CELTIC

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr C Downham

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

This course will provide an inter-disciplinary study of the Celtic-speaking peoples from prehistory to the early Middle Ages. We will explore the origins and spread of Celtic language and culture, the subsequent marginalisation of the Celts in Roman literature; pre-historic archaeology; pagan beliefs; conversion to Christianity; the role of women; heroic literature; the cult of warriors; and finally, popular representations of the Celts in modern literature and thought.

Structure

2 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (100%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work (two essays 50% each) will exempt students from examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr C Downham

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

This course will provide an overview of Celtic Scotland in the early and central Middle Ages (AD 400-c1200). The history and culture of early inhabitants of Scotland; the Picts, Gaels, and Britons, will be explored through a range of topics. These include political and social identity, kingship, religion, art, archaeology and foreign relations. A key theme within the course will be the emergence and development of the Scottish nation over the centuries.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (100%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work (two essays 50% each) will exempt students from examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr A O'Leary

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 2 or above.

Overview

The legend of King Arthur has captured people's imagination from the Middle Ages right up to the present day. This course provides an introduction to the origin and development of that legend. We will examine the literature and pseudo-history of Arthur among the Celtic-speaking peoples, and in particular the emergence and growth of motifs which have had an enduring impact on European fiction and film. A weekly lecture will provide a literary and historical overview; in tutorials students will analyse and debate individual themes and sources in more detail.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (60%), one 2,000 word essay (30%), and tutorial assessment mark (10%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr C Downham

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 2 or above.

Overview

This course provides an interdisciplinary study of the vikings in Scotland. Topics that will be looked at include the nature of viking settlement, Gaelic-Scandinavian interaction, the impact of vikings on the formation of the kingdom of Alba, and the external links of North Britain in the viking Age. It will draw on a wide variety of source materials including place-names, archaeology, chronicles, and saga. A weekly lecture will provide an overview of the history, culture and literature of Vikings in Scotland; in tutorials students will discuss individual themes and sources in more detail.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (100%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work (two essays 50% each) will exempt candidates from the examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr A O'Leary

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 2 or above.

Overview

This course sets out to examine what classical authors had to say about the Celts between the sixth century BC and the fourth century AD. Through a mixture of lectures and tutorials it will examine the main accounts of the Celts provided by Greek and Latin authors and help students to set them in their historical context. It will also cover visual representations of celts and other 'barbarians'. (Texts will be studied in translation, and no knowledge of Greek or Latin is required).

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (60%), one 2,000 word essay (30%), and tutorial assessment mark (10%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr A O'Leary

Pre-requisites

None, but some knowledge of Irish might be an advantage.

Notes

Available only to students in Programme Year 2 or above. It would be useful, but not necessary, to have taken CE 1528, GH 1004, or GH 1504 before this course.

Overview

Detailed discussion of topics including the history of Gaelic Ireland from the eighteenth century onwards; the aims and achievements of all genres of literature in modern Irish, e.g. vision-poems and prose diaries. The course will also cover the major twentieth-century poets and their motivations, e.g. self-discovery, urban/rural tension and commentary on political and social aspects of their own day.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (60%); essay (30%), and tutorial assessment mark (10%).

Resit: Two hour examination (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr A O'Leary

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 2 or above.

Overview

This course sets out to provide an overview of the historical development and linguistic structure of the Celtic languages. It will also study aspects of the history of scholarship in this area. It aims to help students acquire an appreciation of the evolution and diversity of both Continental and Insular Celtic.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (60%), one 2,000 word essay (30%), and tutorial assessment mark (10%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr C Downham

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or by permission of the Head of School.

Notes

This course may not be included as part of a graduating curriculum with CE 4057. Available in session 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course will study the history and culture of the various peoples who lived in North Britain in the Dark Ages. A number of themes will be covered, including a selection from: social organization, political and diplomatic links, Pictish matriliny, the waning of Pictish culture, artistic influences from Ireland and Europe, and the creation of the medieval kingdom of Alba, paying particular attention to the critical analysis of source materials. Lectures will provide an overview of the period; seminars will focus on individual projects and tutorials will examine primary sources.

Structure

Three hours of classes per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (60%), and in-course assessment essay (40%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Professor D Dumville

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or by permission of the Head of School. Cannot be taken as part of a graduating curriculum with CE 4063: Introduction to Old Gaelic I B.

Co-requisites

A basic knowledge of Gaelic, Welsh, Latin or Historical Linguistics.

Overview

The course provides a basic introduciton to Old Irish - the earliest form of a Celtic language which we can reconstruct with some certainty. Old Irish holds the key to the earliest vernacular literature north of the Alps. It is also of prime importance to comparative Celtic Philology, as it is the earliest attested form of both Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The course consists of an exposition of Old Irish grammar accompanied by appropriate translation exercises and grammatical interpretation of selected passages in Old Irish.

Structure

Three hours of classes per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: Language Exercises (40%), and 1 two-hour written examination (60%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr A O'Leary

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in programme year 3 or by permission of the Head of School. Cannot be taken as part of a graduating curriculum with CE 4073: Brittonic Language IB.

Overview

The course consists of an exposition of the grammar of a Brittonic language accompanied by appropriate translation exercises and grammatical interpretation of selected passages of text.

Structure

Three hours of classes per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: Translation Exercises (40%) which have to be done every week, and 1 two-hour written examination (60%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr A O'Leary

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or above or by permission of the Head of School.

Notes

This course may not be included as part of a graduating curriculum with CE 4083: Religion and the Celts to AD 1200B. This course will be available in
2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course will begin with a study of the pre-Christian religion of the Celts; how it was described by classical authors, and how this squares with the archaeological evidence. We will also explore portrayals of the pagan past in Celtic medieval literature, including druids and mythological characters. The course will then move forwards chronologically to an evolution of the processes of Christian conversion and to an analysis of the ideological and institutional changes it involved. Evidence for the continuity of pagan practices will be explored. We will look at the struggle to define and practise spiritual purity, definitions of and attitudes to heresy, artistic and literary achievements of the Church, and the development of saints' cults. The course will end with an analysis of the reforms of the twelfth century, evaluating the response of Celtic-speaking peoples to the ecclesiastically-inspired drive for uniformity in social and religious practices throughout Western Christendom.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture, 1 one-hour tutorial, and 1 one-hour seminar, per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (60%), one 2,000 word essay (30%), and seminar assessment mark (10%).

Resit: 1 two-hour examination (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr A O'Leary

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or by permission of the Head of School. Cannot be taken as part of a graduating curriculum with CE 4563: Introduction to Old Gaelic IIB.

Successful completion of CE 3063 Old Gaelic IA.

Notes

This course will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course consists of an exposition of Old Irish grammar accompanied by the translation and grammatical interpretation of selected passages in Old Irish.

Structure

Three hours of classes per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: Language exercises (40%), and 1 two-hour written examination (60%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

To be confirmed

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in programme year 3 or by permission of the Head of School. Cannot be taken as part of a graduating curriculum with CE 4574 Brittonic & Learning 11B.

Co-requisites

Successful completion of Brittonic language 1A.

Notes

This course will be available in 2006/07 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course consists of an exposition of the grammar of a Brittonic language accompanied by reading, translation exercise and grammatical interpretation of selected passages of text.

Structure

Three hours of classes per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: Translation Exercises (40%) which have to be done every week, and 1 two-hour written examination (60%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr R O'Connor

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or by permission of the Head of School. Cannot be taken as part of a graduating curriculum with CE 4575 'Celtic Myth in the Modern World: From Ossian to the New Age (B)'.

