The ancient name for Brittany was Armorica, the land of the sea. In the fifth and sixth centuries, Brittany was peopled by Celtic refugees, hermits and missionaries who had sailed from Ireland, Wales and Cornwall. These settlers were Brittany's earliest heroes, escaping the invading hordes of Angles and Saxons and struggling to defend the Celtic faith. Yet for all their holiness, these pioneers had much in common with the warriors of other Celtic myths, as they battled against dragons, tyrants and sorcerers to lay the foundations of their independent nation. The early medieval British-Celtic settlement Britonia in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula had been an important part of the larger British-Celtic Diaspora of the fifth and sixth centuries and a southern complement to Brittany.
The British Celts arrived in north-west Spain in the early Middle Ages and their community is recorded in several sixth and seventh century documents. This web site is offered as a resource centre for those studying the British Celts in general and the Britonians in particular. The Celts showed their respect for the moon by using euphemisms such as gealach - meaning ‘brightness’, and never referring directly to ‘the moon’. Manx fishermen followed this custom up until the nineteenth century, referring to the moon as ben- reine ny hoie - ‘queen of the night’ as is the evidence to be found in the Celtic calendar.
The Isle of Man probably takes its name from an Irish sea god, Manannán Mac Lir. According to tradition, he was the first king of the island. Manannán was a shape-shifter with many magical possessions, such as a boat that obeyed the thoughts of its master and a sword that could penetrate any armour. The horses of his chariot took the form of large waves. His Welsh counterpart was called Manawydan Fab Llyr, the subject of a tale in the Mabinogion. Before it fell prey to the Norsemen, the Isle of Man had strong Celtic connections. It had its own language, a dialect of Gaelic, and its now familiar three-legged emblem, the triskele, was widely used in the designs of Celtic craftsmen. The island also shared the same literary heritage. The ballad of Fin as Oshin, for example, is a variant of the Irish story of Finn and Oisin, woven together with anecdotes about King Orry.