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    14. Water and Celtic Mythology (Inglés) autor James C. I. Dooge

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    10 views12 pages

    Water and Celtic Mythology (Inglés) Autor James C. I. Dooge

    Uploaded by

    Gaby

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    te dea pay cote Fenos ence fal 506 Esra Pare oles Colo, 079) Water and Celtic Mythology JAMES Ci, 0008 Corto fr Water Resources Research, Universy Coleg Dubin INTRODUCTION ‘Who were the Celts? For the purposes ofthis discussion it is sufficient to define the Celts a a distinct Indo-European group who are the ancestors of two linguistic group (a) the Irish, the Scots and the pooples ofthe Isle of Man, and (b) the Welsh, the Comish an the Bretons, Sometime between the beginning of the 3d millenium B.C. and the beginning of the ist millennium B.C. there developed on the continent of Europe and subsequently cn the islands of Britain and Ireland societies that became both culturally and lingusticaly Celtic (Ross 1986) Around 500 B.C. there was a movement of the Celts fom their original home in [North/Central Europe to a wide area of continental Europe and to the peripheral islands, ‘Around 300 B.C. there were further movements of the Celts culminating in the sack of Delphi. These movements in the firs millenium B.C. are shown on Figure 1 (Markale 1978) Itis interesting for hydrolopsts to note tht these movements ofthe Celts have been atibuted by some writers fo the impact of climate change. Thus Makale (1976) in his work on Celtic Civilisation writes \ the end ofthe Bronze Age after the fist Halstat period, i. about $30 B.C. the lake villages were hastily abandoned by their ocexpants, westem Europe ‘became suddenly cold and wet again. The Scandinavian bogs indicate that new formations of peat followed 2 period of comparative drought. The North Sea and Baltic coastlines became areas of inundated marshland” snd gocs onto link this cimate change to this major migration ofthe Celts, " Archacologicel evidence indicates vast southward migrations of people esaping the flooded regions The fet and mast important migrations of Britons o Great Britain can hedated from tis period and these movements were echoed inthe strange Welsh tradition that followed at a much ater éate” ‘The traditions referred to by Markale were the mythological stores of buried cities such as ‘hose of Ys in Brtainy, Lough Neagh in Ireland as well asthe legend of Gyddno Garanie in Wales. Issar (1990, p.170) links this movement of Celtic peorles with a widespread ‘minilacial period characterizedin the fertile Crescent by 180 depletion inthe isotope record of Gaile andthe emergence ofthe Nabatcan nation in the desert ares around Petra, [Even though the descendants ofthe Celts are now largely confined to the westem periphery of Europe, the signs oftheir former habitation and oftheir close affinity with water ‘is more widespread. Throughout the wide area shown on Figure I, the names of rivers are still traceable to ther original Celie names when they played significant role in the culture of the local inhabitants. Water and Civilisation Water is strongly connected not only with the emergence of life but also with the ‘emergence of civlisition. This fopie in the past has only attracted the attention of scholars in individual disciplines but the time is now ripe for an interdiscplinary approach to the ‘question. Accordingly the initiative of UNESCO in proposing a project on Water and Civilisation involving both hydrologists and archaeologist, and covering such topics as the Fiseof civilisations and water as a cause of war throughout the ages isto be welcomed and supported. Individual studies on aspects of this question give us a headline on which to base regional studies. Witfogel (1957) studied what be termed the hydraulic societies of Asia in Which large - scale irrigation gave rise to a bureaucratic political system. While his more swoeping generalisations have been modified by subsequent experts, articulaely in relation to Latin America, there is moch of interest in his approach. Our knowledge of classical times has been reviewed by Garbrecht (1987), while Issar (1990) has writen on the links between hydrology and climate and tadion inthe lands ofthe Bible, Water and Religion ‘Throughout the world and inal civilisnions, water has occupid a significant place in religious thought and practice. Thus, Brenneman and Breanermen (1995, pp. 15-16) in

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