As one of the first european peoples to discover
iron and its properties, the Celts had a big advantage over other nations
in terms of weapon and armor quality. They had more time to develop their
metal working technology, which resulted in stronger, better balanced
and more resistant weapons. Moreover, the celtic blacksmiths learned
earlier than others how to cast iron into fine, detailed objects, which,
among other things, allowed them to build chain mail armors long before their
neighbors. Even after the other peoples started using this kind of
armor, the Celts were almost all of the time ahead with their technique,
which allowed them to build stronger, yet lighter armors than those used
by their enemies. The durability of the celtic arsenal can also be seen in
the fact that archeologists working in Europe have unburied more celtic weapons
than of any other origin.
The celtic spear is a weapon that has a well defined
place in Europe's military history. The Celts are the first warriors to
sistematically use the spear for close combat, besides using it as a throwing
weapon. This particular spear model, from which the whole set of pole arms were
later derived, featured a blade on its end, instead of the common sharp
point, which allowed the warrior to use it more efficiently, while keeping
a safe distance from its enemies.
The Celts that fought with a sword generally used a
one-hand piece together with a shield. The sword had a straight blade,
with a length between 25 and 30 inches and both edges sharp. In some special
cases, especially when riding a horse during the battle, some Celts used
another type of sword which was longer, heavier and with a special curved
blade, meant to produce very powerful blows, even at the expense of a slower
wielding rate. This type of sword was called a
falcata.
The fact that religion and magic had a very powerful
influence on the celtic culture is visible in the way that the Celts decorated
their arsenal. The skill of their smiths was obvious not only in the quality
of the weapons they made, but also in the beauty and the detail of the various
symbols and drawings that were present on any piece coming out of their
workshops. Other cultures - most notably, the Norse - also used to decorate their
weapons and armor with signs meant to call down the gods' protection on the
bearer, but the Celts were the ones that excelled in this field. One of the
most frequent examples of totemic representations on the celtic equipment was
the helm with a mounted raven, based on the belief that the goddess Morrigan
sends her ravens to spot victims on the battlefield. By having a raven on their
helms, the Celts hoped to fool the ravens sent by the goddess into thinking
they have already been marked by one of them, thus escaping death.
