9
POPSCruel Women From Celtic Mythology by A. Cotterell: "The enchanted forest of Arthurian legend was alive with beguiling fairy maidens, who often taunted errant knights. One such, La Belle Dame Sans Merci, was a banshee who attracted mortal lovers for her own amusement. inspiring them with a hopeless infatuation and then leaving them bereft of will of purpose until they withered on the lake, 'alone and palely loitering.' As the languishing knight here sleeps, he dreams of the pale kings and warriors whom La Belle Dame 'holds in thrall' (ref. to last image, same site)
3
POPSClans: backbone to Scotland's culture "The succession of the clan chief in the Celtic tradition was decided by the system of "tanistry", an ancient law that brought members of the ruling elite together to choose the next heir. This system ensured that a strong leader was always chosen, but inevitably led to conflict and fracturing of some clans. When Malcolm III became King in 1058 he adopted the English Feudal system and also changed the language of court from Gaelic to English. To some extent this was the start of the intensification of the struggle between Lowland Scotland and Highland Scotland that was to reach its zenith in Culloden."
0
POPSEarly settlements, Roman Raetia, Vindelicia The modern people of western Austria (a Rhaetian region) have been found to have a relatively high incidence of Y-chromosome Haplogroup G, which has a relatively high incidence in the people of all regions of historical Etruscan occupation.
10
POPSThe CELTS by Enya
Antiquarian interest from the 17th century led to the term Celt being extended, and rising nationalism brought Celtic revivals from the 19th century in areas where the use of Celtic languages had continued. Today, "Celtic" is often used to describe the languages and respective cultures of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man and Brittany (see the Modern Celts article), but corresponds more accurately to the Celtic language family - of which six languages are spoken today (Manx and Cornish being recent revivals): Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx (Goidelic languages) and Welsh, Breton and Cornish (Brythonic languages). Only in the last two decades of the twentieth century did multidisciplinary studies come to bear upon the history of the Celts. Disciplines such as ancient history, palaeolinguistics, archaeology, history of art, anthropology, population genetics, history of religion, ethnology, mythology and folklore studies must all be taken into consideration and the
4
POPSThe Godchecker "Godchecker is 100% non-denominational. All Gods are welcome, whether Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Slavonic, or of No Fixed Abode. Polytheism is much more fun than monotonous monotheism. The Gods are queuing up to get in! And Terry Pratchett fans, Tolkien afficiandos, Douglas Adams devotees and Harry Potter nuts will love our selection of Goddities!"
11
POPSAncient Texts Library You can find the Gilgamesh Epic, Enuma Elish, Sephir Yetzirah, Book of Dead, Celtic texts, Plato's dialogues or Rubaiyat of Omar Hayyam here.