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Thread: What did the picts look like?

  1. #31
    Dungalloigh Brehonda Member Ranika's Avatar
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    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Quote Originally Posted by the_handsome_viking
    Will this tactic be in the opening beta? I seriously hope it will be.
    I don't think we can do this with the engine.

    And there are already some common stories of other things from Gaelic myth. Just, they aren't as popular for some reason. A quasi-recent one that has a few versions would be the English-language 'Ned Kelly's Bones', which is about a man who dies, but doesn't feel dead, so he gets up out of his grave and goes home, and his wife can't get rid of him. Ned Kelly is a 'rigi' (though no version says it; I don't know the modern term to be honest, 'rigi' is a dark age term). Normal rigi cannot resist dancing, so his wife gets a fiddler, who has been courting her since Ned died, to play music until Ned dances, and his dry, decaying body breaks apart. In some versions, that's pretty much it, in one of the older versions, Ned goes mad as he's dancing and starts screaming and tries to kill his wife, but since a rigi can't stop dancing, he can't actually hurt her. In any ending, his bones are placed back in his coffin all mixed up so he can't get out.

    The stories I was told often include a lot of violence or just abject horror though. Some involve things like that though, and some involve odd jokes or tricks to overcome evil beings. I was told some stories about faeries as a child, and they were generally pretty scary. Though, real Irish faerie myth is usually pretty disturbing, or at least weird.
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  2. #32
    EB Token Radical Member QwertyMIDX's Avatar
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    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    I like that story. Tell us another.
    History is for the future not the past. The dead don't read.


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    History does not repeat itself. The historians repeat one another. - Max Beerbohm

  3. #33

    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Ranika:
    Bede wrote:
    "This island at present, following the number of the books in which the Divine law was written, contains five nations, the English, Britons, Scots, Picts, and Latins, each in its own peculiar dialect cultivating the sublime study of Divine truth. "
    and
    "In short, he brought under his dominion all the nations and provinces of Britain, which are divided into four languages, viz. the Britons, the Picts, the Scots, and the English".

    which does not rule it out from being a Celtic language, even a Celtic language related to that of the Britons

    Edit: edited out misreading of a text.

    I couldn't find anything about language in Adomnan's "life of Columba".

    Why do all the people who spend their lives researching the Picts (Scottish University academics) tend to agree that they spoke a Brythonic language now?
    Last edited by Taffy_is_a_Taff; 12-19-2005 at 16:41.

  4. #34
    Dungalloigh Brehonda Member Ranika's Avatar
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    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Quote Originally Posted by Taffy_is_a_Taff
    Ranika:
    Bede wrote:
    "This island at present, following the number of the books in which the Divine law was written, contains five nations, the English, Britons, Scots, Picts, and Latins, each in its own peculiar dialect cultivating the sublime study of Divine truth. "
    and
    "In short, he brought under his dominion all the nations and provinces of Britain, which are divided into four languages, viz. the Britons, the Picts, the Scots, and the English".

    which does not rule it out from being a Celtic language, even a Celtic language related to that of the Britons

    Edit: Bede also differentiates between the related Old English languages (well, I can think of one instance of that).

    I couldn't find anything about language in Adomnan's "life of Columba".

    Why do all the people who spend their lives researching the Picts (Scottish University academics) tend to agree that they spoke a Brythonic language now?
    I think it's a simplification. Personally, I'm part of a small crowd that advocates the recognition of two potential sub-families of P-Celtic; those being Romanized an un-Romanized. This could explain Picts using a P-Celtic language, but a language different enough from the other Britons, who had copious Latin influence on their languages. And I've never heard anyone say that the Picts, without doubt, spoke a Brythonic language, but that it is a good possibility. However, if they did, it doesn't explain their differentiation from the Britons, unless it was a drastically different P-Celtic language.

