More wide ranging, both geographically and chronologically, than any previous study, this well-illustrated book offers a new definition of Celtic art. Tempering the much-adopted art-historical approach, Harding argues for a broader definition of Celtic art and views it within a much wider archaeological context. He re-asserts ancient Celtic identity after a decade of deconstruction in English-language archaeology Harding argues that there were communities in Iron Age Europe that were identified historically as Celts, regarded themselves as Celtic, or who spoke Celtic languages, and that the art of these communities may reasonably be regarded as Celtic art.
For the Celts, a rural people whose survival depended solely upon their environment, natural phenomena, the elements, and animals, especially, merited their extreme respect. The Celts made both wild and domesticated species the focus of elaborate rituals as well as the basis of profound religious beliefs. Animals in Celtic Life and Myth examines the intimate relationship between humans and animals, in a society in which animals were special and central to all aspects of life.
The Celtic Languages describes in depth all the Celtic languages from historical, structural and sociolinguistics perspectives with individual chapters on Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Welsh, Breton and Cornish. This new edition has been thoroughly revised to provide a comprehensive and up to date account of the modern Celtic languages and their current sociolinguistic status along with complete descriptions of the historical languages.
The Arthurian Age; the Celtic Twilight; the Dark Ages; the Birth of England; these are the powerfully romantic names often given to one of the most confused yet vital periods in British history. It is an era upon which rival Celtic and English nationalisms frequently fought. It was also a period of settlement, and of the sword. This absorbing volume by David Nicolle transports us to an England shrouded in mystery and beset by savage conflict, a land which played host to one of the most enduring figures of our history – Arthur.
Shows how a relatively simple series of 'formulas' can be applied, rather like a new language, to enable the reader to create knotwork patterns very quickly...opens new doors for the serious artist interested in learning the language of Celtic knotwork.
