The Celts and the Greeks: Connecting the Dots

In researching my work-in-progress novel 'DRAGONS IN THE SKY'  I have tried to connect the Celtic people with the Greeks.  In the story, Olwen an acolyte of the Druids, is snatched from her village by a renegade chieftain after she witnesses him murder his brother. He takes her on a ship across the Narrow Sea using her as his talisman as he makes his was eastward across Europe and south toward Macedonia where he hears a king is recruiting an army.  Near the boarder of Macedonia she is rescued by a young hunter who is Alexander.  But how much connection was there between the people of southern Europe and the northern Celtic tribes?

Pytheas of Massalia

In the 4th century BC, a Greek geographer and explorer from the Greek colony of Massalia (modern day Marseilles) made a voyage of exploration to northwestern Europe. In this voyage he travelled around and visited a considerable part of Britain. He's the first person on record to describe the 'midnight sun". The existence of an area where the nights are very short in summer and the sun does not set at the summer solstice was already known. Reports from this country of the Hyperboreans had been reaching the Mediterranean for some centuries, but Pytheas is the first known scientific visitor to report the arctic polar ice and information of the Germanic tribes. His account of the tides is the earliest relating them to the moon.



(this book is available on Amazon)

Pytheas was a Greek geographer. He wrote a book about his voyage but it has not survived. All we have are references in the works of later classic writers.  Where he started his voyage is a mystery because in those days the Carthaginians had closed the Straits of Gibraltar for all ships from other nations. He may have travelled overland or sailed only at night. He travelled to Cornwall, w hich was then the source of tin, and there he studied and wrote about the production and procession of tin. He circumnavigated Britain, sailing north to an island called "Thule". It may have been part of the Norwegian coast although Iceland, the Shetlands and the Faeroes have also been identified by historians. He noted that Thule was an agricultural country that produced honey. It was the place where the sun went to sleep and  the congealed sea began.  He spoke of the waters around Thule being like a 'marine lung' which actually means jellyfish. Modern scientists believe that he tried to describe ice cakes that are formed at the edge of drift ice. He noted that the inhabitants of Thule ate fruits and drank milk and made a drink out of grain and honey (mead.)

After completely his survey of Britain (called Albion then), he travelled to the continental North Sea coast. He may have also visited the Baltic.  And he visited an island which was the source of amber (probably Helgoland).

He wrote a book about his voyage but that has not survived. We only have the remarks of others, among them Strabo who (unjustly) called Pytheas a liar.

VICTORY!



It's been a long journey and an arduous battle but at last, we are victorious!  All those years of persistence and dedication to telling the story of the fall of Alexander the Great's dynasty has finally come to fruition. I HAVE A CONTRACT FOR PUBLICATION!!!

Yes, the Media Arias Publisher in UK have sent me a contract which will be signed and delivered within the next few days. I've gone over it with a knowledgeable friend and will go over it again with information from the Writers' Union, but it looks very good.

I was a bit reluctant when they suggested they would like to make it into two books, because of its length. But after consulting with them and with my friends who know the story, I've decided this may be the best way to go. And it means TWO books instead of one.  The first book will hopefully be published by August 2014 and the second volume a bit later than that (not too much later, I hope!)

This 'victory' was accomplished because I wouldn't give up. Though I'd sent out many queries (most of which didn't even get a reply), just before I left on my journey to UK and Greece in June, I had decided to send out a couple more queries. Two days later Media Arias replied asking to see the full manuscript. I had a good feeling about them -- not only because of their promptness, but because evidently their director is a fan of Mary Renault and other writers about this history.  Meanwhile, when I was away I got three other requests for the MSS but had to wait til I returned. And then the news came that they wanted to publish it and just a couple of weeks later the contract arrived!

The lesson here for other writers is, DON'T GIVE UP! Because eventually someone will recognize the worth of you story. I am more than thrilled. But I won't start to really celebrate until next week when I ink my name onto the last page of the contract and send it off to the publishers. Then it's a done deal. And after all these years I'll be a published author. Not only that, but my novel, which I spent so many years to write, will finally be made available to the public.

Alexander was with me all the way. And when I was in Greece this summer I knew he was there, giving me courage. I am proud of this accomplishment and dedicate this in his memory.

ANCIENT TRAVELLERS

In researching for “Dragons In the Sky” in regards to the possibility of logical travel by Sholto and Olwen on horseback from the west of France to the border of Illyria/Macedonia during the period of my novel, Iron Age Britain, 4th century BC, I found some really fascinating facts.  Not only was it quite possible (and probable) but people have been traversing Europe since the Bronze Age.  Way back then people from Chaldea and Troy came as far west as what is now Ireland.  The Druids, early Britain’s astronomer-priests, were closely related to the Chaldean Magis and were thought to have first come from the Near East. There’s evidence of the Phoenicians found in Britain with some supposition that early Britons were sea-going Aryan-Phoenicians who later became known as Celts or Kelts. The Mycenaeans also traveled far from home by ship and reputedly there were Mycenaean markings on the great stones of Stonehenge.  I read once that one of the first kings of Wales was the 50^th son of Priam of Troy but who knows if that is true or not!  (some of this information might have come from a book I have in my collection “Tracing Our Ancestors” by Frederick  Haberman, a fascinating book which traces British roots to the Near East. I believe he may be a “British Israelite” but he has lots of interesting information in his research.

Pytheas route from Massalia to "Thule"

I’ve also run across Greeks who ended up in Britain and beyond.  (The Greeks had a colony at Massalia (Marseilles) in the south of what is now France. Pythagoras had founded a school there and some time between 335-300 BC a Greek scholar/explorer named Pytheas set off from Massalia  on a voyage that would take him right up the coast of Britain almost as far as Norway.  He visited a considerable part of  Britain and is the first person on record to describe the Midnight Sun. He is the first known scientific visitor and reporter of the arctic, polar ice and is one who introduced the idea of distant “Thule”. His account of the tides is the earliest to state that they are caused by the moon.

 

Pytheas

 

So, taking into consideration that there were people traveling far distances even hundreds of years before Sholto and Olwen set off, their travels were quite logical.  As a matter of fact, looking at life in North American during the 1800’s, people were travelling by canoe, wagon and horse even farther distances than my characters would have travelled across Europe. 

Belgae tribesmen

Besides their travels and the terrains they would be crossing (for this I looked at google maps and could see the lay of the land along their route), I also did some research on what people they might meet along the way.  First there were the Belgae tribes who lived in northern France (Gaul) between the English channel and the west bank of the Rhine.  Then there were the Alpine Celts, known as the “Salt People” because they traded in salt, a commodity as valuable as gold in those days. There were also the Italic tribes and the tribes of people living in the area the Danube River. These were fierce warriors who fought against Philip of Macedon and Alexander when he was young. Their languages were apparantly similar so logically Sholto and Olwen wouldn’t have had too much trouble conversing with anyone they met. Once they reached the lands of Illyria, these were different tribal people and from there Olwen meets the Macedonians.

Now that I have their route of travel sorted out I will need to do further research on potions, herbs, witchcraft and spells because Olwen is an acolyte of the Druids and has learned the spells and medicines since she was a child. She would also know how to read the stars to find directions as well as studying other aspects of nature and the seasons.  Remember, she’s a captive of this renegade warrior and she has to figure out how to escape!