    Also, the reference to language is in the private letters of Bt. Aedhmuna, who accompanied Columba briefly, but had to return home with sickness. Aedhmuna commented that it was unusual that Columba couldn't understand the Picts. This would be explainable under the above hypothesis; even if it was a 'Brythonic' language by today's standards, then it would have been seen as entirely different. I was also already aware of what the Venerable Bede had said. However, I'd not count that the same way as inter-related Anglo-Saxon languages. The Picts had never experienced Roman conquest, and wouldn't have had the same linguistic influences and introduction, and I find it unlikely by Bede's time that the languages would've sounded remotely similar except under a scrutinous examination of grammatical rules, accents, and similar.
    Last edited by Ranika; 12-19-2005 at 16:36.
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  5. #35

    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    oh, ok, fair enough, that definitely explains your views, cheers.
    I couldn't help but feel the same way about roman influenced and non-Roman influenced P-Celtic languages (that's one of the reasons I reckon the Pictish is marked out as being different rather than it being a pre-Indo-European language/ a Scandinavian language/ other strange suggestion).

    Edit: yeah, you're right, nobody will come out and give a definite answer because it's impossible to be certain. I should have said something about the general consenus or suchlike.

    Oh, and that thing about the English languages was just a mistake on my part. I was using an English translation and read an English name that was then said to be spelt differently in the language of some of the Southern English: I didn't think that a Latinised version of the name would look so Germanic but I guess it did.
    Last edited by Taffy_is_a_Taff; 12-19-2005 at 17:07.

  6. #36
    Dungalloigh Brehonda Member Ranika's Avatar
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    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    In any event, about Pictish language, I'd never actually call it 'Brythonic', because that brings to mind languages like Welsh and Bretonic. I'd prefer we view it merely as P-Celtic, or give it its own sub-heading, as I stated before, as being 'Pictish'. Even if it is a P-Celtic language, all evidence still points to it having been quite different, and it's a bit dangerous, academically, to just class it as another Brythonic language, because that could lead to some very confusing points. Imagine trying to reconstruct Pictish the way we do languages like Cambrian, on the auspice that it's 'Brythonic'. It may lead to making some very wrong assumptions about the language, even it is a P-Celtic one.
    Ní dheachaigh fial ariamh go hIfreann.


  7. #37

    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Hey Ranika I was wondering...

    Sometimes I have come across information that has said that the picts were related to the scythians, is there any truth to this? or is this complete nonsense? and if the latter, how did that rumor come into being?

    Also do you know anything about what kind of instruments the celts played? I know they played harps and I'd assume they played drums, but do you know of anything else they would play?

  8. #38
    Dungalloigh Brehonda Member Ranika's Avatar
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    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Quote Originally Posted by the_handsome_viking
    Hey Ranika I was wondering...

    Sometimes I have come across information that has said that the picts were related to the scythians, is there any truth to this? or is this complete nonsense? and if the latter, how did that rumor come into being?
    Probably a bit of nonsense, though there were potentially some Scythians in Ireland based on a few relics, but presumably they were hired by the invaders to help quell the natives (a lot of pieces of equipment from various cultures are found in Ireland though, as many were brought to conquer the island). It's probably quite an amount of nonsense though all the same, a lot of the inhabitants of the region were call Scythians at some point or another, but this is unlikely in most cases.

    Quote Originally Posted by the_handsome_viking
    Also do you know anything about what kind of instruments the celts played? I know they played harps and I'd assume they played drums, but do you know of anything else they would play?
    Celts also played various types of bronze horns and pipes, fiddles were introduced by the Romans to Britain and exported from there to Ireland, and the earliest bagpipes were exported out of Galatia, though they were likely the invention of the Phrygians; the Romans, some Gauls, and potentially some Britons and Goidils played them, but the bagpipes wouldn't be that popular after the fall of the Roman Empire, and were not a big instrument in Scotland until late in the middle ages, though they had been a Welsh marching instrument for some years, and served the same purpose in Munster, in Ireland, since around 600 AD (in fact, the banner of Comumu, a mercenary subset of the Urmumu, featured an early style of bagpipes over a sword). A great variety of drums were used, from small hand drums, to larger marching drums, and yes, harps were used. Dulcimers were also used later.

    I'll note here that a Carnyx is not so much an instrument as it is a tool for directing soldiers and to disarray cavalry and infantry in battle.
    Ní dheachaigh fial ariamh go hIfreann.


  9. #39

    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Great answers so far Ranika.

    One other thing I was wondering about the celts and well... the classical world in general, When it came to close combat was there any sort code of honor or any moves that simply were looked down upon?

    I've read from time to time that there were fighting schools within celtic societies I'd assume various forms of martial arts would be taught there which makes me wonder how fights would be organized within Celtic society.

