Great Britain – Land of the tattooed folk

The English language is generally accepted as a language with most of its origins being from North West Germany. What do we make of the name ‘Britain’ then? That’s not Germanic. So where does it come from?

Follow me back to the year 325 BC, and we will see the Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia write about Pritanī, Prettanikē, and Nēsoi brettaniai. The Common Brittonic (ancient celtic language in Britain) word Pretani means “the painted ones” or “the tattooed folk”. Nēsoi brettaniai translates to island of the tattooed folk.

It is unclear whether the ancient Britons (British people) named themselves after their body art first, or if neighbouring European countries referred to the Britons in this way. What we can tell is that body art was an important part of their image and identity. Clearly it was so important that the ancient Celts either adopted this description of themselves willingly, or named themselves this way after their tattoos.

Ancient Celts were known to see their tattoos as a form of “psychological armour” in battle, and used them to intimidate (frighten) those they fought. Celtic tattoos were most often Celtic knots, extremely detailed geometric patterns made of one continuous line wrapping around itself. Celtic warriors would have tattoos covering the majority of their bodies. You can imagine an army of angry men and women in armour covered in blue Celtic knot tattoos might be a little frightening.

Celtic knots are still extremely common in parts of Great Britain like Scotland. I don’t have any tattoos. I feel like I am letting the side down (disappointing my team). So modern tattoos are not a new societal norm in Great Britain, we are returning to the old painted ones we used to be.

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