Celtic stuff: Some favourites of mine!

Hi guys!

As you may know, music is the thing that got me into Celtic studies and I still love Celtic music so much! I did some posts on Irish music before but I wanted to share some more songs with you, and this time not only songs, but some movie tips as well! :)

Songs

Julie Fowlis is a Scottish singer and she sings in Scots Gaelic :) This song is called 'Tha mo ghaol air àird a' chuain' (literally 'my love is on the high seas'). I don't speak Scots Gaelic myself, but I recognise some words and grammar from Irish, which I am secretly kinda proud of.

 Sinéad O'Connor is one of the more known Irish singers. She isn't a native speaker of Irish, but has made an album 'Sean-nós Nua' (New Sean-nós) with some Irish traditionals, also in English. This one, Paddy's Lament, is about a young Irishman that migrates to America in the 19th/early 20th century during the Celtic migrations. I love this song, especially the melancholy about it. 'I wish I was at home in dear old Dublin..'

This is the soundtrack to 'Brendan and the Secret of Kells' (see below.. one of my movie tips!) I love this piece of music so much!


Movies
I have two Celtically related (I don't know if that's a word..) movies for you. One was very popular and won an Oscar if I'm corrected, the other is less known but just as amazing.

Brendan and the Secret of Kells!
An animation about the book of Kells. It has a lot of inside jokes about Pangur Bán, Colum Cille and other medieval Irish texts and history. I enjoyed this movie tremendously and I think I've watched it four times now.. Ánd, the book of Kells is as gorgeous in real life as it is in the movie!! So be sure to check it out when you're in Dublin.

This one you've probably heard of. Brave! It has some typically clichés in it (witches and magic etc.) but it has great music, even a Scots Gaelic one, and it is very funny. In the opening sequence you can see some Pictisch inscriptions that are actually real!


Well that's it for now, I'll probably do a blogpost like this more often because there are a lot of tips I'd like to give you :)
Until next time,
Lian

Linguistical fun: Figura Etymologica

Hi guys!

Today I have another linguistical topic for you. This isn't specifically Celtic, but it is found regularly in the medieval texts. It is called 'figura etymologica', and it is quite simple but very weird to translate if it's new to you.

In Celtic languages there is a thing called 'verbal noun', which is exactly as you would think, the noun of a verb. So 'to regulate' --> 'the act of regulating' (first verb that came to mind.. mm.) Got that? It's not as difficult as it may sound.

Now in the 'figura etymologica', the verbal noun is the subject of that exact same verb. So literally something like 'the act of regulating regulates'. Now that sounds incredibly silly to us, but in the medieval period people thought is was beautifully said.

A painting of Branwen

In the Welsh tale 'Branwen uerch Lyr' Branwen is married to the Irish king, but because her brother molested the king's horses (it's not a pretty text to read..) Branwen is put in the kitchen where she receives a blow every day. This is expressed by 'the blow that blows' etc.

In other languages the figura etymologica is used as well but not particularly in this sense. 'He drank a drink' is a figura etymologica as well. Now that doesn't sound so weird to our ears, it's just those Celts again that make everything weird ^^

Until next time!
Lian

Photography
en.wikipedia.org

Interesting Celtic Websites

Hi guys!!

I'd like to show you some very interesting ánd useful websites! I use some of them for studying but they are amazing to browse through as well.

Ogham
A new project by Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies is a website about ogham stones. Ogham stones are found in Ireland and some in Britain, and they usually are inscribed with a name or a place. They are our source for Archaic Irish (the main reason why I love them!) On the website is more general info.
They want to make around
400 Ogham stones available with details ánd 3D images! There are 52 stones online right now, and it's really fascinating to browse through them.

