Celtic sacred trees
Trees held sacred roles in Celtic myth, folklore, and ritual.
In the Celtic nations, many tree species are regarded as sacred, serving as symbols, sources of medicine, or homes for nature spirits. The respect afforded to trees varies across different parts of the Celtic world. The medieval Welsh poem Cad Goddeu is thought to contain Celtic tree lore, possibly linked to the crann ogham, a branch of the ogham alphabet using tree names as mnemonic devices.
Quick Facts
- Proto-celtic words for oak
- daru and derwā/deruo
Facts from the source article.
List of trees
The oak tree is prominent in many Celtic cultures. Strabo reported that the important sacred grove and meeting-place of the Galatian Celts of Asia Minor, Drunemeton, was filled with oaks. Pliny the Elder describes a festival where druids climbed an oak tree, cut a bough of mistletoe, and sacrificed two white bulls as part of a fertility rite. Britons under Roman occupation worshipped a goddess of the oak tree, Daron, whose name is commemorated in a rivulet in Gwynedd. According to the Lebor Gabála, the sacred oak of early Ireland was that of Mugna, probably located at or near Dunmanogoe, south Co. Kildare. Sacred associations of oaks survived Christianization; St Brigit's monastic foundation was at Cill Dara, and St Colum Cille favoured Doire Calgaich. In Welsh tradition, Gwydion and Math use the flower of oak with broom to fashion Blodeuwedd. When Lleu Llaw Gyffes is about to be killed, he escapes in eagle form onto a magic oak tree. The ash tree also features strongly in Irish mythology, and the mountain ash, rowan, or quicken tree is particularly prominent in Scottish folklore.
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