Notes

This course will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course examines how and why stories and images of a mythical Celtic past came to haunt the modern Western imagination, focusing in particular on Anglophone Britain and Ireland. The Celtic cultures in which these stories were originally produced suffered disastrous political setbacks in the early modern period; but these stories soon attracted much learned and popular interest outside the Celtic-speaking world. Here, sometimes transformed beyond recognition, they have served new purposes: literary, social, religious, political and musical. We will trace these metamorphoses by examining the forms and functions of Celtic legendary narrative in (for example) European Romanticism, Celtic nationalisms, Wagnerian music-drama, Victorian philology, Irish Modernism (Yeats, Joyce and O'Brien), English fantasy fiction (Tolkien and Lewis) and - preying on all these - the omnivorous mediaevalism of the New Age movement. Can we ever hope to see the ancient Celts as they really were? By uncovering the ideological patterns beneath the various forms of modern Celticism, we will at least be able to identify where our preconceptions come from.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 two-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (60%), one 2,000 word essay (30%), and seminar participation (10%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr R O'Connor

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3. Cannot be taken as part of a graduating curriculum with CE 4585: Tales of Vengeance and Enchantment: Medieval Sagas B.

Notes

This course will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course examines medieval Gaelic sagas from a literary and historical point of view. It aims to discuss these texts in their cultural context, paying special attention to the question of their composition and transmission, their literary merits, their contemporary social and political significance and the influence they have had on our modern understanding of medieval Celtic literature.

Structure

Three hours per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: essay (40%), and 1 two-hour written examination (60%).

Resit: Two hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr C Downham

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4.

Notes

This course will be available in session 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter. It may not be included in a graduating curriculum with CE 3057.

Overview

The course will study the history and culture of the various peoples who lived in north Britain in the Dark Ages. A number of themes will be covered including: social organization, political and diplomatic links, Pictish matriliny, artistic influences from Ireland and Europe, and the creation of the medieval kingdom of Alba. Lectures will provide an overview of the period; seminars will focus on individual projects and tutorials will examine primary sources. Students will learn to synthesise accounts of the past drawing on evidence from a variety of disciplines, and will develop their own options on issues such as the Gaelicization of North Britain, the end of Pictish culture, the role of Vikings in the formation of Alba and the character of the medieval kingdom of Strathclyde.

Structure

Three hours of classes per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (60%), and in-course assessment; essay (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Professor D Dumville

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 or by permission of the Head of School. Cannot be taken as part of a graduating curriculum with CE 3063: Introduction to Old Gaelic I A.

Co-requisites

A basic knowledge of Gaelic, Welsh, Latin or Historical Linguistics.

Overview

The course provides a basic introduction to Old Irish - the earliest form of a Celtic language which we can reconstruct with some certainty. Old Irish holds the key to the earliest vernacular literature north of the Alps. It is also of prime importance to comparative Celtic Philology, as it is the earliest attested form of both Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The course consists of an exposition of Old Irish grammar accompanied by appropriate translation exercises and grammatical interpretation of selected passages in Old Irish. The course will also take some account of the similarities and differences between Old Irish and the other Insular Celtic languages.

Structure

Three hours of classes per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: Languages Exercises (40%), and 1 two-hour written examination (60%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr A O'Leary

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in programme year 4 or by permission of the Head of School. Cannot be taken as part of a graduating curriculum with CE 3074 Brittonic Language IA.

Overview

The course consists of an exposition of the grammar of a Brittonic language accompanied by appropriate translation exercises and grammatical interpretation of selected passages of text.

Structure

Three hours of classes per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: Translation Exercises (40%) which have to be done every week, and 1 two hour written examination (60%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr A O'Leary

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 or above or by permission of the Head of School.