    Would you challenge someone to a duel? or would you just attack them out right? could you kick them in the groin? or kick them on the ground? was biting, gouging or stamping allowed? or were these moves looked down upon? or did it really depend on the tribe? and if so was there any particularly vicious tribe that had an "anything goes" kind of outlook when it came to violence?

    Also A lot of Celts seemed to have long hair which leads me to wonder, was hair pulling frowned upon? or did they tie their hair in a certain way to make hair pulling a less obvious option, I know hair pulling seems a bit girly but, it seems like an obvious thing to do in a fight.

  10. #40
    Dungalloigh Brehonda Member Ranika's Avatar
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    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Quote Originally Posted by the_handsome_viking
    Great answers so far Ranika.

    One other thing I was wondering about the celts and well... the classical world in general, When it came to close combat was there any sort code of honor or any moves that simply were looked down upon?

    I've read from time to time that there were fighting schools within celtic societies I'd assume various forms of martial arts would be taught there which makes me wonder how fights would be organized within Celtic society.

    Would you challenge someone to a duel? or would you just attack them out right? could you kick them in the groin? or kick them on the ground? was biting, gouging or stamping allowed? or were these moves looked down upon? or did it really depend on the tribe? and if so was there any particularly vicious tribe that had an "anything goes" kind of outlook when it came to violence?

    Also A lot of Celts seemed to have long hair which leads me to wonder, was hair pulling frowned upon? or did they tie their hair in a certain way to make hair pulling a less obvious option, I know hair pulling seems a bit girly but, it seems like an obvious thing to do in a fight.
    Celtic duelling was extremely formal. Duellists were usually experienced warriors, or professional combatants. Most of what we know about Celtic martial arts tradition come from oral histories copied by Christian Celts. A fine example is Comrac Fir dead inso (The Combat of Ferdiad and Cu Chullain). Ferdiad and Cu Chullain had a formal challenge issued. Before the fight, they discuss what weapons are acceptable. Before the duel, they perform a few feats of combat (like weapon kata) to display their skill. In the fight itself, anything appears to be allowed, but one is expected to use some level of formal conduct. If your opponent yields, it is cowardly to attack them because they're already beaten.

    For the matter of 'just attack them out right', this would most definitely not be allowed. Without a formal challenge, you're just attempting to commit murder. Brehon law is very clear about this. No matter what offense your opponent has commited, unless they accept a challenge to a duel, you can't harm them. You can sue them for compensation, but if you killed him, you'd be arrested and fined or banished, or sacrificed if it was during certain festivals.

    Not all Celts had long hair. The Cisalpine Gauls, the Bononnae (Boii) in both Cisalpine Gaul and Central Europe, the southern Britons, and some Caledonians all cut their hair, and spiked it back using lye to give them a fearsome appearance; their hair wouldn't be that long in most cases. Long-haired Celts used braids and other hairstyles of various types to keep their hair out of the way.

    Pulling hair was used in battle. You could yank a man's hair back and expose his throat. It's why Romans began to shave their heads, if I recall correctly (the same reason was used by the Tuatuann clan in Ireland, who shaved themselves bald, which was extremely unusual; Goidils/Gaels wore their hair long with elaborate braids and took great pride in their hair; shaving their heads was a pretty radical idea.)
    Last edited by Ranika; 12-19-2005 at 21:21.
    Ní dheachaigh fial ariamh go hIfreann.


  11. #41

    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ranika
    Celtic duelling was extremely formal. Duellists were usually experienced warriors, or professional combatants. Most of what we know about Celtic martial arts tradition come from oral histories copied by Christian Celts. A fine example is Comrac Fir dead inso (The Combat of Ferdiad and Cu Chullain). Ferdiad and Cu Chullain had a formal challenge issued. Before the fight, they discuss what weapons are acceptable. Before the duel, they perform a few feats of combat (like weapon kata) to display their skill. In the fight itself, anything appears to be allowed, but one is expected to use some level of formal conduct. If your opponent yields, it is cowardly to attack them because they're already beaten.

    For the matter of 'just attack them out right', this would most definitely not be allowed. Without a formal challenge, you're just attempting to commit murder. Brehon law is very clear about this. No matter what offense your opponent has commited, unless they accept a challenge to a duel, you can't harm them. You can sue them for compensation, but if you killed him, you'd be arrested and fined or banished, or sacrificed if it was during certain festivals.

