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were steadily Gaelicized (Picts even took to wearing Gaelic clothing much of the time, and their language may have been replaced by a mixture of British and Gaelic depending on the regions, before the last Pictish king was killed).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.
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