Celtic Mythology and Religion

48 CELTIC MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION.
of linguistic science,
while Professor Rhys does not
conceal his contempt for those who decide on national
descent by " skin and skull " ; and Mr. Fergusson
will not leave his " rude stone monuments " to
consider what either of them may say. Two such
men as Mr. Tylor and Mr. Elton are, therefore,
to the ordinary student, simply invaluable guides,
from the fact that they attempt to combine the
researches of all three. From the materials collected
from these three sources, we shall proceed to give a
short account of the Celts and their religion.
THE CELTS.
When or where the people lived
original Aryan tongue is
who spoke the
not known with any certainty.
" It seems probable," says one writer,
" that their home was somewhere in South-western
Asia, and the time of their dispersion not less than
three thousand years before Christ." Fick holds
that they split up first into two parts, answering
to the modern Asiatic and European Aryans. The
European branch again broke up into two—the
South-western European division and the Northern
European division. The latter included the Slavonic
(Russians and old Prussians), and the Teutonic
(English, Germans, Norse, &c.,) races ; while the
Southern branch comprised the Greek, Latin, and
Celtic races. The order in which they are enumer-