OF at OAs JOHN KINGKINGDOMS of the CELTS A History and a Guide JOHN KING BLANDFORDRag ow mycgh Emmeline, elvenn golowder y’n tewlessa nos. For my daughter Emmeline, a spark of brightness in the darkest night. First published in the United Kingdom in 2000 by Blandford Previously published in hardback in 1998 by Blandford Text copyright © 1998 and 2000 John King Design and layout copyright © 1998 Cassell & Co. ‘The moral right of John King to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electtonic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally ro some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner, except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE. Applications for the copyright owner's written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 0-7137-2692-X (hardback) ISBN 0-7137-2693-8 (paperback) Designed by Chris Bell Printed and bound in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham ple, Chatham, Kent Blandford Cassell 8¢ Co. The Orion Publishing Group ‘Wellington House 125 Strand London WC2R OBB a Bee nas CONTENTS Acknowledgements 6 Introduction 7 Who were the Celts? 9 Celtic religion 40 From Gaul to Galatia ~ the earliest kingdoms 63 Celtic Britain 83 Celtic Ireland 103 Two warrior kings: Vercingetorix and Vortigern 121 Two warrior queens: Cartimandua and Boudica 138 ‘King’ Arthur ~ chivalry’s Celtic heritage 152 The High Kings of Ireland to the Middle Ages 175 The Welsh and Breton royal dynasties 189 The kings and queens of mythology 205 The royal Celtic legacy 227 Appendix: the principal Scottish clans 243 Bibliography 250 Index 254