The Lore and Literature of the Gaels of Scotland, Ireland and Man

The website ‘An Sionnach Fionn' (The White Fox) have published an article that explores the origins of the manuscripts upon which our knowledge of pre-christian Celtic culture is based.  Ironically these sources were often handed down to us through the prism of Christian Monasticism which employed legions of scribes to copy and Christianize the oral traditions of the Celts preserved by the Druidical caste.

A good example of the hijacking of Celtic mythology by the proselytizing Christians in Ireland in the 1st century is the fate of the Celtic Goddess Brigid:

“Christian missionaries incorporated elements of the peoples veneration of the Celtic Gods into Christian doctrine. The often used example of this religious shift is the fate of Brigid. Brigid was deftly transformed from a daughter of ‘The Dagda’ of the Tuatha Dé Danann into the Saint of the same name. In the early tales of the Christian Saint, Brigid is portrayed as the daughter of a Druidical household before her embrace of the new religion. The Druids were the priests of the pagan Celtic religion but were also akin to today’s upper middle classes: “The Druids were the professionals of pre Christian Celtic society. They comprised all the professions – doctors, lawyers, teachers, philosophers, ambassadors...(and priests of the Celtic Faith)” (Ellis). Thus with her conversion to Christianity, Brigid abandons the Celtic Gods and their priests, the Druids. To reinforce this transition the early church adopted the feast day of the Celtic Goddess Brigid, or Imbolg, to the feast day of the Christian saint.” - https://www.transceltic.com/pan-celtic/celtic-majesty-brigid-feast-imbolg

For those of us who are interested in pre-Christian Celtic culture, the An Sionnach Fionns article is a well written  and impressively documented introduction:

“ It’s generally understood that the loss of innumerable Medieval  manuscripts during the Scandinavian, Norman-British and Anglo-British invasions of the Gaelic nations of north-western Europe has greatly impaired our understanding of the early histories of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man……When using these materials it is always necessary to question the impact of the circumstances in which they were created. The vast majority of the manuscripts were produced by monastic scribes who may well have been torn between their desire to record the pre-Christian traditions of Ireland and Scotland on the one hand and their religious hostility to those self-same non-Christian traditions on the other.“

Read the Original Article here: https://ansionnachfionn.com/seanchas-mythology/seanchas-agus-litriocht-n...