I am sure you have heard of the Romans and the Greek gods and heroes. Their deeds and legendary achievements. You must have heard of the brave warriors from Denmark, Norway and Sweden whom we call Vikings. Their raids and conquests. But have you ever heard of or even read about the Celts? The inhabitants of Ancient Europe who reach from the western shores of Spain into Turkey and further into Asia. Their story began over 2000 years ago, when a man sat down by the fire near the Atlantic Ocean and told a story of two gods. Twins born from the sea goddess. Who came to walk amongst men when they grew up.

That is the beginning, though shared word to mouth, not much of this tale is known today. The Greek historian Timaeus wrote these stories down but his volumes were lost over the centuries. Keep in mind that he lived shortly after the age of Alexander the great. All that is left is a brief summary of what Diodorus read, three centuries later.

It is impossible to day who the Celts were, they were more a collection of tribes who shared similarities such as Religion and Language. We first hear of the tribe of Keltoi from Greek merchants and explorers who sailed the Western part of the Mediterranean about Five hundred years B.C.E.  

Those same Celts from modern France we call Gauls crossed the alps and invaded northern parts of Italy. At around 390 B.C.E the Celts sacked Rome in demand of ransom and left the place in ruins. Their descendants ventured into Balkan regions only to invade Greece one hundred years later around 390 B.C.E.

The Greek historian Xenophon and philosopher Aristotle described them as ‘Unmatched and Fearless warriors who jumped head first into battle often wearing nothing but gold torques around their necks.’

Perhaps our best preserved knowledge of the celtic customs and religion comes from Julius Ceasar who conquered Gaul after a brutal war. Though he banned human sacrifice he had zero interest in changing their religion thus we know what the Romans and Greeks wrote about them. At around 50 A.D. Emperor Claudius after many more years of bloody battles conquered all the way up to Hadrian's wall in Britain, making the Britannnic celts a vital part of the empire. Again leaving their language, gods and customs as they were. Unfortunately we have to deal with scattered pieces of their myths and legends since the Celts did not write them down.

For a prolonged period the island, what we call Ireland, remained untouched, together with the northern parts of britain. Leaving these lands to tell our stories. These stories were written by the monks who were converted to christianity around 50 A.D.

These monks wrote about christian tales but also about celtic tales and folklore. Some of which we still know to this day. Take the tale of King Arthur, though it is romanticized over the centuries it is still a celtic story from wales. These stories are the collection we call Mabinogi. 

In many cases the stories written about the celts like the norse mythology is written by christian writers who had different views about these people. Some made no effort into calling them barbaric and savages who threaten to destroy civilization while others view them as romantic primal figures.