It is said that the torc was a necklace for women until the 4th
century BC when it suddenly became something only warriors wore. And
why not, I say. For after all… it was a sign of nobility and
elevated social status.
They were also worn in a votive sense… perhaps as an offering to
Odin or Thor or some other god of might and importance who had enough
militant energy to ensure victory over an enemy who was surely not as
worthy and therefore undeserving of any retaliatory conquests. It was
clearly important in those days to ally oneself with a god of the
highest importance for the god of might was always the god of right.
The fact is… even some Celtic gods wore torcs… and if it was good
enough for a god… it was most certainly good enough for a warrior.
We all mimic our icons do we not? Has anything changed?
Which brings us via arcane and mysterious routes to the horse. Does
anybody out there know who invented horse-racing? Hmm. It was
Neptune… or Poseidon… depending on your nationality. They
invented the horse… then ran him till the fans in the stands
screamed in ecstatic frenzy urging their filly of choice to get to
the finish line first. Even back then… with the god of the oceans
overlooking his handiwork… you could hear a warrior yell out: Come
along there Pontius… move your bloody arse. I heard some movie
director used a similar phrase in a later film which spoke only of
his good taste and flair for past phraseologies.
And now we combine the two pertinent pieces of historical knowledge
and we come to a torc of a horse. Actually is a torc of two horses…
one at each end of a neckpiece made of silver and clearly carved with
painstaking care. Ya wanna see Celtic beauty… I’ll show you Celtic
beauty. But first… a small bit of a philosophical addendum. What–I
am sure you are all asking yourselves–what makes you think that a
warriors wearing a torc was wearing said torc as a tribute to a god
or perhaps as a token payment for past favors?
I’ll tell you why. I have a silver Celtic torc to show you. And its
importance is not only due to the fact that it considered to have
socio-religious significance… but there is also the fact to
consider that the bloody thing weighed over 13 pounds.
Anybody ever lift weights out there? A little body-building perhaps?
Using some free weights in an old gym with sweat beadlets trickling
over your forehead and into your eyes and then ever downward? Well…
you get the idea. Do you remember what 13 pounds felt like? Now
imagine wearing that around your neck. 13 pounds folks. Nobody’s doing
that for fun or for show. This was surely a gesture to the
higher-ups. I’ll do this for you if you do that for me. The more
things change and all that.
So. You want to see? Go look. You know where. And tell me this. Would
you wear this just for show and pleasure … or would it have to be
as an offering to someone with divine powers in exchange for a little
favor? Something in return? A little reward for your sacrifice? You
all do know how this works… do you not?
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at http://www.tyler-adam.com where you
will scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that
says Current Tidbits… click it… and you will see represented on
our pages an image of a Silver Celtic Torc.
And there ya have it. That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark