“I shall not see a world which will be dear to me”
The Apocalypse in ‘Celtic’ Mythology
By Clara Scholz
Apocalyptic stories have long served as powerful mirrors reflecting humanity's deepest fears, hopes, and beliefs. We have held an obsession with our own demise and the end of the world as we know it for seemingly as long as we have existed, and it has shaped our culture, our religions and the stories we have told each other for thousands of years. As used as we are to scriptures and prophecies telling us how the world will come to an end and to pantheons of gods shaping our lives in tales and legends, it is hard to accept that peoples and tribes have existed whose mythological ideas and beliefs seem to elude us still. Yet the so-called ‘Celts’ do exactly that.
Despite the popularity the ‘Celts’ and their many associations enjoy in pop-culture today, what we really know about their lives and mythology is deflatingly little. Everything that seemed to define these tribes – their language, the way they dressed, the objects they created, as well as their religious views – must be viewed in the context of their huge settlement areas and the long time they spent wandering, developing, getting conquered, and eventually settling over many parts of ancient Europe.
Can we say anything about the ‘Celtic’ culture for certain, then? In itself, it must have been a melting pot of different cultures, beliefs and religious ideas, influenced by the places the tribes came from or by the people who joined or conquered them. Considering that a singular group of people referring to themselves as ‘Celts’ never existed, it is impossible to refer to a unifying mythological world, a family of gods or even a common religion among the many different groups attributed to this name. Unfortunately, archaeological material is difficult to use as evidence of supernatural beliefs and what little remains of ‘Celtic’ inscriptions, of images of Gods and cult objects, is fragmentary and often contradictory. Literary sources are also often full of gaps and must be viewed as dependent on the place where and by whom they were written down. Reconstruction through speculation can be especially dangerous in this context, as it might quickly lead down a path to incorporating themes and ideas unsupported by any tangible evidence.
What of the ‘Celts’ views on the Apocalypse then? According to Strabo, the Greek philosopher and geographer, the druids believed that, though the universe and the human soul were indestructible, fire and water would eventually prevail over both. Alexander the Great shared the now famous anecdote of a group of ‘Celtic’ warriors replying to his question of what they were afraid of that the only thing they feared was the sky crashing down on their heads; the falling of the sky clearly being associated with some end of the world. This also draws similarities to Norse mythology, where the burning of the World Tree causes the sky to fall, heralding the end of the world. Thus, we can assume that the end of the world must have played some role in ‘Celtic’ mythology, even though we only find fragmentary evidence of it today.
While on the European mainland, monuments and inscriptions (mostly on stone) remained that might have belonged to a religious or cultish background, on the British Isles, we find mostly written documents. It is these literary sources that we draw most of our assumptions about ‘Celtic’ mythology from today – in Ireland, this is the Tain and in Wales, the Four Branches of the Mabinogi.
These collections are not specifically tales about gods or religious beliefs but rather legends and tales which sometimes feature gods, as well as other supernatural creatures, or pseudohistorical collections of tales connected to their place of origin. But even these literary sources must be taken with a grain of salt as none of these documents were written down by people we would today refer to as ‘Celts’. Most of them stem from the pen of Romans or Christian monks. The most famous of these sources is most likely Caesar’s Bello Gallico, which describes the members of ‘Celtic’ religions as well as their Gods as cruel and bloodthirsty, a clear agenda to contrast the supposed barbarity of the ‘Celts’ with the sophistication of the Roman. Why do we have such little textual evidence regarding the religion and mythology of these people written by themselves? Most likely because their knowledge was passed down orally and closely guarded by those who had access to it.
Hints to one collective mythology do exist – it was generally believed among ‘Celtic’ tribes that an otherworld exists, that the gods can walk freely among humans and interact with them, and evidence pointing towards a kind of death cult has also been found. It was generally believed that the gods lived ‘elsewhere’, possibly within hills, underground or on islands far out at sea. In Welsh mythology, this place is called Annwfn, and in Irish Tír na nÓg. Nonetheless, large gaps exist in our knowledge of the mythology of the many tribes, and it is oftentimes impossible to read between the lines of what the – often Christian - final redactors might have added to the remaining sources.