Notes

This course may not be included as part of a graduating curriculum with CE 3083: Religion and the Celts to AD 1200A. This course will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course will begin with a study of the pre-Christian religion of the Celts; how it was described by classical authors, and how this squares with the archaeological evidence. We will also explore portrayals of the pagan past in Celtic medieval literature including druids mythological characters. The course will then move forward chronologically to an evaluation of the processes of Christian conversion and to an analysis of the ideological and institutional changes it involved. Evidence for the continuity of pagan practices will be explored. We will look at the struggle to define and practise spiritual purity, definitions of and attitudes to heresy, artistic and literary achievements of the Church, and the development of saints' cults. The course will end with an analysis of the reforms of the twelfth century, evaluating the response of Celtic-speaking peoples to the ecclesiastically-inspired drive for uniformity in social and religious practices throughout Western Christendom.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture, 1 one-hour tutorial, and 1 one-hour seminar, per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (60%), one 2,000 word essay (30%), and seminar assessment mark (10%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr M Watson

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours Celtic Studies Students.

Overview

3 one-hour tutorials which will provide students with guidance on selecting a suitable academic topic and developing a methodology for tackling this topic.

Structure

3 one-hour tutorials.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 10,000 word dissertation (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr M Watson

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours Celtic Civilisation Students.

Overview

3 one-hour tutorials which will provide students with guidance on selecting a suitable academic topic and developing a methodology for tackling this topic.

Structure

3 one-hour tutorials.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 10,000 word dissertation (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr A O'Leary

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 or by permission of the Head of School. Cannot be taken as part of a graduating curriculum with CE 3563: Introduction to Old Gaelic IIA.

Successful completion of CE 4063 Old Gaelic IIA.

Overview

The course consists of an exposition of Old Irish grammar accompanied by the translation and grammatical interpretation of selected passages in Old Irish. The course will also take some account of the similarities and differences between Old Irish and the other Insular Celtic languages.

Structure

Three hours of classes per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: Language exercises (40%), and 1 two-hour written examination (60%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr A O'Leary

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 or by permission of the Head of School. Cannot be taken as part of a graduating curriculum with CE 3574: Brittonic Language IIA.

Co-requisites

Successful completion of Brittonic Language IB.

Overview

The course consists of an exposition of the grammar of a Brittonic language accompanied by reading, translation exercises and grammatical interpretation of selected passages of text.

Structure

Three hours of classes per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: Translation Exercises (40%) which have to be done every week, and 1 two-hour written examination (60%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr R O'Connor

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 or by permission of the Head of School. Cannot be taken as part of a graduating curriculum with CE 3575 'Celtic Myth in the Modern World: From Ossian to the New Age (A)'.

Notes

This course will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course examines how and why stories and images of a mythical Celtic past came to haunt the modern Western imagination, focusing in particular on Anglophone Britain and Ireland. The Celtic cultures in which these stories were originally produced suffered disastrous political setbacks in the early modern period; but these stories soon attracted much learned and popular interest outside the Celtic-speaking world. Here, sometimes transformed beyond recognition, they have served new purposes: literally, social, religious, political and musical. We will trace these metamorphoses by examining the forms and functions of Celtic legendary narrative in (for example) European Romanticism, Celtic nationalisms, Wagnerian music-drama, Victorian philology, Irish Modernism (Yeats, Joyce and O'Brien), English fantasy fiction (Tolkien and Lewis) and - preying on all these - the omnivorous mediaevalism of the New Age movement. Can we ever hope to see the ancient Celts as they really were? By uncovering the ideological patterns beneath the various forms of modern Celticism, we will at least be able to identify where our preconceptions come from.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 two-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (60%), one 2,000 word essay (30%), and seminar participation (10%).

Resit: 1 one-hour lecture followed by 1 two-hour seminar per week.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr R O'Connor

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4. Cannot be taken as part of a graduating curriculum with CE 3585: Tales of Vengeance and Enchantment: Medieval Irish Sagas A.

Notes

This course will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course examines medieval Gaelic sagas from a literary and historical point of view. It aims to discuss these texts in their cultural context, paying special attention to the question of their composition and transmission, their literary merits, their contemporary social and political significance and the influence they have had on our modern understanding of medieval Celtic literature.

Structure

Three hours per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: Essay (40%), and 1 two-hour written examination (60%).