Chapter 6
The Origin of Their Name
The complexity of the
science of etymology is a well-known fact.
Once it becomes a part of a language, a word evolves both in
meaning and form; sometimes it even loses its original meaning. This is often the case with proper names.
The name the ancient
inhabitants of the country gave themselves, or under which they were known by
their contemporaries, is still one of the mysteries of the history of
France. Even having recognized somewhat
different pronunciations, such as “Celta,” “Galli,” “Galatia,” “Walah,” or
“Gaul,” which are their common names, as we shall see these are actually all
derived from only one root.
Biblical Implications
In studying the
Israelite origin of the Celtic peoples, one of the first questions which comes
to mind is of the name which they carried through the centuries. One even wonders if the name under which
they were known was of a historic or generic nature. Even though the Israelites lost their identity, their language,
and, later, their nationality, their name seems to have kept the two
natures.
Moses, according to
the instructions of the Eternal, gave to the Reubenites and Gadites
“from Areor, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead,” Deuteronomy
3:12, 16, while the tribe of Manasseh received the rest of Gilead.
In the book of
Chronicles (I Chronicles 5:3-10) we find, in part, the list of
descendants of Reuben, of Gad, and of Manasseh, and we learn that part
of the Reubenites lived “eastward . . . unto the entering in of the wilderness
from the river Euphrates; because their cattle were multiplied in the land of
Gilead.”
Note already the
striking similarity between the words “Galaad” (French for Gilead, the
land in which part of the Reubenites lived), and Galli or Gaul (the
land where they settled after their captivity!). Anyone who is learned in etymology would easily recognize the common
base of these two terms.
Even evolving through
the centuries, this name was preserved, as it is shown on Biblical
atlases. In the time of Jesus, the
regions to the north of Trans-Jordan (Gilead), were still called
“Gaulonitis.” Even today the Arabs
call this land “Jaulan.”
But then how does one
explain the fact that the terms “Celtica,” “Galli,” “Galatia,” or again “Gaul,”
had not been given to the inhabitants of Gaul until after their arrival
and establishment in the land?
Several answers are
possible; first, as we said in the preceding chapter, the Gauls migrated
into Europe under the name “Khumri” (or Cimbri or Cimmerians). The Encyclopaedia Britannica affirms
that the ancients, speaking of the Gauls and the Cimbri, always associated them
with the first Cimmerians (Article “Celt”).
On the other hand, it
is nearly certain that the Celts gave themselves that name, under
different forms, before other nations called them that. Some historians recognize this fact:
“This name Celt,
they gave themselves. Some also
called them Galates. The Romans
called them Galli,” writes Brentano (The Origins).
Naturally, from the
Latin words Gallus or Galli is derived the French “Gaulois” and the
English “Gaul.”
The difference between
these diverse terms appears especially in the linguistic domain. They all have a common origin; in the
course of years, and because of different pronunciations the people gave them,
these terms have taken forms more or less varied (Les Celtes, Hubert, p.
25).
In other words, it was
a term mainly geographic. Explaining
this point, Hubert tells us that in the third century A.D., a new name,
that of “Galates,” appeared for the first time in the works of the historian
Jerome of Cardis, who recounts their invasion of Macedonia and Greece, before
they settled in Asia Minor. But Hubert
states with certainty “that the Gauls gave themselves the name Kymrois”
(Les Celtes, Hubert, pp. 31-32).
All these different
names then are synonyms, and apply to the same peoples interchangeably.
Some of the most
esteemed French historians have already succeeded in establishing a connection
between these diverse terms.
“The name given to the
Celtic tribe of the Gauls, taken from the German form Walah, applies to
the Valaques, or Wallons, or Gallois, to the Gauls themselves. The Germans derived Walah from a
name that they mispronounced . . . .
Also derived from Walah is the term Welsh,” declares
Brentano (The Origins, pp. 31-32).
In turn, Jubainville
states that the adjective “walahise” became Welsch in the German tongue,
which is of the same derivation as Walah, Wealh, or Gaul: “Gaul
is the same as the old German Walah; Wales (French: Galles)
is derived from Wealh” (The First Inhabitants of Europe, p. 420).
But why had these
Celtic peoples taken a Germanic name?
The answer certain linguists give us is quite surprising and harmonizes
perfectly with the facts of history.
Thus Pelloutier says “Waller, Galler, and Galli” signify stranger or
wanderer; he adds that these people had given themselves this name
because they had had to leave their country in a voluntary exile!
“It appears that the
Celts . . . giving themselves the name Waller or Galler thus
indicated that they had been chased from their ancient home, or that they
had voluntarily condemned themselves to exile” writes James Grant (Thoughts
on the Gael, p. 156).
This remarkable
explanation precisely describes the condition of the nation of Israel, which,
after having rejected the Eternal, lost the right to call themselves by the
name that the Eternal had given them (Ezekiel 39:7).
But what is more
interesting and remarkable still, is the significance even of the term “Scyth,”
another name the Israelites were known under at one time. (See the chapter on the “Scythians” and the
“Sacae.”) Indeed, it is curious to note
that the word “Scyth,” in the Celtic language, has exactly the same meaning as
the Celtic word “Gael,” that is to say “stranger” or “wanderer” (Collectanea
de Rebus Hebernicia, Vol. II, Beauford, p. 225).
In light of this fact,
it appears evident that the diverse names that the Israelites gave themselves, after
their liberation from the Assyrian captivity, signify more or less the same
thing, that is, a nation in exile, or foreign wanderers, strangers
in a strange land!
Let us say, by way of
conclusion, that in Hebrew (the ancient language of the Israelite tribes), the
word for exile is “Golah,” pronounced “Gau-lau”! The first Biblical mention of the Hebrew
word is found in the Second Book of Kings (II Kings 15:29), where it is
written that the inhabitants of the country of Naptali, thus of Gilead
and of Galilee, were “taken away captive” (“Golah”) into Assyria (Strong’s Concordance, No. 1540).