Celtic Mythology
Celtic mythology is the religion of the Iron Age Celts. The mythology of the Celts has been preserved through contemporary Roman and Christian sources. The mythology of the Celtic people who were closely connected to Rome (such as the Gauls and Celtiberians) did not survive the Roman Empire. The Celtic people who lived on the British Isles, such as the Gaels and Brythonic tribes) left some of their mythological beliefs in written form for their future descendants could also worship them and pass them on. The Gauls and the Celtiberians converted to Christianity and this is why their mythology did not survive the Roman Empire.
The Celtic world covered much of the western and central portion of Europe. They were not unified and there was not any central source of culture. Each tribe had its own culture so there was a wide variation of Celtic religion. There are records of more than three hundred different gods and many of these were much like the Roman gods. As was the Roman and Greek gods, the names of the Celtic gods were related to their specific task that they reigned over. Celtic mythology is found in a number of subgroups which correspond, in part, to the branches of Celtic languages. These subgroups were: Ancient Celtic religion (which was known through archaeological sources), Mythology in Goidelic languages (which was represented mainly by Gaelic, Scottish, and Irish mythology), and the Mythology in Brythonic languages (which were represented by Welsh and Breton mythology).
It is believed (from sources that survived over the years) that the pagan Celts were not literate, although a written form of Gaulish using Greek, Latin, and North Italic alphabets was used. Caesar claimed the Gauls were literate, but also said that the priests, the druids, were forbidden to write to record any verses of religious subjects. He also claimed that the Helvetti had a written census. Most of the written public inscriptions which were found in Gaul were dated back before the Roman conquest. Early Gaels in Ireland and in parts of Wales, used the Ugham script to write down short inscriptions which were mainly personal names. Many of the first myths of the Celtics was recorded by the Christian monks.
The oldest written Celtic myths were found in early manuscripts from Ireland. They were also written by Christians so there is a lot of myths about the gods they worshiped prior to this may not be mentioned. There were records written about battles such as the Battle of Mag Tuireadh, the Book of Invasions, and the Tuatha De’ was about the functions of the human society, crafts, and war, and the Fomorians was about the chaos and wild nature.
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