Ogham in 3D

Irish Scripts on Screen
Another website I enjoy using very much is Irish Scripts on Screen (short isos), also by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. This website has facsimiles of a very big corpus of Irish manuscripts! So you can look up the Book of Leinster, the Lebor na hUidre (book of the dun cow) or the Yellow Book of Lecan and leaf through them. Awesome.
Irish Scripts on Screen

Welsh law
This website is a very good starting point if you are interested in the Welsh laws. It has information about the manuscripts, law texts themselves and it sketches a lot of the context of these laws! If you're brave, you can look through the website in Modern Welsh. The research is funded by the University of Wales.
Cyfraith Hywel

Irish Archaeology
Not really a scientific website, but very interesting as well, is this blog on Irish archaeology. It focusses on a broad period of time, and deals not only with Irish stuff. You can follow it on Facebook as well!
Irish Archaeology

Well that's it for now, if I think of more tips for you I will let you know :)
Bye,

Lian

Photography:
Wikipedia
britannia-picture.com

Poems: A pagan psalm?

Hi guys!

Today I have another poem for you, just because Celtic poems are too damn awesome.This poem is written in Latin, so it's not linguistically Celtic, but it is written down (so it may have been written earlier) by Tírechán, an Irish bishop. James Carney dates the poem to the 6th century.
The translation is primarly by James Carney but I changed it somewhat because I like to translate more literally than he does.

Quis est Deus?                                      Who is God?

et ubi est Deus                                      And where is God

et cuius est Deus                                        And of whom is God

et ubi habitaculum eius?                            And where is his dwelling?

Si habet filios et filias,                           Has He sons and daughters,

aurum et argentum, Deus vester?                       of gold and silver, this God of yours?

Si vivus semper,                              Is He ever-living

si pulcher                                    Is He beautiful

si filium eius                                  Was his son

nutrierunt multi?                            Nurtured by many?

Si filiae eius                                         Are His daughters

carae et pulchrae sunt                         loved and beautiful

hominibus mundi?                            by the men of the world?

Si in caelo                                     Is He in the heaven

an in terra est?                                 or in the earth?

In aequore,                                             in the sea

in fluminibus,                                    in the rivers

in montanis,                                  in the mountains

in convallibus?                                 in the valleys?

Dic nobis                                 Tell us

notitiam eius:                                His tidings

Quomodo videbitur,                                  How will He be seen?

quomodo diligitur,                                 How is He loved?

quomodo invenitur?                                How is He found?

Si in iuventute,                                  Is it in youth

Si in senectute                               is it in old age

invenitur?                              that He is found?

Book of Kells

It is obviously a christian poem, but it doesn't feel like a standard psalm or praise-poem, which makes it way more interesting in my opinion. And if you look closely, it seems that the writer himself is a pagan, and asks a christian about his God, who is so different from the 'gods' of his pagan belief. The questions he asks even remind me of the people of the Otherworld, who never die and aren't young nor old, and live in the fairy mounds. 'Was his son nurtured by many?' It was an Irish custom to give your sons and daughters away for fostering, which is less normal in the christian customs. In the end, I think this poem sheds more light on the pagan beliefs than the Christian faith, and that's why I love this poem so much :)

I hope you have enjoyed it too,

Lian

James Carney 'Medieval Irish Lyrics' (Dublin 1967) 

A Celtic God: Cobannus

Hi guys!

A statue of Mars Cobannus in the Getty museum

I'd like to summarize a small research project I've done for the course Continental Celtic last semester. We were supposed to write a small essay about a Gaulish inscription and say something interesting about it. Well, of course, I got too excited and I actually went to do research.. And since it's about Celtic religion and I know a lot of people are interested in that aspect of Celtic culture I'd like to share my findings with you :)

My inscription was from Bern, with the romantic name 'L-106'. It reads 'dobnoredo gobano brenodor nantaror' and it is written in Greek script. Rudolph Fellmann has translated it as 'To Cobannus who travels the world with his chariot, the inhabitants of Brenodurum (Bern) in the valley of the Aare.'
So I went to research who this god Cobannus is!

There seem to be two logical hypotheses that determine the function of Cobannus in the Gaulish pantheon (if we agree that there was one..) was the patron of smiths ór a war-god. 'Cobannus' literally means 'smith', like Old-Irish gobae, gobann. But his later name is Mars Cobannus, so he is equated by the Romans with their war god Mars. But why would they equate him with Mars if he was a god of smiths?

Well, there are a lot of other arguments, but neither of them satisfied me in picking one hypothesis. So I think Cobannus wás a god of smiths, but more a maker of weapons for battle. Smiths were very important in the time of the Gauls (and not only then) because they made the weapons with which a Celt could raid neighbouring provinces and earn his place in society. This would mean Cobannus was very associated with war, more even then, say, Vulcan in the pagan Roman religion. And as the Gauls don't seem to have gods with one 'purpose', so to say, he would be more a patron of weapons, or other war-materials. And when the Romans invaded Gaul they thought 'Oh well, he looks like Mars. So he must be him!'. Cute.

So that is what I think on the subject, it is a very interesting field of research because we don't know ánything. This research is only done by the name 'Cobannus'. Fun huh? :D My professor used to say 'you're having fun now, but when you're dealing with the study of Continental Celtic you wíll become depressed because we. know. nothing.' Fortunately I still love it! But then, I don't have to focus on this field 24/7.

Bye for now!
Lian

bibliography
Lambert, Pierre-Yves 'Recueil des Inscriptions Gauloises'

Fellman, Rudolph 'Die Zinktafel von Bern-Thormebodewald und ihre Inschrift' Archäologie der Schweiz 14 (1991-1994) 270-273

Lavagne, Henri 'Un Nouveau dieu de la Gaule Romaine: Mars Cobannus (avec l'appendice de M. P. Y. Lambert)' Comptes-rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 143 (1999) 689-720

Duval, Paul-Marie, 'Vulcain et les métiers du métal' Gallia 10 (1952) 43-57

  

Random Fun: Fer Loga

Hi guys!

I'm not the biggest literature-freak you can be within Celtic studies, but sometimes I definitely enjoy it. Mainly the weird inexplicable funny stuff. And that stuff I tell to my best friends. Now, one of my best friends happens to be really talented and she makes a funny comic every week. And when I told her of a passage from Scéla Mucce Mac Dathó she made a comic of it!
This passage tells how the great king Conchobar was accidently captured by a charioteer (who isn't really supposed to fight.. just steer the wagon of his champion) and Conchobar says 'I will give you anything you want, just release me!' and Fer Loga says 'I want every woman in Emain Macha (the capital of the Ulsterpeepz) to sing 'Fer Loga is my darling' to me everynight.' And thus happens.
I found this hilarious, because that isn't really the answer you would expect.. And every woman means every ugly old woman as well. And then my friend Eef made this comic. Be sure to check her website with all her comics on http://supereefsel.wordpress.com/. Every week a new one!

  

Until next time!

Lian

Music: Sean-Nós

Hi guys!

I am a big fan of Celtic music, which started when my grandfather would play some Clannad cd's when we would visit. The main thing that impressed me was the language, Irish, which sounded so beautiful. And that is where my love for all other Celtic stuff also began. So my love for Celtic studies is inevitably connected with music. I know this works the same way for many people, Celtic music is maybe the most widespread aspect of Celtic culture. Folky tunes with fiddles and whistles mainly, but there is a another genre within Celtic music that is less well-known, because it's a lot less catchy. Doesn't mean it isn't awesome.

It's called Sean-Nós, which means 'old way' in Irish, and it's a very peculiar style of singing. (It's also a style of dancing, by the way) Usually it is sung without musical accompaniment, and with highly stylistic melody lines and a lot of ornamentations. This makes it quite hard to listen to if you're not used to it, also because sean-nós songs can last for half an hour. The topics can vary from dramatical love stories to historical events, like rebellions and such (the Irish lóve rebellions and patriottic things, of course.) but sometimes songs can also be quite humourous!

Here are some short examples of it!

