The Celts, from Pagan to St. Patrick

Imagine for a moment a typical Celtic family. What do you see? Mother serving up corned beef and cabbage. Father drinking pints down at the local. Little red haired children dancing to the sound of a pennywhistle, fiddle and hand drum surrounded by the lush landscape of Ireland.

Chances are you don’t picture a small settlement of salt miners in the mountains of Austria. Yet, that is where our journey begins; 500 years Before Christ with a group of people known as the Keltoi.

The BBC series ”the Celts: Rich Traditions & Ancient Myths” chronicles the rich history of this most fascinating group of people from their original barbarian roots through the conversion from polytheism to Christianity and into the colorful modern day society.

Growing up with a strong awareness of my Western European roots, I didn’t think there was too much you could tell me about the Celts that I didn’t already know. To my happy surprise, it seems my little bit of knowledge was barely scratching the surface. The Celts originally aired as a 6 episode documentary series for the BBC in 1986, but has recently been contained on a 2-disk set. Besides the six 45-minute episodes, there are also bonus short documentaries. In fact, the feature I find most interesting is a musical montage called ”Gaelic Weekend: A Musical Journey around Ireland”. In this 15-minute mini-feature, viewers are treated to a breathtaking and aurally pleasing tour of fertile countryside, holy cathedrals and crowded taverns along with the music springing forth from each unique location.

Actually, for a documentary series, the music is quite good. That might have something to do with the fact that it was scored and performed by a very young Irish artist named Enya. Maybe you’ve heard of her. If not, have no fear. There is a nice little interview straight from a television morning show two decades ago.

The Celts is a very well done series in that it never comes off as preachy or assuming facts not in evidence. However, presentation of just the facts can be a tricky proposition. You want to share history and practical information, but at the same time, keep the viewer interested and involved. Host Frank Delaney remedies this problem by providing ample reenactments of battles, celebrations and everyday Celtic life. What that means is that he is speaking about the important role bards played in ancient society, but you aren’t paying attention because there are two topless females painting each other on the left hand side of the screen.

At times the presentation was a little dry. A few times, I found myself paying more attention to the background action than the professor or historian who was speaking. In one particularly bad scene, the historian in the foreground talks for about five minutes on a subject that clearly interests him, but I couldn’t tell you what exactly he was talking about since my attention was completely occupied by 4 men in the background sawing logs and chopping wood. They kept a perfect rhythm, sawing and chopping, sawing and chopping, but never actually cutting anything. The camera zooms in on the presenting historian when suddenly there is a loud thud off screen. You don’t know if they finally made it through that log or one of the wood workers simply keeled over.

During several of such presentations, I expected someone to break into song, or a horse and rider to smite the historian, such as might have been done on Monty Python. Surely nothing this dry could be for real. But, alas, real it is. However, the information is interesting, even if the presenter lacks a certain stage presence.

If you are even remotely interested in the history of the Celtic people, this is definitely a rental. It is sure to illuminate facets of this most intriguing culture that you hadn’t even imagined before. And if not, it’s got lots of pretty scenery and good music. And topless women painting each other. You can’t go wrong.