when some is asking for research.

 

[Lily Maeve La Fey]

Lugh: horned sun god
Morrigan: Goddess of darkness winter and queen of death
Calleach bhur: same
Brid: goddess of fertility
There are many more, but these are some of the bigger names in mythology.

 

[skip.knox]

It's also problematic (historically speaking) to think in terms of main gods. We moderns tend to think in rigidly hierarchical terms, but most pre-modern people were not so narrow. Local gods were every bit as important as an All-Father type, often more important. As others have said, since this is story-telling, you're free to choose the ones you find interesting.

 

[Medievalist]

It's also problematic (historically speaking) to think in terms of main gods. We moderns tend to think in rigidly hierarchical terms, but most pre-modern people were not so narrow. Local gods were every bit as important as an All-Father type, often more important. As others have said, since this is story-telling, you're free to choose the ones you find interesting.

This is an exceedingly important point.

The Celts as a set of peoples and cultures covers a giant range of eras (thousands of years) and several languages, some of which are not mutually understandable without deliberate effort.

We also know for a fact, both from iconography and inscriptions on Roman era altars and curse-tablets, and from much later references in medieval Irish texts, that there were local deities, deities that may have been tribal or, perhaps like the Roman genii loci, associated with a particular places. We have references to specific deities for streams and wells, for instance.