Epilogue

This is intended not so much as a conclusion but as a comment on some of the most significant issues emerging from this study of symbolism in the Celtic world. The need to examine iconography both at regional and at supraregional levels has been important in establishing the different strata of belief-systems expressed by image-types which range from the local to the inter-tribal. The sky-god and the mother-goddess were virtually pan-tribal, each with a very broad spectrum of activities; the triple-faced image and the antlered god show distinct regional, sometimes tribal preferences. In some instances, imagery was closely associated with local customs and economies: the Burgundian wine-deities are a superb example. Other images were very localized: Sequana belonged exclusively to her spring sanctuary, and Nehalennia was venerated at just two North Sea coast temples among the Morini.

The iconography of the pre-Roman Celtic period is sparse compared to the great surge of visual symbolic activity which came about as a result of the catalyst born of the meeting between Roman and Celtic tradition. None the less, enough free Celtic iconography survives to demonstrate that there was some tradition, which awaited expansion and adaptation during the Romano-Celtic phase. Once Mediterranean artistic figural traditions arrived in the Celtic world, imagery vastly increased and, indeed, most image-types appeared for the first time under the stimulus of Graeco-Roman influences. Some divine images, as we have seen, were far removed from classical concepts, both in terms of artistic custom and religious expression. In others, influence from the Graeco-Roman world played an important part. Different image-types possessed a greater or lesser bias towards indigenous or Mediterranean concepts. Frequently, however, even if considerable influence from the Roman world was present, such iconography was adapted in a highly idiosyncratic manner to a Celtic divine context. An example of this is the classical theme of the Battle of Gods and Giants, adapted in the Celtic world to display the antithesis of positive and negative forces in a Celtic sky-cult. The balance and

Blend of Roman and native symbolic tradition manifests itself in the use of iconography and epigraphy to complement each other. Deities of Roman origin may possess Celtic names but their imagery may remain classical, or vice versa. It would seem that the symbolic message could be conveyed either by epigraphy or iconography or by a blend of both. Thus, perhaps, the indigenous character of, say, the Celtic Mercury could be projected as long as either his surname or his physical appearance possessed a celticizing aspect.

But we must be wary of seeking gratuitously to divide Roman from Celtic belief-systems. There were major differences certainly (some pertaining to the differences between an urban and rural society), but there were also similarities which made the religious conflation between the two cultures so easy. The Italians had topographical spirits and sacred groves, and Mediterranean peoples venerated the numina of sacred springs long before they set foot in the Celtic world. They had goddesses of fertility who were readily adapted to become Celtic mother-goddesses, and the Italian Mars, like his Celtic counterpart, had a bucolic as well as a combative role.

Celtic imagery itself has features of considerable interest. First, one may point to the multiplicity of symbolism on one and the same monument: thus an altar may be decorated with repeated hammer symbols, or a mother-goddess might possess several different prosperity emblems. Symbols themselves may be complicated and interactive: thus the composite hammer-barrel-solar attribute of the Vienne hammer-god may convey the symbolism of a striking implement, a wine vessel and the sun, all at the same time. Intensity of imagery occurs in the multiple god-forms like the Deae Matres, and in the divine partners, where the marriage itself was an important factor in the symbolism. Sometimes the iconography may be both profound and ambiguous. There is a constantly recurring regenerative theme, with prosperity, healing, and rebirth after death often going hand-in-hand. Symbolism could often be interpreted at a number of levels and there may sometimes have been deliberate ambiguity. Thus a sword need not just convey the image of a war-god but also (or instead) a guardian against disease; a mother-goddess’s napkin or scroll may symbolize both a human baby and fertility and the Book of Life; a wine-vessel may be just that, but it may also convey the symbolism of life, blood, and maybe resurrection. Nehalennia had cyclical imagery as a profound goddess of life and death, in addition to her protective role towards seafarers. Epona had the keys to Heaven as well as to her stable.

Much of Celtic religious imagery was highly individualistic: the close links with the natural world manifested themselves in the clear sanctity of animal qualities, so much so that in some iconography, the boundaries between zoomorphic and anthropomorphic images are broken down. The need to intensify imagery and to convey the message of magic ‘threeness’ is seen in the triple images. Schematism and exaggeration again show Celtic idiosyncrasy in eschewing the bonds of realism. We should remember the Celtic king Brennus who, in the third century BC, laughed at the Greeks for setting up figures of the gods, probably because they so closely resembled humans.1 Notwithstanding the profound contribution of Mediterranean tradition, this book has attempted to display the intensely individual character of the Celtic peoples, both in the nature of the gods themselves and in the manner in which beliefs in these gods was expressed. The iconography presents a dazzling panoply of images, each visually explicit (perhaps because the Celts were happier not to rely on epigraphy to convey symbolism) but at the same time often understated and ambiguous. More than anything, examination of such religious imagery demonstrates the profundity of many divine concepts. The gods were supportive of their worshippers, not feared but turned to; they aided humankind in life and death, in illness and prosperity. The lack of contemporary Celtic literature means that Celtic religion is often treated somewhat simplistically. Whilst iconography alone can never give us a Celtic theology, it nevertheless can help to open the door to the Celtic soul.

Abbreviations

CIL  Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, Berlin, Georgium

Reimerum, 1861-1943

Esperandieu Esperandieu, E., Recueil general des bas-reliefs de la Gaule romaine, Paris, Imprimerie Nationale/Ernest Leroux, 190766

RIB  Collingwood, R. G. and Wright, RP., The Roman Inscriptions

Of Britain: Volume I, Inscriptions on Stone, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1965