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Celtic
and Renaissance Games
Brandubh
Tawlbwrdd
Hnet
Ninemen
Quilles
Fithcheall
Graphics by the
Animation Factory
and Celtic Web Art
http://members.aol.com
/Cyrion7/celtic/
index.com
The history of Celtic games was recorded, like
Celtic history and legends, on an oral tradition. Not that
the Celts didn’t have a written language, just that the
spoken word was valued more. Unfortunatley, Ireland was
conquered by a country that thought Ireland’s customs,
language, and culture were inferior, so the conquerors
didn’t bother to save them and the Celts were busy
trying to survive, so a lot was lost.
And the traditions that survive were translated
by Christian monks from Ulster. Therefore the legends have a
distinct Northern bias. Can you imagine what the
“Cattle Raid of Cooley” would be like if it were
translated by monks from Connaught?
The Celts were not barbarians. Sorry, but recent
movies are not true. The Celts had a language and culture
that was older than the Romans and (gasp!) on par with the
Greeks. The only thing that the Celts did wrong was to lose
the war. History is written by the conquerors and it is not
in their interest to record that they subdued cultures equal
to or greater than their own. Rather it is in their interest
to state that the defeated were lesser cultures crying out
to be saved by their heroic saviors.
So what does this have to do with Celtic and
Renaissance games? The sad fact is that much of the Celtic
games are lost. We have the names, but not the actual rules,
boards, pieces or many details at all. Authors have guessed
that certain celtic games were like Roman games, however,
the celts in Ireland were not conquered by Rome, nor were
they influenced by Rome, and they had a vibrant, rich
culture of their own, so why would they have to borrow
entertainment from Rome to while away their
hours?
Here are listed some Celtic and Renaissance
games. The games themselves were one of the many forms of
amusement in that time period. There are three books that I
have drawn this information from and all three are available
either through California State University, Fresno and the
local Fresno County library. Think, if a city like Fresno,
which destroys it history as fast as it can, can have these
references available, then maybe your library will have them
too!
Books:
by Nigel Patrick
"Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations"
by R.C. Bell
"Board and Table Games Other Than Chess"
