Celtic Women: Women in Celtic Society and Literature

For years the image of "Celtic women" has been conjured as the totem of the emancipated female. Contemporary feminists have seen Celtic women as role models in their own struggle for equality. This image, however, has recently given rise to scholarly debate as to whether Celtic women indeed had a more privileged position than their sisters in other European cultures. Does the glorified image of free and equal Celtic women have any basis in fact, or is the very idea of women’s equality in the ancient Celtic world a myth in itself? Drawing on literary, mythological, legal, and historical sources, Peter Berresford Ellis sets out to explore the reality behind the myriad images we hold today. His "Celtic Women" provides a balanced and informed perspective on the position of women in Celtic society and asks how much of this ancient culture has filtered down through the ages. Ellis examines the concept of the "Mother Goddess" origin of the Celts as well as the pantheon of women in Celtic mythology — from Etain and Emer, and Macha and Medb, to Rhiannon and Gwenhwyvar (Guinevere). He also discusses a wide range of important historical personalities. Although Boudicca (Boadicea) is often cited as the most powerful historical Celtic female figure — the one who led southern Britain in insurrection against the Romans — Ellis shows that she was by no means unique. In two of the most fascinating sections of the book, Ellis examines the position of women under the native Celtic law systems and then analyzes the contention that Christianity destroyed the Celts’ matri-centered society. There are also intriguing chapters on personal adornment in early Celtic society, on Celtic "witches," and on native erotic poetry. The results of Ellis’s engaging study show that Celtic society undoubtedly maintained an order in which women were harmoniously balanced in relation to men. Beside the repressive male dominance of classic Mediterranean society, the position of women in Celtic myth, law, and early history seems to have constituted an ideal. Celtic women could govern; took prominent — sometimes the highest — roles in political, religious, and artistic life; could own property; could divorce; and were even expected to fight alongside men in battles. It was not until the Celts’ encounter and conflict with the alien values of the Roman and Germanic cultures and the arrival of Western Christianity that the rights of women began to erode.