We find the strongest hint of the Apocalypse in tales that feature prophecies of the end of times, in Irish as well as Welsh mythology. These visions usually refer to a linear Apocalypse, telling us of an end of the world which is inevitable and leaves no way of ever returning to the way things have been. These prophecies are often spoken in the context of battles or conflicts. Historically, this does make sense, especially since the disruptions caused on the British Isles during the Viking age seem to have been a stimulus for elaborate apocalyptic prophecies and thoughts of the end of the world. Considering the destruction the Vikings caused, it is not surprising that it must have felt like the end of times to many. A theme of social upheaval and inversion of the traditional order is common for the texts composed at this time, even those set in the distant past.
Cath Maige Tuired (‘The second battle of Mag Tuired’), found in the Irish Mythological Cycle, is a prime example of a text composed during this troubled time, as it blends native and Christian apocalyptic motives.
In it, the ancient supernatural race of the Tuath Dé is most prominently featured, as well as the battles they fought with the demonic overseas race known as the Fomoiri, as possible stand-in for the feared Viking invaders. Their conflict is the central theme of the tale. At the end of the story, after the battle is won, Mórrígan, one of the Tuath Dé and an important character in the mythological cycle, utters two poems. The first is a vision of abundance: “Peace up to heaven / Heaven down to earth / Earth beneath heaven / Strength in each”. The second, on the other hand, is a vision of apocalyptic horror: "I shall not see a world / Which will be dear to me: / Summer without blossoms, / Cattle will be without milk, / Women without modesty, / Men without valour. / Conquests without a king . . . / Woods without mast. / Sea without produce. . . / False judgements of old men. / False precedents of lawyers, / Every man a betrayer. / Every son a reaver”. She predicts social upheaval to the point of incest, war, and general chaos. As poetic as this is, we cannot be sure if this draws an accurate picture of what the ‘Celts’ believed the end of times would look like.
In Welsh mythology, we find a similar example of an apocalyptic vision, also uttered by a woman. In it we can clearly see the influence of Roman and Christian mythology; it is most likely based on the Latin Oracles of the Tiburtine Sibyl. Llyma Prophwydoliaeth Sibli Doeath (‘Here is the Prophecy of Sibyl the Wise) describes a dream in which Sibyl sees the downfall and apocalyptic end of the world after many bounds of human wickedness and natural disasters. She sees nine bloodstained suns appear in the sky, each representing a generation that will come before the end of the world, and she predicts that evil despots will rule the world with much bloodshed before the earth is finally cleansed by fire and water. The images seem related to the day of judgement in the Christian Apocalypse, while the end of the world in fire and water reminds one of the druidic visions of the end of the world in Ireland.
Other Apocalyptic elements that we are familiar with today also appear in ‘Celtic’ mythology, prominently the appearance of the zombie-like undead. In the tale of Branwen, the daughter of Llŷr, found in the second branch of the Welsh Mabinogi, a war is waged between the Irish and Welsh over the marriage of Branwen to the king of Ireland. To pacify the king, he is gifted the pair dadeni, the cauldron of restoration, which will revive his soldiers even after they have died in battle. For this to work, the Mabinogi tells us, “the dead were thrown into the cauldron, until it was full. They would rise up the next day - fighting men as good as before, except they would not be able to talk”. Some would argue that these zombie-like Irishmen make the perfect soldiers – ready for battle but unable to complain or protest.
Despite only fragments of the mythology of the ‘Celts’ remaining in what few sources they left us, it is clear that they, like many other peoples, were occupied with a possible end of the world. Interconnected as these images are with Christian and Roman influence, they likely had their own ideas of the otherworld, of death and the creation and end of the world. Whatever hopes and fears they had, they processed them in tales and stories that seem surprisingly modern – not only when focused on their Apocalyptic motives.
About the Author
Clara Scholz has a background in Celtic Studies and English Literature. She is currently enrolled in the MA Cultural Heritage Protection at the University of Heidelberg and has been with the CAPAS since April 2024. Her passions include Irish history, science-fiction novels and taking care of her house plants.