Celtic Knots Design Jewelry
Q.I have been trying to do some research on celtic knots both in the library and on the web and have found conflicting statements on the meaning if any of various celtic knots and/or crosses. I am soon going to be renewing my wedding vows (10 years) and am in the process of designing a custom wedding band any help would be greatly appreciated.
A.Most of the information on the "meaning" of the various motifs has been put out by jewelry manufacturers. Having done many years of research on the documents and jewelry learning to draw this stuff, and having talked to many other scholars, I'd say that very, very few of the knots had any specific meaning attached to them. Some of the things that are specifically NOT true: The three-armed spiral (triskellion, triskelle) is NOT a symbol of the so-called Triple Goddess. The Triple Goddess was a figment of Robert Graves' imagination when he wrote _The White Goddess_. The triskelle has been found all over europe (including Italy!), and ranges as far back in time as Newgrange and some of the other passage tombs (late neolithic). It is very, very unlikely that the symbol has had _one_ meaning over all that time. It most likely meant different things at different times. Among others, I've heard of it as a symbol of Mannan, god of the sea. All that we can actually say is that it's a very old design. The "tree of life" figure that looks like a treetrunk with spirals growing as branches and roots is a _modern_ invention. I've been told that it first started showing up in the late 1960s. The original "tree of life" figure is a vine scroll, derived from the grapevine scrolls seen on continental churches. It orginally was an allusion to scripture ("I am the True Vine"). The interlaced knotwork is NOT the result of ethiopian trade. The interlaced serpentines first appear on _anglo saxon_ goldwork, and slowly diffuse across the british isles. The absolute most spectacular example of this type of work was found at the Sutton Hoo ship burial. The great golden buckle and the garnet purse lid clearly show the type of work I mean. And by the way, zoomorphics (animal figures in the knotwork) are uncommon in irish and scottish work until after the anglo saxons arrive on the isles. There are various figures called "true lovers' knots," however, depending on the design, those same knots show up on stone crosses, church facades, and in illuminated church scriptures, as well as jewelry, belt buckles, and embroidery. I somehow doubt that _all_ instances of these knots denote "true lovers' knots." I found it especially hillarious to find that the same knot I found in a book of cordwork called a "true lovers' knot" is more commonly called by sailors a "handcuff knot." They might be on to something there... Any website or book that makes reference to the Goddess, the Wheel of Life, or the mystical "meanings" of the motifs should be taken with a grain of salt. There's far more evidence against such things than for it.
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