The White Council

Re: Edainic customs (was Re: Dúnadan Royal Councils)

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: : : I, too, envision the Bëorians in a "Celtic" or : : : "Pseudo-Celtic" fashion, for personal imagery, but I'm afraid : : : it just doesn't hold up under formal scrutiny. :)

: : Why not? we are talking Marachians, the tall blond people with : : blue eyes and burning spirit are we not? is that not very like : : to the Germans of Tacitus " The eyes are hard and blue, the : : hair red-blond, and the body large and only suited for storm : : (assault)", I think that Marachians are also mentioned as being : : most effective in the short run. Further, both peoples are : : famous for their resistance against cold. : : : : I suppose weapons and armour are also much alike when they : : enter our tale.

: The Marachians appear to be the most sophisticated of the Edain, and the Celts were (at the height of their culture in pre-Roman Gaul) more sophisticated than the pagan Germans were. It's difficult to compare Celts and Germans since they peaked centuries apart and shared many cultural and probably ethnic origins anyway.

I think that whilst the Hadorians/Marachians were the most organised (socially and militarily) of the Edain there is some indications that they were not the most sophisticated.

Tolkien says that the Beorians were most like the Noldor of the Edain in their love of "Lore" and interest in craftsmanship. Furthermore he speaks of those Hadorians who physically resembled the Beorian stock as being the most inclined to poetry and craft amongst the Folk of Hador. This suggests that before the Beorians entered Beleriand they probably outshone the Hadorians in the cultural department.

I imagine the Hadorians as a largely pastoral people (with "Many horses"), which would explain their well developed social and military organisation. Such folk need to live a more regimented existence than agrarian people as flocks and herds usually need to be moved around in a transhumance or fully or partially nomadic system of husbandry. This is illustrated by the Mongol decimal system. At a time when Europe had very loose military units of the "Lance" and "Conrois" both having a very variable number of men - the Mongols had fixed units of 10, 100, 1000, and 10000.

I think of the Beorians as more settled agrarian people (though the Hadorians doubtless grew some crops). Their settlement punctuated by sporadic movements westward. Following the harvest an agricultural folk could "Up-sticks" and take their seed crop with them. I also see them as exploiting their settled areas for other raw materials, and producing metals, textiles etc, and probably engaging in trade with other men, Avari, and possibly Dwarves.

The Celts were most closely related (linguistically) with the Italic peoples including the Romans. This can be seen in equivalences such as Rex and Rix for king and Canis and Cuno- for dog. As you say the Celts were a sophisticated people - their metallurgical skills were superior to those of the classical civilisations. They seem to have invented case-hardened steel, iron helmets, ring mail (probably), the heavy plough, the scythe, and iron-rimmed wheels.