Sparks Commentary: A review of Frank Delaney’s “The Celts” (BBC)

In 1987, the BBC released a television series called “The Celts,” which was more like two series. In all, the two series had a total of ten episodes, but this DVD set contains only the last of the two series. That is to say, it contains the last six episodes, and omits the first four of them. Why the BBC released it in this way, I don’t know. But as far as I know, the British websites that offer this series all seem to have the same problem as the American websites offering it – including those that mistakenly advertise themselves as having “The Complete Series.” I don’t have enough interest in the first four episodes to search far and wide for them, so I’ll just review the last six here – the ones that I have actually seen. These are sold in a DVD set entitled “The Celts: Rich Traditions and Ancient Myths.” They are good, but they could have been so much more.

Reconstruction of a late La Tène period settlement in Havranok, Slovakia (2nd/1st century BCE)

Archeological evidence of the Ancient Celts

People today associate the Celts with the British Isles, and there are certainly many of them there. But they are also found in many other places as well. In giving the earliest-known archeological evidence for the Celts, this film mentions places like Poland and Germany. They were once a major force on the continent of Europe, and were among the most prominent enemies of the Romans. Along with the Germanic tribes, they were among the so-called “barbarian” groups that were involved in overthrowing the Roman Empire. The first episode of this film covers Hallstatt culture and La Tène culture, two prominent (and early) Celtic groups. Archeological buffs will probably be especially interested in this episode, although people more interested in written histories may not find much of interest here.

Reconstruction of a late La Tène period settlement in Altburg near Bundenbach (first century BC)

Some comments on early Celtic mythology …

Other episodes discuss topics like Celtic art objects, or Celtic mythology. Like other religions of the time, the mythology of the Celts is rather pagan, involved in the worship of native gods. The episode on this also discusses some related topics, such as Celtic burial practices. The specifics of the burial practices, as well as those of their early gods, are similar to their counterparts in other Indo-European cultures. For someone with some (admittedly minimal) background in this, the similarities to other Indo-European cultures are striking. For example, Celtic gods are similar to those of the Greeks, the Romans, and Norse-speaking groups like the Vikings. One also finds sacrifices to their pagan gods – including, at times, human sacrifices. The presenter does not mention this, but these things together scream “Indo-European” to me, even though some of them are also found in other cultures.

The Celtic god Sucellus

… and the later Celtic versions of Christianity

It was quite a culture shock when the Ancient Celts were introduced to another religion from the Middle East – namely, Christianity. This is a topic that was later covered extensively in Dan Snow’s “How the Celts Saved Britain,” another program from the BBC. But suffice it to say here that Christianity had a profound effect on Celtic beliefs. Like other European groups, there were deep changes in their culture from this new religion, which are felt (among other places) in the Celtic parts of the British Isles. These included religious conflicts between the different Christian groups. For example, Irish Catholicism stubbornly held out against the Protestant wave of the English invaders, which is another topic that they discuss here, albeit somewhat briefly.

Saint Patrick (the namesake of “St. Patrick’s Day”), who brought Christianity to Ireland

The influence of the Celts

Many Celtic languages are endangered today, because they were pushed aside by bigger languages. As you may know, this includes the endangered Welsh language within England itself, since Wales is still technically a part of England. But it also includes the Breton language of France, which is also covered here. Celtic languages have largely been pushed to the side, but larger Celtic culture has not. It lives on in a number of other places, including Canada and the United States. This is one topic that this series is good at covering. I thought that they should have mentioned the Celtic influence on Appalachian culture in the United States, and on American country music as well. But they also mention many other threads of Celtic influence, including some that I hadn’t heard much about before watching this. For example, they mention the military prowess of the Celts, and its influence upon the “Rebel yell” that was made notorious in the American Civil War.

Frank Delaney, the presenter of this series

This documentary is somewhat weaker on political history …

But they don’t really talk much about political history in this documentary, other than some brief references to Irish nationalism. These topics are better covered in some other BBC documentaries about the Celtic groups of the British Isles, the most prominent groups to be agitating for nationhood – successfully, in the case of Ireland. For example, the BBC covered these things in Fergal Keane’s “The Story of Ireland,” Huw Edwards’ “The Story of Wales,” and Neil Oliver’s “A History of Scotland.” PBS also covered it in “The Irish Rebellion 1916.” Each of these is better at covering the historical roots of Celtic nationalism, and of Celtic geopolitics more generally. Admittedly, these documentaries are more focused on the British manifestations of this phenomenon, but the British versions are the most common kind today. This film also makes brief mentions of other kinds of Celtic nationalism on the continent of Europe, including the aforementioned “Breton” culture of western France. Specifically, Celtic nationalism is found in France’s appropriately-named “Brittany” region – not to be confused with Britain, France’s cross-Channel neighbor. As mentioned earlier, the “Breton” language of France is endangered today, but it has stubbornly held on there for a long time. It is quite possible that it will continue to do so, although I should mention that this is not certain.

British cavalry regiment leaving Ireland, 1922

… and its talking heads sometimes seem a little too confident in their conclusions

This documentary has some good stuff in it, and interviews a number of experts who clearly know what they’re talking about. But they also interview people who seem a little too confident in their conclusions, making sweeping generalizations from some very scant evidence. Admittedly, there isn’t much to go on for some of these earlier periods, so one has to make some educated guesses from what we do know about them. But as necessary as these guesses might be, they are still just guesses, and should not be taken as the “final word” on anything. This may betray roots in the “ivory tower” of cultural anthropology, which turns archeological divination into something of an art form. In fairness, this is what some of the most prominent scholars were saying at the time, and it was a legitimate technique to interview these scholars as “talking heads” in this program. But the journalistic style of this documentary detracts much from its quality, in part because presenter Frank Delaney relied so much on the opinions of these scholars. In effect, he allowed them to do the scholarship for him, which is very dangerous. The scholars in this program don’t always agree with each other, making it a very uncertain enterprise to take any of their words as “gospel” – as some viewers might be tempted to do.

Nonetheless, this is a reasonably good introduction to Celtic history

This documentary is also a bit too artistic for my tastes, relying too much on the modern-sounding pop music of Enya. Not that there’s anything wrong with a more modern sound; but when you’re doing a television series about history, it can seem a little anachronistic. I don’t know what Enya zapping a car with lightning from her fingers adds to a historical discussion, other than to “wow” us with some too-modern-looking (but nonetheless dated) special effects from the 1980’s. Nonetheless, this film is good for what it has to offer, and is a decent introduction to the origins and legacy of the Ancient Celts. Watch other documentaries if you want to hear more about the political history, or get something more grounded in the written records of the past.

DVD at Amazon

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