    Not all Celts had long hair. The Cisalpine Gauls, the Bononnae (Boii) in both Cisalpine Gaul and Central Europe, the southern Britons, and some Caledonians all cut their hair, and spiked it back using lye to give them a fearsome appearance; their hair wouldn't be that long in most cases. Long-haired Celts used braids and other hairstyles of various types to keep their hair out of the way.

    Pulling hair was used in battle. You could yank a man's hair back and expose his throat. It's why Romans began to shave their heads, if I recall correctly (the same reason was used by the Tuatuann clan in Ireland, who shaved themselves bald, which was extremely unusual; Goidils/Gaels wore their hair long with elaborate braids and took great pride in their hair; shaving their heads was a pretty radical idea.)

    Amazing information Ranika.

    the story of Cu Chullain is one I'm fairly familiar with, infact it was the story the that drew my attention to the fact that there were fighting schools within Celtic society, for example hes sent to train under Scáthach, I think I came across the story through either looking up the "war-spasm" or perhaps it was referred to in something I was reading, that was about How the Celts treated women, (Scáthach was a female fighting teacher, which is quite impressive)... hmmm I think it was just the war spasm, but anyway...

    It's also quite impressive that you could sue people back then for violence.

    The more I find about about these societies the more apparent it becomes that a lot of the views and ideals we consider as "modern" today have been around for a very long time.

  12. #42

    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ranika
    The Cisalpine Gauls, the Bononnae (Boii) in both Cisalpine Gaul and Central Europe, the southern Britons, and some Caledonians all cut their hair, and spiked it back using lye to give them a fearsome appearance;
    Lye? Wouldn't that...burn a little?

  13. #43
    EB insanity coordinator Senior Member khelvan's Avatar
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    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Quote Originally Posted by NeonGod
    Lye? Wouldn't that...burn a little?
    Wait until he tells you what they did to get rid of their pubic hair.
    Cogita tute


  14. #44

    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Quote Originally Posted by khelvan
    Wait until he tells you what they did to get rid of their pubic hair.
    ???

  15. #45

    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Quote Originally Posted by khelvan
    Wait until he tells you what they did to get rid of their pubic hair.
    I can see removal with lye, but..spiking it with lye?

  16. #46
    Dungalloigh Brehonda Member Ranika's Avatar
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    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    They would make different compounds using lye. Some were fairly benign, such as soap, some were probably extremely painful, such as what they used to remove hair (though it was only used in some places, others used more conventional shaving implements; however, the lye would keep hair removed much longer). Somewhere in the middle was probably what they used on their hair. It would essentially be a type of soap. They, except the Caledonians, would first lime wash their hair to bleach it (that alone would burn), but then used a type of lye soap to harden it while spiking it back. The soap used probably tingled more than burned; it'd be compounded with powdered grain or other simpler substances to help reduce the burn, and make it safer to use.
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  17. #47
    Dungalloigh Brehonda Member Ranika's Avatar
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    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Quote Originally Posted by the_handsome_viking
    Amazing information Ranika.

    the story of Cu Chullain is one I'm fairly familiar with, infact it was the story the that drew my attention to the fact that there were fighting schools within Celtic society, for example hes sent to train under Scáthach, I think I came across the story through either looking up the "war-spasm" or perhaps it was referred to in something I was reading, that was about How the Celts treated women, (Scáthach was a female fighting teacher, which is quite impressive)... hmmm I think it was just the war spasm, but anyway...

    It's also quite impressive that you could sue people back then for violence.

    The more I find about about these societies the more apparent it becomes that a lot of the views and ideals we consider as "modern" today have been around for a very long time.
    When one was offended in Celtic society, the first and most common way by far was to seek compensation from the offender's family. If they didn't settle the issue, one could get the local brehon (an elected 'judge', selected from the wisest locals, and had to be educated in the law, which was very exact in many matters and slow to change because it relied on public votes) involved.

