AGE OF INVASIONS: Clonycavan girl, 300 BC

Dear diary,

It's my birthday today and since I'm a noblewoman, I got a new Torc, and it's sooo beautiful! It's a simple cable of woven silver* with gold inlay and ornamentation at the clasp (something written in Ogham and some earthly and heavenly symbols) and it fits very tight around my neck. Dad told me, that it has the power to ward off the curses of enemies and maleficent sorcerers, and that it provides protection and courage.

I also got some beautiful amber beads I can fasten to my braids (after I had lost my favorite bead- the golden one- while practcing fighting in the woods). The amber comes from some country far, far away, where it doesn't rain every day and sometimes the sun burns really hot and people are weird- it's called something like Polen, my aunt told me. She loves telling stories about those strange places and everytime I see a foreign ship passing on the horizon I wonder, if it's heading towards one of those unknown countries.
 Only a few days ago she had gotten news from some cattle traders who had came by, telling her that our neighbors on Albion Britannica had been attacked by some skinny folks coming from the south, and that after some bloody battles they had taken over power. Apparently their leader had thought about occupying our island too, but those scaredy-cats (who by the way don't even bath with soap-how disgusting is that!**) thought we were some kind of horrible cannibals and that our island was a foggy place of gloom, surrounded by a sea of death. They even gave our beautiful green country a new name; Hibernia, land of winter. So I guess, we don't have to fear them.

Yep, but now I really have to go, mom just called, dinner is ready..!

 
 

torc- sacred adornment, a ring put around the neck
Ogham- celtic sign script used by druids
Albion Britannica- roman name for Brittain  
Hibernia- roman name for Ireland 
*silver-associated with the moon, gold-associated with the sun
**it's suspected that the celts, who were very clean people that bathed and washed their clothes regulary, had  invented soap and later introduced it to the Romans

Dear diary,

After the harvest of the last month hadn't been too good, dad decided to volunteer to being sacrificed. It seemed that burning the immani magnitudine simulacra hadn't been enough, and that Sucellos wanted a sacrifice of more value, like a king- like my father, whereupon he went to offer himself to our druid. This one luckily accepted to ritually kill him (he's really picky and barely accepts any volunteers*), in order that potatoes would start growing big again. By the next sunset our druid had beheaded my father, cut cross his stomach and disemboweled him- a terrible sight. Afterwards my dad and our former king was buried in the bog. Kind of sad, if you think about how much he had wanted his final resting-place being Newgrange... 
Be that as it may, at least his death had brought honor and prestige over our clan, and he's looking forward to being reincarnated as a saint. And no sooner that he had left this earth, our druid had received signs telling him, that the gods of nature were very pleased and that soon our stomachs would be full again.

Anyway, mom's still a little bit upset, she hasn't left our round house yet, and I really start wondering how she can bear being inside this windowless, smoky room all the time, on top of that with all the animals...** I'm starting worrying a little bit, I think I'll get her some fresh berries to cheer her up...

 

immani magnitudine simulacra- human sacrifice; a huge statue was filled with people and burned down

Sucellos- celtic god of sky; had a hammer for making lightnings 

Newgrange- oldest known building in Ireland, monument to the dead

*it was a great honor to being chosen as a sacrifice- not every person was dignified

**the typical round houses had a fire in the middle of the one room which worked as a heating. There was only a little hole in the roof for the smoke to exit. During the night time animals were taken into the house too.