This song is called 'Cúnla' and is quite well-known, multiple bands made a 'regular' song out of it, but the original is a sean-nós song. The lyrics translate something like this; 'Who is that tapping the windowpane?' 'It's only me!' says Cúnla. 'O Cúnla dear, don't come any nearer me!' 'Maybe I shouldn't' says Cúnla'. And every verse Cúnla comes nearer the girl, until he tickles her you-know-what..

This song is 'Óró sé do bheatha 'bhaile' and it's a very patriottic song, about the return of Gráinne Mhaol to Ireland (Maybe I'll write a blogpost on her some other time) and with the 'real' Irish they will rout the foreigners. Also a song that is turned into a 'regular' song later, for example by Sinéad O'Connor.

Last but not least, this is an example of a sean-nós song in English! It is sung by the Dubliners, also unaccompanied and with ornamented melodies, but this time you may actually understand it if you don't speak Irish! Again it's a funny song, but I won't spoil the fun, just listen to it ^^




That's it for now! Until next time,
Lian

Pretty Poems: Scél Lemm Dúib

Hi guys!

One of the many things I love about Celtic stuff are the medieval Irish and Welsh poems. They always have a different rhyme than we have, or a different metre, and definitely different metrical rules. And more often than not, the sound of the words together is the art, not the meaning per se. That makes them difficult to translate, because you lose a lot of the magic of the original.
So here is an Irish poem from the 9th or 10th century, with a translation, but be sure to look at the Irish original as well, even if you can't understand it! If I could read it to you all, I would.

It's really fitting for this time of the year: I want spring and I want it now, but it still seems to be winter.. So a wintery poem!

Scél lemm dúib              'I bring news to you'

dordaid dam                                bells a stag

snigid gaim                         'the winter snows

ro-fáith sam                    the summer is gone

gáeth ard úar                   high and cold wind

ísel grían                                          low sun

gair a rith                              short its course

ruirthech rían                              swift ocean

rorúad rath                            russet bracken

ro-cleth cruth                   shapes are hidden

ro-gab gnáth              suddenly a wild goose

giugrann guth                         raised its voice

ro-gab úacht                         cold has taken

etti én                              the wings of a bird

aigre ré                                     a time of ice

é mo scél                             this is my news'

This is my own translation, but I based myself on the translation of James Carney, from 'Medieval Irish Lyrics'. His translation is a poëtical one and I wanted to stay as true to the Irish version itself as possible.

Until next time,
Lian

Sources photography: photo by Peter Denness on redbubble.com

Linguistical Fun: w and ll

Hi guys!

This week I'd like to resolve some of the mystery people tend to feel towards the Welsh language. Let me say firstly that Welsh is not my strong point, there are a lot of people out there who know this stuff better then I do. But they don't write blogposts about it. 
One of the things people say when I tell them I study Celtic languages and that Welsh is one of them, is 'haha, no one can pronounce that because the language consists only of consonants.' Well of course it doesn't, why would someone speak a language that is unpronouncable!? Unfortunately not many people are actually interested when I start explaining, they just want to make fun of the Welsh language.  Tsk. 

The problem starts of course with the infamous town name of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwollllantsyliogogogoch. Nonsense, why would someone not be able to pronounce that? Unfortunately, the town isn't really called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwollllantsyliogogogoch, it was named thus in the 19th century to attract tourists. Well, they've succeeded. Among the Welshmen it is simply known as 'Llanfairpwll'. 

But the thing that seems most frightening about the Welsh language is the apparant lack of vowels! Well, fret no more, because the w? Not a consonant, just a vowel pronounced like the o  in who? And then, it's suddenly not so frightening anymore. The Middle-Welsh word for 'man', gwr, is not pronounced gwr, but goor or something like that (it's hard to write this without using the phonetic alphabet.. just bear with me.) 

