Proto-Celtic religion

Proto-Celtic religion refers to the belief systems attributed to the speakers of the Proto-Celtic language, and encompasses mythological themes, legendary narratives, folk traditions and cosmological concepts that can be reconstructed for early Celtic culture. Proto-Celtic is generally dated to the Late Bronze Age (c. 1200–900 BC), and any reconstruction of Proto-Celtic religion therefore predates the historically attested religions of the Ancient Celts.

Through the comparative method, Celtic philologists and historical linguists have proposed reconstructions of deities, mythic figures, ritual concepts, and place-names, with varying degrees of scholarly confidence (reconstructed forms are conventionally marked with an asterisk). These reconstructions draw primarily on linguistic evidence and comparative analysis, and are supplemented by later literary, epigraphic, and archaeological sources. Modern scholarship therefore stresses methodological restraint, treating Proto-Celtic religion as a constellation of related traditions rather than a fully reconstructible, homogeneous belief system.

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