Shedding light on the beliefs, mythology, institutions and artistic heritage of the Celts, Chadwick crafts an intimate portrait of early life across Europe and the British Isles. Her detailed exploration unearths fascinating facts, such as the development of distinctive musical forms, the ritual importance of human sacrifice and how the traditions of both marriage and concubinage varied across the Celtic regions.

Their history is one of resilience and unlikely survival, as first the Romans – to whom they were both formidable opponents and, later, invaluable allies – and then the Anglo-Saxons descended on the lands the Celts had made their home.Ĭhadwick devotes chapters to their art, literature and religion, including the arrival of Christianity. Using archaeological evidence and descriptions from classical sources, Chadwick reveals the Celts to be a people feared and admired in equal measure, who, at their peak, ruled the greater part of Britain and large swathes of Europe. Her book is a remarkable achievement, not least because the Celts, believing that knowledge was a spiritual possession, left virtually no written records. Here she creates a panoramic portrait of their culture, from their arrival in the British Isles around the 8th century BC to the eventual transformation of their way of life under the Romans and later the Saxons. An internationally renowned authority on the origins and customs of the Celtic peoples, she was awarded a CBE in 1961. Chadwick studied at Newnham College, Cambridge and later became an Honorary Life Fellow.

The celts nora chadwick