Celtic

2012-01-05T18:08:07Z

166.248.72.76:

'''Celtic''' is a category of European languages which had close contact with Germanic languages. The original inhabitants of England were Celts, before the coming of the Anglo-Saxon (who spoke [[Old English]]).

[[Tolkien]]'s [[legendarium]] has mainly Germanic and English elements, but Celtic concepts are present in some views about the [[Elves]] (see [[Elves#Celtic influence]]). [[George Allen & Unwin]] also criticized ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' as being obscure and "too Celtic".

Celtic analogies with peoples are present mostly relating to [[Pre-Númenóreans]], especially [[Dunland]] and the [[Stoors|Stoor]] [[hobbits]], which is evident in placenames such as [[Bree]] and the personal names of the [[Bucklanders]].

It is possible that the rivalry between the primitive Dunlendings and the blonde-haired, pseudo-Anglo-Saxon Rohirrim who migrated into the lands neighboring them was meant by Tolkien to be analagous to the real life conflicts that arose between the Anglo-Saxons in England and neighboring Celtic peoples.

This is supported by the fact that placenames of [[Bree-land]] are Celtic. The [[Stoors|Stoor]] [[Hobbits]] (who had stayed long in [[Dunland]]), have Celtic elements in their names. Tolkien mentioned that the survival of traces of the older language of the Stoors and the Bree-men resembled the survival of Celtic elements in England.
==Celtic names in the legendarium==
The way Tolkien used Germanic, English and Old English names to represent [[Westron]] and related [[Mannish]] languages, genuine Celtic names are scarcely used for more alien languages.

*[[Bree]] (Brythonic) "hill"
*[[Carn Dûm]] (Gaelic) "mountain fortress"
*Chet (in [[Chetwood]] and [[Archet]]) "wood"
*Car (in [[Carrock]]) "rock"

Although Tolkien himself stated in a letter that he was not fond of the Irish language, it seems that, to a certain degree, he based the language of the pre-Numenoreans of Gondor on Irish (contrasted with the pre-Numenoreans of Eriador, who spoke a more Brythonic-influenced language). This is evident in the Dunlending term ''forgoil'', and the Gondorian placenames ''Eilenach'' and ''Lossarnach'' (although the "loss-" of the latter is Sindarin), all of which exhibit phonical similarites to Irish Gaelic terms.

The majority of Celtic names is seen in the family trees of the [[Brandybuck]]s. Names such as [[Rorimac Brandybuck|Rorimac]], [[Dinodas Brandybuck|Dinodas]], [[Gorbadoc Brandybuck|Gorbadoc]], [[Meriadoc Brandybuck|Meriadoc]] and [[Marmadoc Brandybuck|Marmadoc]] are Celtic.
==Externals links==
*{{WP|Celtic languages}}
[[category:languages (real-world)]]

Tolkien Gateway - User contributions [en]

Celtic