ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1023 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1023 ************************************ 21 May 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help choosing a name for a Celt living in Scotland between 500 and 1100, specifically a couple hundred years after the Celts separated after their defeat by Rome. Before we can offer specific suggestions, we need to pin down your persona more precisely. There was no general defeat of the Celtic tribes by Rome, so we're not sure just when you want your persona to have lived. The term "Celt" can't really be used to describe any group of people in our period. The original Celtic tribes spread across Europe and the British Isles in the last two millenia BC. They divided into separate nations with distinct identities and languages long before the rise of Rome [5]. In our period, the term "Celtic" refers to a group of languages as diverse as the modern Romance languages. Some relationship among these languages was still recognized during classical times and perhaps into the early Middle Ages, but there was certainly no pan-Celtic identity. The Celtic-speaking tribes in the British Isles fell into two distinct groups: Irish (or "Goidelic") and British (or "Brythonic"). The two groups spoke languages in different branches of the Celtic language family, and had quite different cultures and histories. Modern Welsh, Cornish, and Breton are descendents of Brythonic. Modern Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx descend from Goidelic [5]. The Romans first encountered Celtic tribes about 390 BC, when Rome was sacked. Rome conquered the various Celtic tribes south of the Alps by 192 BC, in Gaul (modern France) by 56 BC, and in Britain in the first century AD. The Irish and Manx were never subjugated to Rome [1, 2]. Rome withdrew from Britain around 400 AD [4]. The first Celts in the area of modern-day Scotland were Brythonic-speaking tribes who migrated northward into the area south of the Clyde and Forth. They found the area inhabited by the Picts, a people who spoke a non-Celtic language [5]. As early as the late 3rd century, Irish settlers (called "Scoti" in Latin) crossed to modern-day Argyll and the Inner Hebrides. By the second half of the 5th century, these settlements were incorporated into the northern Irish kingdom of Dalriada, and the royal family of Dalriada moved to Argyll around 500. The Irish half of the kingdom waned by the 9th century, while Scottish Dalriada expanded against Pictish opposition. Over the 9th and 10th centuries, the Scottish and Pictish kingdoms united to form the medieval kingdom of Scotland [3, 6]. The languages and naming practices changed significantly over the 600 years you mentioned in your letter, and we need a more specific date before we can make any suggestions. If you can provide further details of your persona, we'll be happy to help further. If you'd like to read more about Scottish history, you might find some useful sources here: Scottish History Bibliography http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scot_hist_biblio.html I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Effrick neyn Kennyeoch vc Ralte, Talan Gwynek, and Charles O'Connor. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 14 May 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] "Celt" Britannica Online. [Accessed 12 May 1998]. http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/112/30.html [2] "Map of Ancient Britain" Britannica Online. [Accessed 12 May 1998]. http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=cap/unkingm04.html [3] "Dalriada" Britannica Online. [Accessed 12 May 1998]. http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/157/92.html [4] Johnson, Stephen, _Later Roman Britain_ (Scribner's: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1980). [5] "Languages of the World: INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES: Celtic languages." Britannica Online. [Accessed 13 May 1998]. http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=macro/5003/62/154.html http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=macro/5003/62/156.html [6] Lynch, Michael _Scotland: A New History_ (London: Pimlico, 1992). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -