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 Other islands became associated with mythical figures. Bardsey Island, otherwise known as Bangor Gadfan or Ymys Enlii, was said to be the home of the Arthurian wizard Merlin. According to legend, the magician lies slumbering there, waiting until Wales is in danger and needful of his magical services. In 516, the island became a religious settlement, founded by Saint Cadfan, but no trace of the subterranean cavern in which the wizard was said to lie was ever found. The holy settlement that Cadfan and his brethren founded on the island was considered to be very mystical, supposedly drawing this tradition from the powers that had once inhabited the place. Saint Lleuddad ap Dingad, Cadfan's successor, was reputedly visited by an angel, who granted him numerous requests as long as they were in the purview or gift of God. One of the saint’s requests was that the soul of anyone buried on the island should not be condemned to the torments of Hell. Consequently there were said to be between 20,000 and 30,000 saints buried in the four-acre graveyard on Bardsey – undoubtedly a gross exaggeration that added to its sanctity. As a result Bardsey became known as The Holy Island or the Iona of Wales and was a popular place of pilgrimage in the early Middle Ages. Much of its reputation might come from long before Christianity when the island was an important and magical pagan shrine. Many of the islands formerly dedicated to ancient and primal gods, became the homes of fearsome monsters and giants. Some Orkney and Shetland isles were believed to be home to flesh-eating titans such as Gorm the Grim – although in his original incarnation as a god, Gorm might have owed more to Viking belief than Celtic imagination. Tory Island, off the coast of Donegal in Ireland, was said to be the home of the fearsome giant, Balor of the Evil Eye (see Giants, Monsters and Fairies). Other islands were believed to be inhabited by dark magicians and witches. Even huge and awful dragons supposedly made their nests on many of these remote rocks, adding to the pagan emphasis of the places. Some early Christians settled on them specifically to drive out evil forces by the power of their holy presence. While many appeared to have been successful in establishing Christian traditions, some islands retained pagan associations, albeit in a slightly modified form. Other islands became important as sites where kings and leaders would make important decisions or resolve difficult problems. If such places were the abodes of patron gods or spirits, it was argued, then surely those forces would guide the decisions of their followers. It was, to some extent, a means of consulting with the island spirit or god. A king or warlord would retire with his advisers to a Council Island to submit to the guiding influence of the local spirit. This was practical since, isolated on an island, they could devote their full attention to the matters in hand. Such Council Islands were usually linked to the mainland by an artificial causeway, sometimes submerged, in case a speedy return was necessary. Two islands in the middle of Loch Finlaggan on the Isle of Islay demonstrate the importance of such places to the Celtic peoples. The largest of them – Eileán Mór – was a burial site in former times while the name of the smaller – Eileán na Comhairle – suggests that it might have been a council centre where decisions were made and problems debated away from prying eyes. Rival claimants for leadership probably settled the matter in such places. Combat islands existed in Viking culture – the Norse word for formal, single combat – Holmganga, literally meant ‘going to an island’ – and might have existed among the Celts. The idea was that local gods and spirits would preside over the combat and ensure that the proper victor emerged. According to legend, Canute, the Norse son of King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark, and the Saxon Edmund Ironside retired in 1016 to the Isle of Alney in Gloucestershire to determine which of them would rule Britain. Even in those relatively Christian times, the fate of a country was given to a Spirit of Place to decide. In consultation with the spirit, the leaders of the community would make their decisions. Islands, particularly remote or inaccessible ones, gradually became imbued with awe and mystery becoming natural abodes for the spirits, forces and gods that embodied the landscape. Their isolation added to their sacredness and many pagan islands were subsequently taken over by the Christian Fathers as their own holy places. Sacred Sanctuaries and Enclosures There were many areas of the countryside in which the gods were supposed to have their houses or homes. These ‘special areas’ were extremely holy and not for the common people. Throughout Iron Age Europe, ditches and banks often provided lines of demarcation, marking the distinction between the sacred world and that of the profane. References are made in the Old Testament to special sanctuaries holy to the Hebraic faith and other pagan religions. Similarly in the Celtic world the sacredness of islands was extended to areas of isolated ground and the very space that they contained. Many of these places occurred at boundaries. Harlow in Britain was a territorial boundary between the lands of two Celtic tribes – the Catuvellauni and the Trinovantes – so a special enclosure to a local deity was erected there. Similar enclosures appeared in Gournay, in the Oise region of France, which lay at the land boundaries of three tribes – the Ambiani, the Viromandui and the Suessiones. Early enclosures were simple affairs – a ditch or depression to separate the sacred sector from the lands around. This also served as a means of defence if enemies attacked the site. Others were stands of trees, groves and small spinneys in which rites could take place. Sometimes, a ditch surrounded them, though this was not essential since the reputation of the god might serve to keep attackers away. Later the enclosures became more formal with rough stone walls rising protectively around them. The walls fulfilled the dual aspects of creating an air of separateness and sanctity within the enclosure and of providing some form of military fortification against outside forces. They added to the illusion