Block, SkipCaptcha, Upload, Automoderated users, edit
14,282
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 15:
Line 15: + + + + + + + + + Line 33:
Line 42: − − == The Celtic calendar == − ''Cormac's Glossary'' gives ''Imbol'' (February 1) as the first day of spring, ''Beltaine'' (May 1) the first day of summer, ''Lugnasad'' (August 1) the first day of fall, and ''Samhain'' (November 1) the first day of winter. This glossary was started by the king-bishop of Munster around AD 900. Some entries were added centuries later.<ref>Beltaine is identified with ''biltine'' (May Day). The entry on November notes that it is the winter month following Samhain: "'''Gamuin''', i.e. in the month of Gam, i.e., after Samuin; whence gamnach, i.e. winter‐engorged teats, i.e., milk milked in the month of winter, i.e. in the season of winter." (''[https://archive.org/details/sanaschormaicco00stokgoog/page/n40/mode/2up Sanas Chormaic. Cormac's glossary]'' − by Cormac, O'Donovan, John, ed. and tr; Stokes, Whitley, 1868)</ref> − − A Celtic lunisolar calendar has been reconstructed from fragments of a second AD calendar found in the French town of Coligny. The first month on the calendar is called ''Samonios''. As ''samo-'' is Gaulish for summer, this was presumably a summer month.<ref>Lambert, Pierre-Yves, ''La langue gauloise,'' Editions Errance, 2nd edition, Paris, 2003, p. 266. "'''Samo-''', `été'</ref> The Celts celebrated a three-day festival that began on the 17th of ''Samonios'', according to this calendar.<ref name="Olmsted">Olmsted, Garrett (2009). ''The Coligny Calendar: the Implications for Gaulish and Irish Festival Dates''.</ref> This festival may correspond to Beltaine, the principle Celtic holiday. If so, 17 Samonios corresponds to May 1, the Julian date for Beltaine. The calendar may have been designed to start on the summer solstice (June 21). Various factors could have caused it to move out of alignment, including the swing of the seasons from one year of the cycle to the next and calendar drift. Perhaps change of season dates were placed on the first of the month for convenience. − − Samhain follows Beltaine by exactly six months. This suggests that it was observed in ''Giamonios,'' the seventh month of the Coligny calendar. The name of this month is transparently derived from ''giamos'', the Gaulish word for winter.<ref>Lambert, p. 179. "L'étymologie est transparent puisque le nom du mois et fait sur celui de l'hiver ''giamo-.''"</ref> ''Gam'' is old Irish for November, according to ''Cormac's Glossary''.
reorder
== History ==
== History ==
=== The Celtic calendar ===
''Cormac's Glossary'' gives ''Imbol'' (February 1) as the first day of spring, ''Beltaine'' (May 1) the first day of summer, ''Lugnasad'' (August 1) the first day of fall, and ''Samhain'' (November 1) the first day of winter. This glossary was started by the king-bishop of Munster around AD 900. Some entries were added centuries later.<ref name="Cormac">Beltaine is identified with ''biltine'' (May Day). The entry on November notes that it is the winter month following Samhain: "'''Gamuin''', i.e. in the month of Gam, i.e., after Samuin; whence gamnach, i.e. winter‐engorged teats, i.e., milk milked in the month of winter, i.e. in the season of winter." (''[https://archive.org/details/sanaschormaicco00stokgoog/page/n40/mode/2up Sanas Chormaic. Cormac's glossary]''
by Cormac, O'Donovan, John, ed. and tr; Stokes, Whitley, 1868)</ref>
A Celtic lunisolar calendar has been reconstructed from fragments of a second AD calendar found in the French town of Coligny. The first month on the calendar is called ''Samonios''. As ''samo-'' is Gaulish for summer, this was presumably a summer month.<ref>Lambert, Pierre-Yves, ''La langue gauloise,'' Editions Errance, 2nd edition, Paris, 2003, p. 266. "'''Samo-''', `été'</ref> The Celts celebrated a three-day festival that began on the 17th of ''Samonios'', according to this calendar.<ref name="Olmsted">Olmsted, Garrett (2009). ''The Coligny Calendar: the Implications for Gaulish and Irish Festival Dates''.</ref> This festival may correspond to Beltaine, the principle Celtic holiday. If so, 17 Samonios corresponds to May 1, the Julian date for Beltaine. The calendar may have been designed to start on the summer solstice (June 21). Various factors could have caused it to move out of alignment, including the swing of the seasons from one year of the cycle to the next and calendar drift. Perhaps change of season dates were placed on the first of the month for convenience.
=== Date of festival ===
Samhain follows Beltaine by exactly six months. This suggests that it was observed in ''Giamonios,'' the seventh month of the Coligny calendar. The name of this month is transparently derived from ''giamos'', the Gaulish word for winter.<ref>Lambert, p. 179. "L'étymologie est transparent puisque le nom du mois et fait sur celui de l'hiver ''giamo-.''"</ref> ''Gam'' is old Irish for November, according to ''Cormac's Glossary''.<ref name="Cormac"/>
Garrett Olmsted of Cornell University argues that Samhain was once observed on the winter solstice (December 21) and gradually shifted to November 1 after centuries of calendar drift.<ref name="Olmsted"/> It is sometimes suggested, especially by neo-pagans, that the Celts intended to select a date halfway between the equinox and the solstice. By this logic, November 7 is the "real" date of Samhain.
Garrett Olmsted of Cornell University argues that Samhain was once observed on the winter solstice (December 21) and gradually shifted to November 1 after centuries of calendar drift.<ref name="Olmsted"/> It is sometimes suggested, especially by neo-pagans, that the Celts intended to select a date halfway between the equinox and the solstice. By this logic, November 7 is the "real" date of Samhain.
The holiday is also discussed in the "Wooing of Emer," another tale in the Ulster Cycle. As Emer tells Cuchulain: "two divisions were formerly on the year,...summer from Beltaine (the first of May), and winter from Samuin to Beltaine."<ref name="Emer">"[http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/emer.html The Wooing Of Emer]," Translated by Kuno Meyer.</ref> So Cuchulain lives in a Julian calendar world in which the Celtic calendar "formerly on the year" needs to be explained.
The holiday is also discussed in the "Wooing of Emer," another tale in the Ulster Cycle. As Emer tells Cuchulain: "two divisions were formerly on the year,...summer from Beltaine (the first of May), and winter from Samuin to Beltaine."<ref name="Emer">"[http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/emer.html The Wooing Of Emer]," Translated by Kuno Meyer.</ref> So Cuchulain lives in a Julian calendar world in which the Celtic calendar "formerly on the year" needs to be explained.
==References==
==References==