Next problematic thing in the Welsh language is the double l. Not pronounced like in 'llllloverboy', of course, but a sound that comes close to the cl in 'close'. But not really so. OK, put your tongue in your mouth like you wanna say 'l'. Done? Now smile! You look ridiculous but you are nearly there. Now blow as much air out of your mouth without moving your tongue, and this will come close to the sound of the /ll/. If you do this with a lot of noise, you're there! Congratulations, you are now able to pronounce Welsh. 

(Of course this is a simplification, blabla, and the /ll/ is pronounced differently at the end of a word than at the beginning of a word and no doubtedly the North Welshmen pronounce it differently than the South Welshmen, but I won't bore you with that)

See you next time!

Lian

Sources photography: wikipedia

Music: Séamuisín..

Hi there!!

This is a song we sang in Irish class, and even though that's like two years ago, I still have a weak spot for it.  It's about a mother who is looking for her son, Séamus. (although this version is sung by a man, it's not less cute)
-> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTgbLVzWwMs&feature=related <-



Here are the lyrics and my translation:

An bhfaca tú mo Shéamuisín?                           Did you see my little Séamus?
Mo mhuirnin óg, mo bhuachaillín?                     My young sweetheart, my little boy?

An bhfaca tú mo Shéamuisín?                           Did you see my little Séamus?
Is é dul síos an bothar                                       It was him going down the road

Níl brog ar bith ar a dhá choisín                         Not a shoe on his two little feet
Ar a dhá choisín ar dhá choisín                          On his two little feet, on his two little feet,
Níl brog ar bith ar a dhá choisín                         Not a shoe on his two little feet
Níl caipín air, ná clocá                                       Not a cap on him, or a coat

O grá mo chroí mo Shéamuisín,                         O my love, my heart, my little Séamus
Mo mhuirnin is, mo bhuachaillín                          My sweetheart and my little boy
Grá mo chroí mo Shéamuisín                              Love, my heart, my little Séamus
Maidin 'gus trathnonín                                        Morning and evening

Tá leabharín buí ina lamh aige                             There is a little book in his hand
ina lamh aige, ina lamh aige                                 In his hand, in his hand
Tá leabharín buí ina lamh aige                             there is a little book in his hand
Ag dul ar scoil trathnona                                     going off to school

Ar a dhroim tá mailin beag                                On his back there's a little backpack
Tá mailin beag, tá mailin beag,                           A little backpack, a little backpack
Ar a dhroim tá mailin beag                                On his back there's a little backpack
Is a lóinín ann is docha                                      With his little lunch in it, probably

An bhfaca tú mo Shéamuisín?                              Did you see my little Séamus?
Mo mhuirnin óg, mo bhuachaillín                          My young sweetheart, my little boy

An bhfaca tú mo Shéamuisín?                              Did you see my little Séamus?
Is é dul síos an bothar                                         It was him going down the road

Grá mo chroí mo Shéamuisín                               Love, my heart, my little Séamus
Mo mhuirnin is mo bhuachaillín                            My sweetheart and my little boy
Grá mo chroí mo Shéamuisín                               Love, my heart, my little Séamus
Maidin 'gus trathnonín                                          Morning and evening



And on a side note, you can buy this t-shirt! As 'Shéamuisín' sounds exactly like English 'hay machine'. It's funny ^^
(http://gaelshirt.spreadshirt.ie/hay-machine-A9289628)

Slán libh,

Lian

Linguistical Fun!: Breton

Demat! Mont a ra mat? (lit. ‘ Good day! Things are going well?)

A lot of people know that Irish and Welsh are Celtic languages, and that Ireland and Wales are Celtic nations. Even I learned about Celtic culture through the Irish language. But not many people know that Brittany is a Celtic nation too and that Breton is a Celtic language very much alive.

Breton, in the Celtic family tree, is the little brother of Welsh and Cornish, and its mother is British. British was spoken by the inhabitants of Britain before and during the Roman period, but unfortunately they didn’t care enough to write it down, so there is next to nothing found of British, which is very upsetting to linguistic fanatics like me..