of the House of the God by providing at least a structural basis for such a habitation. Some structures were incredibly complicated with both outer and inner walls. The outer wall provided a perimeter to the entire site while the inner encircled the ‘holy ground’ itself. This feature, perhaps primarily constructed for greater defence, had the effect of adding a further layer of complexity to the form of religious worship practised within. Where there was an inner and an outer sanctuary the devotees probably gathered in the outer area to worship while the inner sanctum was the dwelling place of the god and the preserve of his or her priest alone. The priests then adopted a new role; they were mediators between the deity and the people. They were also the only ones entitled to cross the final boundary between the human world and that of the gods. This gave them increased power and status in the eyes of their followers. It was the priest, only, who carried individual requests into the Holy of Holies. Enclosed sites co-existed beside open-air places of worship across the Celtic world. It was a simple matter to develop these enclosures by covering them with a roof; the notion of a Godly House was then complete in the ancient mind. Mostly this was not done until the Roman period and was largely a result of occupation by Roman forces. The Mediterranean ‘god’s house’ was a splendid, formal structure, reflecting the majesty of their own gods. Many such buildings were covered with votive inscriptions but not one of these inscriptions mention the purely Celtic holy men, the Druids, but rather use the word flamen, a latin word for a priest. Clergy, as well as architecture, had become more Romanised. A good example of the development from open site to formal temple is that of the healing springs beside the River Avon in Britain. Probably an open-air place of worship for the Celts, geological forces pumped hot water out of the earth at 46oC at the rate of 250,000 gallons a day. The extent of their devotion to the gushing water is not known but they constructed a rudimentary causeway across the surrounding marshy areas and left an offering of 18 pre-Roman coins to Sulis, the goddess of the water. Because of the curative properties associated with water in the ancient mind, this might have been a healing centre, although its importance can only be guessed at. Early in the Roman occupation of Britain, moves were made by the invading forces to enclose the place in classical architectural style. The Romans called the locality Aquae Sulis – The Waters of Sulis – celebrating what was, by then, a predominant Roman-Celtic water cult. Probably the original enclosure was around the main spring, turning it into a kind of reservoir, but gradually the facility became increasingly complex. An altar was erected, as were a number of supplementary and ancillary buildings, some enclosing other springs. The shrine of Sulis would eventually change its name and become an important military centre in Roman Britain. The name adopted came from the springs themselves – Bath. By the middle Roman period in Britain, the area had been turned into public baths, although many traces of the former religious site remained. The jewellery, coins and personal objects that were dumped into the main spring as offerings, provided evidence that invocations to the goddess continued into a relatively late period. Over 12,000 of them have been uncovered. A number of small pewter tablets, each bearing a curse against an enemy were also found. These ‘curse tablets’ were actual requests to the goddess, to take terrible vengeance on those named and promised her offerings if the requested misfortune was granted. Despite this rather sinister aside, the main purpose of visiting the shrine at Bath was to take the healing waters and many pilgrims flocked there, hoping to be ‘cured’. Bath was widely known as an important healing centre and the evidence of the offerings and the ‘cursing tablets’ strongly suggests that an organised priesthood dwelt at the shrine and oversaw the worship. At least one priest, Calpurnius Receptus, lived and officiated at the sacred place for almost 60 years. Other finds in the Bath area – a moon-shaped pendant and what is probably part of a sceptre – might indicate greater numbers of clerics at the shrine. These finds suggest a Roman-style religion greatly influenced by Celtic belief The life-size pewter mask found in a culvert near the central baths shows a stylised Roman face with Celtic features and hair arranged in a recognisably Celtic manner. This might have represented a deity worshipped at the site or, more probably, the face of an officiating priest. What was simply a hot geyser, set amid mud flats and worshipped as a nature goddess by early Celts, quickly became one of the most formal and important religious centres of Roman Britain Another similar religious site that developed from relatively insignificant origins is Harlow in Essex. There is evidence that the area was the site of early Celtic religious and ritual activity connected to ancestor worship since the crest of one of the hills was certainly used as a very early graveyard. Immediately prior to the arrival of the Romans, the site was enclosed although it was little more than a bank and ditch. It is thought to have enclosed a wooden shrine, possibly dedicated to death or a warrior cult. Around ad 80-90 a small rectangular temple was built on the site of the earlier shrine. A later addition was a courtyard with an enclosing wall that surrounded the temple. An open-air altar was erected at one end, in front of the entrance to the temple itself. Two inner walls were constructed at this time; each connected to a number of smaller buildings some, perhaps, shops at which sacrifices were sold and some living accommodation for the clergy who officiated at the site. There is no inscription to a specific god but indications are that it was a war-deity. A carving showing a head, surmounted by a large helmet, together with the discovery of four metal daggers and a bronze sheath would seem to suggest a god or goddess closely linked with warfare and conflict. This Chapter extract continues with Shrines and Sacred Sites - Part 4>>>.
From Complete Guide to Celtic Mythology by Bob Curran |
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