    Every crime was settled in this way. An appropriate fine would be issued based on the crime. If it was property damage, one had to pay a fine equal to the damage done. If one could not afford the fines, they would have to work as a servant to the family until it was paid. Even in cases of murder, one would be fined, based on the social station of the person killed. Also, murder is special because only the offender is punished. In other cases, an entire family has to help pay the fine; this encouraged them to ensure eachother remained within the law. However, in all cases, the fine is changed based on social status of the person who commited the crime; the higher one's station, the more they paid, and judges, kings, and magistrates paid the most, because they were meant to be exemplars of the law.

    Duelling was usually a solution for disputes that could not be settled in court, but wasn't always lethal; this more depended on what the dispute was over, and how serious the disagreement. Terms for the fight would be discussed beforehand between the combatants, determining what was fair, if it was to be lethal, to the yield, to the death, etc.

    And our views today have to stem from somewhere. Very few ideals appear from nowhere.
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  18. #48

    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Did the celts have hot baths? and also, what did they use for toilets?

  19. #49
    Dungalloigh Brehonda Member Ranika's Avatar
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    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Depended on the place. They used cesspools, running water flumes in others, etc. In the bigger oppida, they'd use flumes running from a heated cistern into the homes of the wealthy locals who lived in the fort itself. Water would drain into a flume that was also used for waste, and carried to a cesspool.
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  20. #50

    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Wow, that was a quick response, what time is it over there dude?

    04:38 here.

    I really hope pictures of these flumes show up one day on the net and get spread around a lot. Sanitation in general is pretty important in influencing the way we think of people, especially historical people.

    OK heres another question...

    Did the Celts build cities out of stone? and if not, why not? I typically only know of the basic Celtic roundhouse and iron age hill forts when it comes to the homes of the Celts and I don't see why they wouldn't be able to make stuff out of stone.

    I think the la tene site had some stone houses but I'm not really sure if this was just a one of as far as Celtic homes went.

  21. #51
    Not Just A Name; A Way Of Life Member Sarcasm's Avatar
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    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Today, in the USA for example, wood is still prefered over stone in building houses, simply because it is a readily available resource.

    While, here where I live, there are no great forests left, and as such, I know of no house built mainly of wood.



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  22. #52
    Dungalloigh Brehonda Member Ranika's Avatar
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    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Quote Originally Posted by the_handsome_viking
    Wow, that was a quick response, what time is it over there dude?

    04:38 here.

    I really hope pictures of these flumes show up one day on the net and get spread around a lot. Sanitation in general is pretty important in influencing the way we think of people, especially historical people.

    OK heres another question...

    Did the Celts build cities out of stone? and if not, why not? I typically only know of the basic Celtic roundhouse and iron age hill forts when it comes to the homes of the Celts and I don't see why they wouldn't be able to make stuff out of stone.

    I think the la tene site had some stone houses but I'm not really sure if this was just a one of as far as Celtic homes went.
    Most such flumes were replaced with Roman pipes and the like. And Celts used what was on hand. The walls of oppida, for example, were faced with stone, but filled with stone and earthwork, and built at a slant (similar to renaissance era forts, actually). In places with plentiful sturdy stone, one could make plenty of stone homes, but wood was in use over a wide area because of the abundance of lumber available; one uses what is available.
    Ní dheachaigh fial ariamh go hIfreann.


  23. #53
    VOXIFEX MAXIMVS Member Shigawire's Avatar
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    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    you guys got it all wrong

    they were hairy bastards

    and they liked to draw


    "To know a thing well, know its limits. Only when pushed beyond its tolerances will its true nature be seen." -The Amtal Rule, DUNE

  24. #54

    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Ehen did columba say this? We have no written records from him.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ranika
    Both the Venerable Bede and St. Columba reported their language as having been wholely different than either British or Gaelic languages. Columba even used it as an excuse not to try and convert them, and instead sent his protege to try. Columba only went himself after his protege was martyred by pagan Picts, and, despite having been trying for years to study the Pictish language, called it 'impenetrably difficult'. Columba, it should be noted, spoke many British dialects and could converse in all of Ireland, including in the regional language of what is now presumed to be Ivernic. He was no linguistic slouch, and if he says Pictish was a difficult language, he was probably deadly serious about it.

