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Main article: Celtic deities

The Celtic deities are known from a variety of sources such as written Celtic mythology, ancient places of worship, statues, engravings, religious objects, as well as place and personal names.

Celtic deities can belong to two categories: general and local. General deities were known by the Celts throughout large regions, and are the gods and goddesses called upon for protection, healing, luck, and honour. The local deities from Celtic nature worship were the spirits of a particular feature of the landscape, such as mountains, trees, or rivers, and thus were generally only known by the locals in the surrounding areas.

After Celtic lands became Christianised, there were attempts by Christian writers to euhemerize or even demonize most of the pre-Christian deities, while a few others became Saints in the church. The Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology, who were commonly interpreted as divinities or deified ancestors, were downgraded in Christian writings to, at best "fallen angels", or mere mortals, or even portrayed as demons.

Ancient Gaulish and Brittonic deities

The Gauls inhabited the region corresponding to modern-day France, Belgium, Switzerland, southern and western Germany, Luxembourg and northern Italy. They spoke Gaulish. The Celtic Britons inhabited most of the island of Great Britain and spoke Common Brittonic or British.

Male

Female

Iberian Celtic deities

The Celtiberians and Gallaecians were ancient Celtic peoples in Iberia. They spoke Hispano-Celtic languages.

Male

Female

Gaelic deities and characters

Main article: Tuatha Dé Danann

The Gaels inhabited Ireland and parts of western Scotland. They spoke Goidelic languages.

Male

Female

Brythonic deities and characters

The Brythonic peoples, descendants of the Celtic Britons, inhabited western Britain (mainly Wales, Cumbria and Cornwall) and Brittany. They spoke the Brythonic languages.

Male

Female

References

  1. ^ a b c d Murley 90.
  2. ^ a b c Tabbernee.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Murley v.
  4. ^ Anwyl 39.
  5. ^ a b c Adkins and Adkins, 283.
  6. ^ CIL XIII, 06572, CIL XIII, 04507, CIL XIII, 06455
  7. ^ a b c d e Freeman 4.
  8. ^ Dimitz 15.
  9. ^ a b Adkins 294.
  10. ^ Koch 849.
  11. ^ Roymans and Derks 134.
  12. ^ a b c d e f MacCulloch.
  13. ^ Mees 68.
  14. ^ Anwyl 38.
  15. ^ de Bernardo Stempel; Kos.
  16. ^ Nicholson 132.
  17. ^ Nicholson 137.
  18. ^ Nicholson xvi.
  19. ^ a b Olivares Pedreño 635.
  20. ^ Murley 87.
  21. ^ Anwyl 41.
  22. ^ Murley 87.
  23. ^ Nicholson 160.
  24. ^ Olivares Pedreño 610.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Arenas-Esteban 110.
  26. ^ Olivares Pedreño 638.
  27. ^ a b c Olivares Pedreño 609.
  28. ^ Olivares Pedreño 612.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Arenas-Esteban 111.
  30. ^ Dorsey 59.
  31. ^ Olivares Pedreño 636.
  32. ^ Olivares Pedreño 626.
  33. ^ Olivares Pedreño 627.
  34. ^ Olivares Pedreño 607.
  35. ^ Olivares Pedreño 632.
  36. ^ a b Arenas-Esteban 112.
  37. ^ Olivares Pedreño 631.
  38. ^ a b c d e f g h Olivares Pedreño 610.
  39. ^ Olivares Pedreño 614.
  40. ^ Olivares Pedreño 611.
  41. ^ Rankin 263.
  42. ^ Simón.
  43. ^ Green 18.
  44. ^ Williams 81
  45. ^ Coulter and Turner 155.
  46. ^ a b c d Koch 1693-1697.
  47. ^ Williams 18.
  48. ^ Coulter and Turner 165.
  49. ^ Coulter and Turner 151.
  50. ^ Lurker 13.
  51. ^ a b c Williams 28.
  52. ^ MacCulloch 101.

Works cited

  • Adkins, Lesley; Adkins, Roy A. (2004). Handbook to life in ancient Rome (Updated ed.). New York: Facts on file. p. 283. ISBN 0-8160-5026-0.
  • Anwyl, Edward (1906). Celtic Religion in Pre-Christian Times. Andover-Harvard Theological Library.
  • Arenas-Esteban, J. Alberto (2010). Celtic religion across space and time: fontes epigraphici religionvm celticarvm antiqvarvm. Toledo: Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha. ISBN 978-84-7788-589-4.
  • de Bernardo Stempel, Patrizia (2003). "Die sprachliche Analyse keltischer Theonyme". Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie. 53 (1): 41–69. doi:10.1515/ZCPH.2003.41.
  • Coulter, Charles Russell; Turner, Patricia (2000). Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn. ISBN 1-57958-270-2.
  • Dimitz, August. History of Carniola. Vol. I.
  • Dorcey, Peter F. (1992). The cult of Silvanus: a study in Roman folk religion. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 90-04-09601-9.
  • Freeman, Philip (2017). Celtic Mythology: Tales of Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes. Oxford UP. ISBN 978-0-19-046047-1.
  • "Greek & Roman Mythology - Tools". http://www.classics.upenn.edu/myth/php/tools/dictionary.php?regexp=RHEA&method=standard.
  • Green, Miranda Jane (1993). Celtic myths. Austin: U of Texas P. ISBN 0-292-72754-2.
  • Keating, Geoffrey (1857). The History of Ireland from the Earliest Period to the English Invasion. P. M. Haverty.
  • Koch, John T. (2006). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-85109-440-7.
  • Kos, Marjeta Šašel (2008). "Dedicanti e Cultores nelle Reliogione Celtiche: A cura di Antonio Sartori" [Celtic divinities from Celeia and its territory: who were the dedicators?]. Quaderni di Acme. 104. CISALPINO: Istituto Editoriale Universitario. Milano: 284–86. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • Lurker, Manfred (2004). The Routledge dictionary of gods, goddesses, devils and demons (2 ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-34018-7.
  • MacCulloch, J. A. (1911). The Religion of the Ancient Celts. Edinburgh: Clark.
  • Mees, Bernard (2009). Celtic Curses. Boydell. ISBN 9781843834571.
  • Murley, Joseph Clyde (1922). The Cults of Cisalpine Gaul as Seen in the Inscriptions. The Collegiate Press.
  • Nicholson, Edward Williams Byron (1904). Keltic researches: Studies in the History and Distribution of the Ancient Goidelic Language and Peoples. Oxford UP.
  • Olivares Olivares Pedreño, Juan Carlos (2005). "Celtic Gods of the Iberian Peninsula". e-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies. 6: 607–649.
  • Rankin, David (1998). Celts and the classical world. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-15090-6.
  • Roymans, Nico; Derks, Ton, eds. (2009). Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity: The Role of Power and Tradition. Amsterdam: Amsterdam UP. ISBN 978-90-8964-078-9.
  • Williams, Mark Andrew (2016). Ireland's Immortals: A History of the Gods of Irish Myth. Princeton UP. ISBN 9780691157313.