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Celtic Wedding Bands
Celtic wedding bands contain one of the strongest symbols of
marriage in existence today, yet are derived from one of the most ancient
cultures and traditions of the past, dating back from the 1st
Century BC. To gain a better understanding
of the meaning of Celtic band designs, we can consider a brief survey of Celtic
history, religion, and art.
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Celtic Wedding Rings
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Gold Celtic Wedding Band |
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Celtic History
The Celtic peoples and culture dominated much of western and
central Europe in the 1st thousand years BC, by influencing outlying
regions with their customs, language, and religion. Although the Celtic peoples are much older,
during the middle ages, The
Celts eventually settled near the British Isles, where today,
we often think of Celtic tradition as having originated. In medieval times the Celtic tradition
and languages existed in such places as Ireland,
Scottland, and Wales,
and even Brittany (France).
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Celtic Heart Knot Wedding Band |
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Celtic Religion
The Christian faith was already established in Britain
by the 4th century AD, even among the Celtic peoples. Yet the Saxons invaded Britain,
thereby driving most of the Celtic peoples into Wales
and other outlying areas. Today, Christian thought can be interpreted in the Celtic
design, such as you see in Celtic wedding bands, influenced, partly by Christian
missionaries and the Irish church who influenced the Celts during the migration
out of mainland Britain.
Although
Celtic myth and druid priests were clearly a part of the Celtic peoples
originally, Christianity was a prominent influence in these designs, co-mingled
with ancient Celtic culture.
The “Celtic trinity knot” is an obvious example
of Celtic Christianity, whereby
three interwoven strands symbolize the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of the
Christian faith. Other Christian symbols
within the woven knots of the Celtic wedding rings are in the idea of eternity,
as these patterns intertwine seemingly endlessly.
This is particularly befitting for a Celtic wedding band, since marriage,
traditionally, is meant to last forever.
Celtic Symbolism
The
Celtic peoples continued to work within their traditional, ancient designs, but, as Christianity
grew in strength, the Celtic
designs commingled ancient ideals with Christian symbols.
Among other
symbols, for example, are the Claddagh ring, shown above, combined with the
Irish "hound of Cuchulainn".
The Claddagh ring was designed in the 17th
Century by a fisherman for his wife, in the fisherman's village of "Claddagh".
Normally, the hands on a Claddagh ring symbolize friendship, the heart symbolizes love, and the
crown, fidelity. But in the ring above, the hands are replaced by Celtic
knots which end with the "hound of Cuchulainn" that stands for a great
hero in Ireland, whose hound defended the people of Ireland.
Although there may be several other meanings to the Celtic
knot patterns contained within the Celtic knot-work, the
above meanings are a fairly
prominent interpretation in existence today and one that is rather enchanting
when considering a wedding ring.
Article by Afshin Yaghtin, NZION Corp.,
© 2004.
To see our full line of Celtic rings, please visit
our main website, Wedding-Band-Ring.Com,
where we offer a diverse collection of Celtic Wedding Bands and Rings.
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Claddagh Celtic Wedding Ring
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Trinity Knot Celtic Wedding Band
Antique Celtic Wedding
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Celtic Trinity Wedding Band |