In the Dark Ages, when Britain was invaded by Saxons, Angles and Jutes (those bastards!!) a lot of Celtic peeps fled the country, and since there had been trade with Brittany for ages, a lot of Britons went to Brittany. This is, of course, after the Roman period when Gaulish had almost died out in Brittany, so there is still debate if Breton is partly Gaulish, partly British. But anywaaay, they settled there and their language gradually changed to Breton.

As Brittany is a part of France, it has also been influenced by French (though I read somewhere that in the 19th century more than half of the French population spoke a different language then French..) and the pronunciation seemed a little French to me when I learned Breton (But my French isn’t that très bien). The grammar is quite similar to Welsh, although you can also say Welsh is similar to Breton :)

As I don’t want to bore you with all the details, because there are a lot of interesting facts and stories, I will just show you some Breton with examples of what I’ve rambled on about!

The most hilarious example in my textbook, dealing on the comparative, is this one: Bambi a zo bihanoc’h eget Godzilla meaning ‘Bambi is smaller than Godzilla’. Yeah duh.
Me a zo o lenn ul levr meaning ‘I’m reading a book’. Levr, meaning book, is llyfr in Welsh. Very similar, if you compare lebor in Old Irish (pronounced levor). These three obviously belong to the same language family but you can see Old Irish is merely Breton’s cousin!
French influence can be seen in Mersi! meaning ‘Thank you!’, obviously related to French merci. If you are very thankful, you can say mersi bras, meaning ’thanks a lot!’

Of course you can only judge a language if you’ve heard it spoken. In the case of Breton, that’s very hard because Breton speakers will usually switch to French when they notice you are a foreigner. That’s why it’s also called a hidden language. Next to bilingual streetnames, you won’t even notice people speak a different language! Luckily, there’s music :) So we can at least hear a bit of Breton!

A wir gallon!
Lian

Bibliography
'Colloquial Breton' by Herve ar Bihan and Ian Press
Photography sources
Wikipedia

Linguistical Fun!: To have 'to have' or not to have 'to have'.. wait, what?

Hi guys!


Today I'd like to introduce you to some of the wonderful peculiarities of Celtic languages! Personally, linguistics is my favorite study within Celtic studies, because it is so wonderfully bizarre..

Celtic languages are located in their own branch of the Indo-European family tree, as you can see in the picture. This means that Celtic languages are Indo-European but are completely different from, say, English or French.

Simplified version of Indo-European family tree

To have or not to have
One of the peculiarities of some Celtic languages is that they lack the verb 'to have', which is kind of strange as it's a very common verb! Of course, that doesn't mean Celtic-speakers never own anything, they just express it differently..

Tá ocras ar an cat! 'Hunger is on the cat!'

When 'to have' is expressed in a Celtic language, it is usually used with a preposition, often 'at' or 'on.' Some examples in Modern Irish (Gaelic):  
Tá cat agam! lit. 'A cat is at me!' meaning 'I have a cat!'
Níl cat agam.. lit. 'No cat is at me..' meaning 'I have no cat..'
bút
Tá ocras orm lit. 'Hunger is on me.' meaning 'I'm hungry'. English doesn't express 'to have' in this case, but for example Dutch does; Ik heb honger lit. 'I have hunger'.
Some examples in Welsh (Northern dialect)
Mae cath gen i lit. 'A cat is with me' meaning 'I have a cat . As you can see Welsh uses the preposition 'with' instead of 'at' or 'on'! No one said it was easy..

I can go on and on about this but in the end, this is what it comes down to. If you have a cat in Celtic languages, it is at you. And hunger is on you. How wonderfully weird, eh? :)

That's it for now!
Love, Lian

Sources photography:
Family tree by myself
Vishnevskiy Vasiliy/Stockphoto  

Stories: The Otherworld

Hi guys!!

