Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

CHAPTER I: THE CELTS IN ANCIENT HISTORY 13by Ptolemy Soter in his history of the wars of Alexander. 9 Ithas a vividness which stamps it as a bit of authentic history, andanother singular testimony to the truth of the narrative has beenbrought to light by de Jubainville. As the Celtic envoys, whoare described as men of haughty bearing and great stature, theirmission concluded, were drinking with the king, he asked them,it is said, what was the thing they, the Celts, most feared. Theenvoys replied: “We fear no man: there is but one thing that wefear, namely, that the sky should fall on us; but we regard nothingso much as the friendship of a man such as thou.” Alexanderbade them farewell, and, turning to his nobles, whispered: “Whata vainglorious people are these Celts!” Yet the answer, for allits Celtic bravura and flourish, was not without both dignity [24]and courtesy. The reference to the falling of the sky seems togive a glimpse of some primitive belief or myth of which itis no longer possible to discover the meaning. 10 The nationaloath by which the Celts bound themselves to the observance oftheir covenant with Alexander is remarkable. “If we observenot this engagement,” they said, “may the sky fall on us andcrush us, may the earth gape and swallow us up, may the seaburst out and overwhelm us.” De Jubainville draws attentionmost appositely to a passage from the “Táin Bo Cuailgne,” in theBook of Leinster 11 , where the Ulster heroes declare to their king,who wished to leave them in battle in order to meet an attack inanother part of the field: “Heaven is above us, and earth beneathus, and the sea is round about us. Unless the sky shall fall with itsshowers of stars on the ground where we are camped, or unless9 Ptolemy, a friend, and probably, indeed, half-brother, of Alexander, wasdoubtless present when this incident took place. His work has not survived, butis quoted by Arrian and other historians.10 One is reminded of the folk-tale about Henny Penny, who went to tell theking that the sky was falling.11 The Book of Leinster is a manuscript of the twelfth century. The versionof the “Táin” given in it probably dates from the eighth. See de Jubainville,“Premiers Habitants,” ii. 316.