    That said, what is a Celt to us? A Celt is a member of the Celtic superculture, itself broken into many sub-cultures. We can discern that later Picts were 'Celtic', if by nothing else than their culture being so similar to Celts, with similar art styles, customs, and livliehoods. At the same time, they possessed some uniquely non-Celtic traits, such as prigomeniture laws (the passing of titles by bloodline; Celts elected tanists, and many Gaels of the period saw the Pictish system as 'tyranny', though it was ultimately used against the Picts to consolidate rule of Pictland under a Gaelic king). Ancient Caledonians may have well not been Celts by any stretch. They had a very unique culture in many places. However, some were incontrovertibly a Celtic people.

    Even in the dark ages, some of the northernmost Picts may not have been Celtic by a strict definition, but the southerners were most certainly, even for a few non-Celtic traits, and much of the highlands were steadily Gaelicized (Picts even took to wearing Gaelic clothing much of the time, and their language may have been replaced by a mixture of British and Gaelic depending on the regions, before the last Pictish king was killed).


    Also;



    This is speculation, and poor speculation at that. It overlooks the proliferation of armor amongst high society, and religious combatants such as Carnutes. It is unlikely Celts believed in fate to such an extent they wouldn't defend their bodies. I suppose it is possible some groups held this superstition, but the fact that they developed armor doesn't mesh with it as being a 'Celtic' trait, so much as probably a 'local' trait. Gaesatae, for example, did not want to die. They fought nude because it made them appear more frightening and allowed them to move freely. Potentially, they also didn't wish to get cloth in wounds they sustained for fear of infection after their drugs wore off. There are a lot of reasons to fight nude in the ancient world, and we don't need to immediately jump to superstition.

    There are practical values in nude or near-nude combat, which are the most likely reasons because they're the most obvious. They also fit with a culture that develops armor, and especially a specifically war-like culture, in which various concepts of how to fight would come about. Make no mistake, Celts were clearly making a science of how to fight. Irish myth is filled with references to different fighting styles and philosophies (including fighting nude for sake of mobility). It is largely an argument based on flexibility; one can be rigidly armored and slower, but well-defended. Or, you can be very agile, and rely on your physical speed to protect you, rather than armor. Most accounts of Celts hurling themselves on enemy spears come long after the fact by authors who had never seen Celts in battle. Even contemporary accounts may be misleading or confused. For example, Celtic shortswords would roll under walls of spears to stab the spearmen (like what destroyed the Macedonian army and caused the Pergamons to start kneeling a pike row down, and possibly what helped defeat the early Hellenic-style Romans). That'd be pretty hectic, and a few may not manage to get under those pikeheads in time. Now, if you saw a man essentially run into a spear (without realizing he was trying to get under it) you may think he's so disregarding of his own life that he's just trying to render your weapon useless by sticking his body on it.

  25. #55
    Egomaniac sexpert Member Dux Corvanus's Avatar
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    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sarcasm
    While, here where I live, there are no great forests left, and as such, I know of no house built mainly of wood.
    I thought you lived in a hobbit hole in the Shire.

    BTW, I know how picts looked like: they were picturesque.
    Last edited by Dux Corvanus; 01-02-2006 at 13:40.

  26. #56
    Urwendur Ûrîbêl Senior Member Mouzafphaerre's Avatar
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    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    .
    Quote Originally Posted by Dux
    I thought you lived in a hobbit hole in the Shire.
    He's frm Khazad-dûm. You know, that large cave in Spain!


    .
    Ja mata Tosa Inu-sama, Hore Tore, Adrian II, Sigurd, Fragony

    Mouzafphaerre is known elsewhere as Urwendil/Urwendur/Kibilturg...
    .

  27. #57

    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    The Picts were a small-statured, black-haired, dark-eyed people. Their descendants can often be seen in the Scottish people. They probably came from Iberia having crossed into what later was the UK from France. Many Scots are dark or short-statured or both. This is a genetic legacy of the Picts.

  28. #58
    Member Member Gabriel Oi Taurisia's Avatar
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    Pragelà, Val Chison
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    Default Re: What did the picts look like?

    Quote Originally Posted by The Pict View Post
    The Picts were a small-statured, black-haired, dark-eyed people. Their descendants can often be seen in the Scottish people. They probably came from Iberia having crossed into what later was the UK from France. Many Scots are dark or short-statured or both. This is a genetic legacy of the Picts.
    Interesting and stunning.
    Perhaps, that's the reason why in M2TW the Portuguese always try and invade Ireland. They try to imitate their ancestors!

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