Supplement Four
Mongoose
I've been pondering...is there a written Cimmerian language? Or, do they just use symbols and runes, with story-tellers tasked with keeping oral histories?
Can Cimmerians Write?
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I don't think there's any evidence for it being used by the Druids... :? It appears in Celtic areas of the UK where there was Irish settlement - the south Welsh coast and parts of the south west in particular. The expert view is that Ogham was almost certainly inspired by Latin and many of the inscriptions follow the form of late Roman inscriptions. There's no evidence to suggest that Ogham was used before 400 AD. Before that there's no evidence of any native written language and indeed, the use of Ogham seems to have been very localised within the Celtic world.
In my view, it's very unlikely that the Cimerians would have a written language. It just does not seem to be the sort of society that would have needed to develop one :wink:
In my view, it's very unlikely that the Cimerians would have a written language. It just does not seem to be the sort of society that would have needed to develop one :wink:
I don't wish to be harsh but that's a far cry from a scholarly work - that book by the Murray's is just New Age stuff. We know next to nothing about what the Druids did or did not do! If it weren't for Tacitus writing about the Roman victory over the native Britons we probably wouldn't even know there were Druids! There's a whole host of stuff thats been written about Druids and attributed to them but the facts about the Druids would fill one sheet of paper. It's been a while but I did a degree in Ancient and Medieval history and we did quite a bit of stuff on Dark Age Britain.
Nialldubh said:Must have been delirious: found his link in 2 second, took me about an hour to type that nonsense above
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ogham.htm
Not sure, my only source on information is a small book called "THe Celtic Tree Oracle," by Liz and Colin Murry, read it wow 20 years ago when I was keen on Celtic History, but not read it again till now, they mention it as Druid Language, but what do I know
They also mention Ovates and Bards knowing it, also a form of sign language using differant part of hand and fingers to represent letters.
That cracked me up!!!!
But seriously I thought Ogham was part of the Pict-ish (Scotland picts, not howardian) heritage. I've been to the Scottish national Museulm in Edinborough back in the 90s and they had al these ogham carved stones and they intimated it was pictish, not celtic.
Jotenbjorn
Mongoose
If I remember correctly from the novels, no there is no Cimmerian form of writing. Conan very specifically was unusual in that he could read and write.
Supplement Four
Mongoose
Let's look at what could influence the Cimmerians. What kind of trade goes through Cimmeria? Not much at all.
I guess it depends on what "time" you're speaking of. Let's look at Cimmeria during the default setting of the game, when Conan is King of Aquilonia (and, one would think, tensions and border crossings with the Aquilonians would be at an all-time low).
The, the Aquilonians, to the south, are literate, and on good terms with the Cimmerians at this point in time.
What about the Border Kingdom? I'm sure some of those bandits and read and write as they raid into Cimmeria. The same is true for the Hyperboreans. They can read and write, and there is a bit of contact with the Cimmerians.
How about the Nordheimers? Can the Vanir and/or Aesir read and write?
I guess it depends on what "time" you're speaking of. Let's look at Cimmeria during the default setting of the game, when Conan is King of Aquilonia (and, one would think, tensions and border crossings with the Aquilonians would be at an all-time low).
The, the Aquilonians, to the south, are literate, and on good terms with the Cimmerians at this point in time.
What about the Border Kingdom? I'm sure some of those bandits and read and write as they raid into Cimmeria. The same is true for the Hyperboreans. They can read and write, and there is a bit of contact with the Cimmerians.
How about the Nordheimers? Can the Vanir and/or Aesir read and write?
In "God in the Bowl" When Arus the watchman claims that Conan could not have climbed in to the estate, the inquistor makes it very clear that Arus is an ignorant idiot for never having seen a Cimmerian demonstrate their excellent climbing skills. In Tower of the Elephant Taurus, also a Nemedian treats Cimmerian climbing abilities as casual common knowledge. It seems clear that Nemedia in general and Numalia in particualar have a lot of dealings with Cimmerians
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