Do Celts still exist?

Wilhelm said:
Something that fascinates me is the mythology of north-Portugal, Asturias, Galicia, Cantabria, Castilla, that has many elements of Celtic origin, and to a less degree germanic (for example the "Malas Cosas" of castilian mythology is of Gothic origin). Here are some articles :

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitolog%C3%ADa_c%C3%A1ntabra
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitología_asturiana
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitología_castellana
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There are similar myths in Northern and Central Portugal, much like other lands in the Atlantic Facade, I'm sure.
 
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Wilhelm said:
Something that fascinates me is the mythology of north-Portugal, Asturias, Galicia, Cantabria, Castilla, that has many elements of Celtic origin, and to a less degree roman and germanic (for example the "Malas Cosas" of castilian mythology is of Gothic origin). Here are some articles :

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitología_cántabra
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitología_asturiana
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitología_castellana
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To substantiate that is the evidence that Celtic paganism spread wherever people spoke a Celtic language, and the pantheon was consistent, at least to the same degree seen among, for example, the Germanics. The Irish, Britons, Gauls, and Celtiberians all had their own version of Lugus. And there is little doubt that much modern folklore continues to incorporate the old myths to some degree.
 
sparkey said:
To substantiate that is the evidence that Celtic paganism spread wherever people spoke a Celtic language, and the pantheon was consistent, at least to the same degree seen among, for example, the Germanics. The Irish, Britons, Gauls, and Celtiberians all had their own version of Lugus. And there is little doubt that much modern folklore continues to incorporate the old myths to some degree.
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Quite correct. Many pagan beliefs were shared throughout Atlantic Celtic lands.
 
sparkey said:
Independent one anyway, yes? Because we also have Wales as a constituent country within the UK.

Either way, another thumbs up for Irish culture from me. (y)
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Thumbs up from me as well.(y)
 
Good stuff, Cambria.

Referring to a post I had made in a different thread: a Welsh folk song.
 
Cambria Red said:
The drive to maintain and expand Celticity is strongest in Galicia, followed by Minho and Tras-os-Montes (N. Portugal). Asturias also has strong Celtic traditions, similar to these areas.

In addition, it should be mentioned that there is a movement in Central Portugal (Acel-Trebopala) to revive Lusitanian culture, which is fundamentally very Celtic. The Lusitanian language (para-Celtic or Proto-Celtic, although some do classify it as Celtic), Lekantu (sp?), has been recently partially reconstructed by Acel-Trebopala.
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:LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL:
 
Wilhelm said:
Something that fascinates me is the mythology of north-Portugal, Asturias, Galicia, Cantabria, Castilla, that has many elements of Celtic origin, and to a less degree roman and germanic
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Go on, and you will reach the North Pole...
 
Cambria Red said:
Celtic music form the Atlantic Facade:

First link is Breton and the second a combined N. Portugal and C. Portugal band.
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Correction : First link is Breton and the second a borrowed one by the N. Portugal and C. Portugal band.
 
So, Grizzly! What's your verdict regarding the title of this thread? That Bretons, Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Cornish, and Manx are Celtic, but not any Iberian group?
 
sparkey said:
So, Grizzly! What's your verdict regarding the title of this thread? That Bretons, Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Cornish, and Manx are Celtic, but not any Iberian group?
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Honestly, for me the "Celtic" notion is more a historical and linguistical one. All the current considerations about Celtic (genetics, folklore...) make me laugh. Scottish speak almost all English, Breton French...The real Celtic culture remains only through texts, and in old mouthes of old guys. The fact that some parents send their children in Breton-speakin schools is just laughable.

And for Iberia, yes, Iberia was out of the Celtic culture. It is sad for some users, but life goes on...
 
Grizzly said:
Honestly, for me the "Celtic" notion is more a historical and linguistical one. All the current considerations about Celtic (genetics, folklore...) make me laugh. Scottish speak almost all English, Breton French...The real Celtic culture remains only through texts, and in old mouthes of old guys. The fact that some parents send their children in Breton-speakin schools is just laughable.

And for Iberia, yes, Iberia was out of the Celtic culture. It is sad for some users, but life goes on...
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But surely there are commonalities among the Celtic cultures that are not shared with non-Celtic cultures, no? We've been mentioning some, like similar traditional music and sport. So what do we call that other than a shared Celticity?

If your point is more that there are no modern purely Celtic ethnic groups, I would agree. The Irish, for example, clearly incorporate English culture into their everyday lives. Same for French with the Bretons. The Scottish are a different case in that they've had a Germanic influence for a very long time in comparison.

For the record, I don't think that genetics influences whether or not somebody is of a certain ethnic group or pan-ethnic group. All genetics is good for in the analysis is determining historical interrelationship, which gives us clues regarding the origins and distributions of pan-ethnic groups.
 
sparkey said:
We've been mentioning some, like similar traditional music and sport. So what do we call that other than a shared Celticity?
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Some peoples try here to link some culture features which have probably roots in very ancient times (I would say Neolithic times for the bagpipes or the dances) with the Celts, because they just want so.

sparkey said:
All genetics is good for in the analysis is determining historical interrelationship, which gives us clues regarding the origins and distributions of pan-ethnic groups.
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It's right. Genetics is an interesting science. But for some reasons, a lot of studies suddenly appeared with simple maps showing so-called distributions of commons genetical features or human migrations. These studies have been published without letting scientists working on a long-term to precise and to confirm or infirm the works. Hence these quick conclusions and links about cultural features, Celts, Germanics, Etruscans or I don't know what else.
 
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