Swordsmiths

Until a thousand years ago, Celtic history was written by its enemies. Then, in the eleventh century, Christian monks started collecting the oral records and transcribing them. Their sources were the best of the bards whose genius defied the ravages of time; they were, of course, mostly concerned with the doings of the rich and powerful. Ordinary clansmen and women were rarely lauded in song and verse unless selected by the fairies to overcome their humble birth. Then, as now, ordinary folk had family histories important to them in defining who they are. This volume is intended to set the record a little straighter by following the oral traditions of a family of swordsmiths from their origins in the shadow of the Acropolis on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea through the towns and villages along the River Danube in the Hallstatt era to Britain in the years immediately following the incursion by Julius Caesar. The family developed their metal-working skills at the close of the Bronze Age and went on to contribute to the development of steel. They became the acknowledged masters of swordmaking in Europe and the story concludes with the latest of the long line of Weyland Smiths forging EXCALIBUR.