Detail from the Book of Kells

It's been a long while since I last posted something here. I've decided to pick it up again from today on! My goal is to post something here every few days, from interesting facts to research I'm doing (or have done), from linguistical topics to historical stuff and literature! I hope other people will find it as interesting as I do :)
As I'm a students of Celtic Studies, I'd like to part fact from fiction, and unfortunately Celtic has been a topic surrounded by myths and fiction for a long time. I'd like to show you that even though it may be not as mystical and spiritual as you may think, once those mists part, the facts make Celtic still the most interesting subject in history, linguistics and literature!

Stories
In the Stories-category I will explain some subjects that come up in Medieval Celtic literature, some interesting characters or summaries of tales!

The Otherworld
In Irish as well as some Welsh medieval literature, there is such a thing as the Otherworld. It is a land that has entrances everywhere, sometimes it lies under water, sometimes it is in a sídhe ('fairymound'). It is easily confused with the Underworld/Tartarus in Greek tales and in a way it is a different version of that, but in Celtic tradition the people that die don't usually go to the Otherworld. It is just a world that lies next to ours with it's own people and animals. Also, don't confuse it with New Age-like stories of fairy's living under the hills in Ireland and Britain! That seems to be more a romantic view on Irish tales, made up in the last two centuries. But back to the Medieval Otherworld;
The people that live there never age and never die. Sometimes they are ugly, sometimes they are beautiful, but in every case they are sinless. Of course, this is a concept that was probably a pre-Christian thing, but the Catholic Irish seemed to want to keep the old stories alive and so they wrote them down, albeit with some Christian elements here and there. They figured, if the people from the Otherworld were already parted from humanity befóre the Fall, when Eve brought sin upon us, they would be sinless. It's a nice way of keeping the old stories alive without contradicting the Church!

The animals coming from the Otherworld mostly have weird colours, for example these hounds from Pwyll Pendeuic Dyued ('Pwyll prince of Dyved'): "their hair was of a brilliant shining white, and their ears were red; and as the whiteness of their bodies shone, so did the redness of their ears glisten."
In every Celtic medieval tale, descriptions like these point to an Otherworldly creature! 

Brú na Boinne or Newgrange is a famous example of a sídhe and an entrance to the Otherworld

The Otherworld appears in very different forms, and is different in Irish literature as opposed to Welsh literature. Some features appear more than once, such as food that never vanishes, and that the time seems to pass differently for people in the Otherworld as opposed to the normal world. In Immram Brain ('The Voyage of Bran') Bran and his fellows travels to the Otherworld until one of them feels homesick. They decide to return, but they are told they musn't touch the land. Nechtan does it anyway and he turns to ashes as hundreds of years have passed and in normal time he was supposed to be dead for a long time.
In Welsh literature the Otherworld also appears like a magical hall wherein time passes very weirdly. (Branwen uerch Lyr 'Branwen daughter of Llyr').

Generally, you should be scared to get stuck in the Otherworld. If you don't watch carefully, the people from the Otherworld will bewitch you so that you will follow them and never return to your family again (as in Echtra Chonnlai, 'The adventure of Connla'), or you die when you return (as in Immram Brain 'the Voyage of Bran'). If the early medieval Celts really believed in the existence of this Otherworld, we may never be able to prove. It just appears in stories and we don't know if they perceived these stories as history or simply literature.

If you're interested in the subject I suggest you read some of this secondary literature, this is just a general introduction to the subject and by no way near a complete analysis.
'Dictionary of Celtic Mythology' by MacKillop
'The otherworld voyage in early Irish literature: an anthology of criticism' by Wooding
'Irish visions of the other-world: a contribution to the study of mediaeval visions' by Seymour
'Music and the Celtic otherworld: from Ireland to Iona' by Ralls-MacLeod
'The Celtic Otherworld' by Nutt (in Folklore Vol. 18)

That's it for now, I hope to see you again soon! 
Love,
Lian

A small bibliography (I'm still a university student..)
'Ancient Irish Tales' by Cross and Slover  
'The Mabinogion' translated by Gantz
Books and articles above

Sources photography:
Book of Kells
Robert and Cathy Ardill