Celtic knots (Irish: snaidhm Cheilteach, Welsh: cwlwm Celtaidd, Cornish: kolm Keltek, Scottish Gaelic: snaidhm Ceilteach) are a variety of knots and stylized graphical representations of knots used for decoration, used extensively in the Celtic and Northumbrian styles of Insular art. These knots are most known for their adaptation for use in the ornamentation of Christian monuments and manuscripts, such as the 8th-century St. Teilo Gospels, the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels. Most are endless knots, and many are varieties of basket weave knots.
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👉 Celtic knot in the context of Irish stepdance
Irish stepdance is a style of performance dance with its roots in traditional Irish dance. It may be generally characterized by a stiff upper body and fast and precise movements of the feet, and can be performed solo or in groups. Aside from public dance performances, there are also stepdance competitions all over the world. These competitions are often called Feiseanna (singular Feis). In Irish dance culture, a Feis is a traditional Gaelic arts and culture festival. Contemporarily, costumes are sometimes considered important in Irish stepdance; costumes are typically designed to attract the judge's eye in competitions and the audience's eye in performance, with widely varying colors and patterns. In many cases, costumes are sold at high prices and can even be custom made. General appearance beside the costume is also equally important, with female dancers typically wearing curly wigs or curling their hair and male dancers often neatly styling their hair to a shape to their liking for competition or performance. Additionally, poodle socks are worn by female dancers while males wear plain black socks. Poodle socks are white socks that have distinctive ribbing, and can be embroidered with gems. This hyper-stylization originated in the Irish diaspora, while traditional costume was homemade or from the local dressmaker and embroidered with Celtic knots and designs.
Riverdance, an Irish step-dancing performance in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest that later became a hugely successful theatrical production, greatly contributed to its popularity. Once Riverdance became a large production, it changed the way that Irish dance was performed and viewed. Now that entrepreneurs could capitalize on Irish culture, they were able to tweak it to the audience's liking. This meant adding a theatrical flair to the performance, including arm movements (as opposed to the previously rigid top half that dancers maintained) as well as sexualizing the dance and the costumes. To some, this was a betrayal of tradition, but to others, it was a way of expanding Irish culture and became widely accepted. Following after Riverdance was Lord of the Dance and many other theatrical productions based on Irish stepdance; Michael Flatley, an Irish stepdancer, became a well-known name within these shows.
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Celtic knot in the context of Book of Kells
The Book of Kells (Latin: Codex Cenannensis; Irish: Leabhar Cheanannais; Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS A. I. [58], sometimes known as the Book of Columba) is an illustrated manuscript and Celtic Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created in a Columban monastery in either Ireland or Scotland, and may have had contributions from various Columban institutions from each of these areas. It is believed to have been created c. 800 AD. The text of the Gospels is largely drawn from the Vulgate, although it also includes several passages drawn from the earlier versions of the Bible known as the Vetus Latina. It is regarded as a masterwork of Western calligraphy and the pinnacle of Insular illumination. The manuscript takes its name from the Abbey of Kells, County Meath, which was its home for centuries.
The illustrations and ornamentation of the Book of Kells surpass those of other Insular Gospel books in extravagance and complexity. The decoration combines traditional Christian iconography with the ornate swirling motifs typical of Insular art. Figures of humans, animals and mythical beasts, together with Celtic knots and interlacing patterns in vibrant colours, enliven the manuscript's pages. Many of these minor decorative elements are imbued with Christian symbolism and so further emphasise the themes of the major illustrations.
Celtic knot in the context of Irish art
Irish art is art produced in the island of Ireland, and by artists from Ireland. The term normally includes Irish-born artists as well as expatriates settled in Ireland. Its history starts around 3200 BC with Neolithic stone carvings at the Newgrange megalithic tomb, part of the Brú na Bóinne complex which still stands today, County Meath. In early-Bronze Age Ireland there is evidence of Beaker culture and widespread metalworking. Trade-links with Britain and Northern Europe introduced La Tène culture and Celtic art to Ireland by about 300 BC, but while these styles later changed or disappeared elsewhere under Roman subjugation, Ireland was left alone to develop Celtic designs: notably Celtic crosses, spiral designs, and the intricate interlaced patterns of Celtic knotwork.
The Christianization of Ireland in the fifth century AD saw the establishment of monasteries, which acted as centres of scholarship and artistic production, and led to the flowering of the Insular art style with its highly decorative illuminated manuscripts, metalwork and stonework (High crosses). From around 1200 to 1700, however, Irish art was relatively stagnant, and Irish culture was left comparatively untouched by the influence of Renaissance art.
Celtic knot in the context of Endless knot
The endless knot or eternal knot is a symbolic knot and one of the Eight Auspicious Symbols. It is an important symbol in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. It is an important cultural marker in places significantly influenced by Tibetan Buddhism such as Tibet, Mongolia, Tuva, Kalmykia, and Buryatia. It is also found in Celtic, Kazakh and Chinese symbolism.