THE CELTS
'Excessive want of fear has no name, but a man who was not afraid of anything, even waves and earthquakes, as they say the Celts are not, would be mad or insensible.'
ARISTOTLE
INCE the Celts are our subject, it is necessary to define what we mean when using this familiar, but little understood name.
To a student of church history, the Celts are the people of the Western Church, which was closely allied with the Eastern, or Greek Church, but was overwhelmed during the early Middle Ages by the encroaching dominion of Rome.
To an historian, the Celts are the inhabitants of Britain and Western Europe in the days before Caesar's Gallic War.
To an artist, the Celts are the supreme designers, whose work is found in the illuminated manuscripts of the Celtic Church and in finely designed gold-work, found throughout Europe and extending further east as archaeologists make fresh discoveries.
To a philologist, the word 'Celtic' applies to two groups of languages which, though spoken in the west, yet have their roots in the primary language of central Asia.
Any of these definitions may apply to our subject, but none will be complete; our vision must embrace them