Okay trivia and history buffs, listen up. Here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about the Celts and probably should before reading my books:

Say it with me: Celtic. It’s pronounced “kell-tic” with a hard “c” like the word “call.” Only the Boston basketball team says it “sell-tic.” You would insult a Celt by saying it wrong. And you don’t want to cross the Celts. They’re a temperamental bunch.
The Celts founded Austria. Although we normally think of the Celts as living in Britain and Ireland, before they were forced west by barbarian tribes, they founded or at least influenced some of the most advanced cultures of central Europe, including Austria and parts of modern-day France, Germany and Spain. (My mom and maternal line are from Vienna, so I’m proud to call myself an ancient Celt.)
Celtic women were very independent. They enjoyed equal (and in some times and places, higher) status to men. They were educated, fought in battle, served as Druid priestesses and even as Queens. Oh, and they wore makeup, just not as much as the Egyptians. More on Celtic women in a future blog post.
Marriage was complicated. There were as many as 10 kinds of legal marriage including polygamy, rape, and marriage by kidnapping. Divorce was not only legal, but common. But there were no illegitimate children or orphans because the tribe cared for all children. More in a future post.
They invented many things. Chain mail armor, horseshoes, organized farming and crop rotation, mechanical harvesters and rotating flour mills (technology that would be lost for hundreds of years after the Anglo-Saxons conquered them), fertilizer (the natural kind), the iron plough share, iron rimmed wheels, and according to the Greeks, soap!
Blonde hair and blue eyes were common. I always thought only Nordic and Germanic people were fair colored, but my research says otherwise. Blonde and red-gold hair were common among the Celts, as were blue eyes and pale, “milk-like” skin. The Celts also were very tall for their time, a fact that many Roman historians remarked upon.
They wore pants. Seriously. We think of tunics and kilts (that was a Pictish thing, not Celtic). Both men and women wore trousers when in battle. Men wore them at other times as well, but every day dress for a woman was usually a bell-shaped tunic secured by a belt. (Sorry guys, bodices didn’t come for another several hundred years.)
Being fat was a punishable crime. The Celts would not like modern America. As a warrior race, they were obsessed with physical prowess. Being fat (sometimes measured by belt size) was a disgrace and could be punished by a heavy fine.
They were an artistic people. The Celts were talented metalworkers. They made intricate jewelry of bronze and gold, wore brightly colored and patterned clothes, embroidered and decorated everything they could, and invented the spiraling, knot-like pattern we associate with them today.
The Celts owned slaves. We tend not to think about that, but slaves were a part of their class system (more in a future blog post), as in many other conquering societies. Slaves were the only class (at least of women) who wore their hair short, as a sign of their bondage.

Not nearly as backwards of a group as you thought, huh? And this is just a taste. More info to come in future posts.

Sources:
Who Were the Celts? by Kevin Duffy
Daily Life of the Pagan Celts by Joan Alcock

So which fact surprised you the most or was your favorite? Let me know in the comments and I’ll see what else I can tell you about it.

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July 19, 2011Arthurian Legend, Celtic society

Picture it: Britain 475 A.D.

Nicole EvelinaArthurian legend, history, writing 1 Comment

Lindisfarne Castle [CC-BY-2.0] via Wikimedia Commons

Come on, admit it, you got the Golden Girlsreference in the title, didn’t you? If not, read it again and think about Sophia. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

The setting of my books, Britain in the early Dark Ages, is very different from the world we live in. Almost no one could read, technology (such as it was) was limited at best and life was short and often hard. Step into this world with me for a moment:

The prosperous Roman Empire had abandoned Britain 70 years earlier to defend its crumbling heart (Rome) from invading barbarians. Many of its roads, villas and customs remained, but the Britons themselves were returning to pre-empirical tribal conflicts. Petty kings were causing civil war and destroying each other’s kingdoms, while to the north, the Picts of modern-day Scotland vied for land and resources, killing and pillaging almost as bad as the Saxons who occupied what used to be Britain’s eastern coast. To the west, the Irish were in constant battle mode, attacking coastal towns in order to bring valuables and slaves back to their island. On top of that, zealous Christian missionaries were slowly making inroads in converting the pagan natives to Christianity and gaining power and influence as a result.

Historically, we can’t prove that anyone ever tried to unite the Britons except for in the battle of Mount Badon, where the British roundly defeated the Saxons, ushering in an era of relative peace. But 1,500 years of legend tells us otherwise. Someone stopped their pretty squabbling and defended Britain against her enemies. That man was King Arthur and this is the world into which he, and his future wife, Guinevere, were born.

Now, put aside all of your preconceptions based on power, race, resources and size for a second and imagine another scenario with me: The American government has fallen, and with it the majority of our infrastructure and technology. Powerful men from each state vie for dominance without a thought for us, the citizens. The Mexicans have taken over the south and much of the east coast. The Canadians sense our vulnerability invade from the north. To the west, the Japanese conduct constant raids. Those of us who aren’t fighting in the internal or external wars are left to try to eke out a living in an economy that is virtually non-existent. Or if we happen to be rich, we’re spending all of our time trying to keep our wealth from being taken from us. And imagine that some fundamentalist religion was gaining power in the midst of all this chaos, trying desperately to get you to abandon the beliefs you grew up with or freely chose and convert to their way of thinking.

It may sound silly on the surface, but really think about it. That’s our version of the reality Arthur and Guinevere lived in. Would you have the strength to lead us through it? Arthur, or someone he is based on, certainly did.

You’ll never think of the Dark Ages quite the same again, will you?

This this first in a series of posts meant to introduce you to the world of King Arthur, Guinevere and their fellow Celts. Be on the lookout for future installments so you’re all caught up when the first book comes out.

July 2, 2011About the Author, Arthurian Legend

Why Arthurian Legend?

Nicole EvelinaArthurian legend, writing 1 Comment

Knights of the Round Table [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

Someone actually asked me the other day why I write about Arthurian Legend when vampires, zombies and werewolves are where the money’s at. The short answer: Because Guinevere is in my head, not any of those other creatures.

The long answer? ::Takes a deep breath:: Well, for one, fads come and go, but Arthurian legend has endured for 1500 years. I’m proud to be putting my own stamp on it. But the truth is, I’ve been fascinated by this story since I was a little girl. I grew up on the musical Camelot and have always been attracted to the story. Heck, I’m the girl who wanted to have Guinevere as my confirmation name, but the nuns wouldn’t let me since there is no St. Guinevere. (I went with my next favorite myth and picked Marian instead, not understanding until years later just how appropriate that was for me.)

Other little girls latched on to Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, but Queen Guinevere was my fairy tale princess. I have hazy recollections a turning the pages of a book with colorful photos of castles and knights and ladies in long dresses. That’s where my imagination lives, deep within that world. And I’m happy there.

During my freshman year of college a friend of mine gave me a copy of The Mists of Avalon for Christmas. To this day, it’s one of my favorite books, but I hated Marian Zimmer Bradley’s portrayal of Guinevere as a meek, agoraphobic, Christian queen. Shortly after, I read a book that, while not all that believable, centered on what happened to Guinevere after Arthur’s death and I realized you don’t hear much about that. All you ever read (if anything) is she ended her days doing penance in a convent.

I started to wonder what did happen to her the fall of Camelot. And what was her life like before Arthur? I ran through all the stories in my head and realized Guinevere is rarely portrayed favorably and hasn’t really had a chance to tell her story. Viola, she came into my head and a story was born – one that has persisted for over 10 years and will hopefully be hitting your bookshelves in the next few years.