After our recent video “Boudica, The Iceni and the Great Torc” there was a lot of Torc talk (sorry) in comments and messages. Which is to be expected, I doubt anyone looking upon their stunning construction and beauty couldn’t help but ponder on the meaning behind them. So I thought I would do a little piece exploring a few of the possibilities behind the Torc.
The Celtic Torc was used far and wide, among Gaul’s and Gael’s alike, so its meaning obviously had high significance. As always I find the words to be most revealing in situations where the historic record is lacking, so what does the word Torc have to say on the subject?
The most accepted etymology is via the Latin “Torquis”. This word has several given meanings, that of, a twisted necklace, a wreath, a chaplet, a ring and even the neck couplings (yoke) of Oxen. Although it all appears as you would expect this simple definition does actually give us a little insight into at least one aspect of the Torcs purpose.
A chaplet in Roman and Greek times was used to “crown” a victor, or as a sign of authority. The most famous type of Chaplet is the iconic Laurel wreath style that is still used today, most commonly in sporting events and academia. It is worth noting here that in antiquity the laurel leaf was open ended like the Torc, and not closed as in many modern depictions. Many such adornments were used as military decorations especially in Roman times, such as the most renowned among them, the Corona Graminia, or “Grass Crown”. The Torc itself was used as a military distinction, in honour of the single combat victory of Titus Manlius over a “giant” Gaul. Even the most recognisable symbol of power the royal crown is itself a descendent of chaplet type ornamentation’s.
Given that this is what the Romans called the Celtic Torc, then we have to assume some similarity in meaning and status. So from a very simple look at the words we can come up with the image that the Torc, in its most basic form at least represented in some fashion a “crown” either of authority or martial distinction.
There is one problem with this though, The Torc in design is much older than the Latin word, and from a time when the Latin influence on the Northern peoples would be more limited. Some of the earliest Torcs come from Bronze age Britain and Ireland, about 1200BC, so then the question arises, did they call the Torc a Torc?
Well the first place to look is at the origin of the word “Torquis”. Proto Indo European descendent of this word is ultimately the word “Terk”, meaning “to turn, twist”. It is the ancient root of words like “Torque” (measure of force) and the Sanskrit word for “Spindle”. Most of the descendants describe words with a turning twisting element to them. This can be seen in both the Celtic Torc and the chaplet from Roman times, both are weaved together by twisting and turning the metal or foliage.
It is also intriguingly the root of “torment”, which adds an abrasive nature. This more oppositional meaning is common in Germanic descendants, such as the Proto Germanic þwerhaz meaning “To cross, adverse”. We see this meaning in its descendants too, like the Old English þweorh, where its gets an additional meaning of “angry” and þwēorian “to oppose, thwart”. So we can begin to see the word change form, from simply to twist, to the friction created between opposing forces. The old Norse, “þverra” takes it even further as it means “to decease, come to an end”. In this sense from the “crossing over” aspect of twisting being an anagram of crossing over from one world to another.
This more oppositional meaning, is though only found in the Germanic descendants of the proto Indo European word “terk”. Finding any words at all in the Celtic is much harder, and the ones I have dont expand to much on its original definition. We have words like the Proto Celtic “torko” meaning “plait”, and The Welsh “tro/i” meanings “to turn twist”.
This all leaves us in no better position in understanding this status symbol than we were at the start. That is that the Torc, is simply a type of adornment symbolic of status, or bravery. Whilst this makes perfect sense, and is a reasonable assumption of the symbolic nature of the Torc, it doesnt really explain why it represents this. There is though one more, rather curious connection, that of the Irish word “torc” meaning Boar, and in the earlier identical Old Irish word with the added meanings of “Hero, or Chief”.
This word is very interesting for several reasons, as firstly it tallies up with all of the above. The very people you would be expect to be wearing a Roman Torquis, (laurel leaf, chaplet) would be people who excelled in military excellence, like the “hero” and people of great power and renown, like the “chief”. As for the mighty symbolic Boar, which I believe is a very powerful symbol and its meaning intimately connected to adversary, struggle and the “mother Goddess”. This would again work perfectly with the Germanic “oppositional/friction” twist to the word.
Even in the root of the word “torkos” the proto Indo European word, “twerk” means “to cut, carve”, rather brutally explains the warriors craft. Other words that come from it like the Latin Trux also sound like a Roman description of a Gaulish warrior, as it means “wild, ferocious, savage, grim”. So although these two words “Torc” (Boar) and “Torc” (necklace) come from very different roots, the words once again begin to themselves twist and turn. The cross over is also shown in how we spell the word, although it can be spelled with a “q”, it is mostly spelled in identical form to the Irish “torc” for Boar.
I doubt this pun of words would have been lost on an ancient warrior or chief, given the Boars status among warriors of the time, even if there was nothing more to it than coincidence. There are though a few more interesting connections with these words. In both the Poro Indo European “terk” and “twerk” we get descendants that mean “death”. With the word “terk” we have words like the aforementioned “þverra” “deceased, comes to an end” and with the word “twerk” we have the old Irish word “tru or troich” meaning “fated to die, doomed”. Both similar to the Latin word Truncus, “maimed mangled mutilated” and also where we get the modern day word “trunk” as in “tree trunk”.
If we add to this mix the earlier spinning words like the Sanskrit word for “spindle”, we begin to form a picture of fate, albeit a loose one. Spinning wheels, twisting turning threads and a cutting off; death. With the Boar present too the nature of struggle and life are present. This though is something I will have to save for another time, as it is a large subject in of itself.
Even without going into the many other connections we could make, from this little journey with the words we can say quite confidently that the Torc was a symbol of martial ability and personal notoriety. We also begin to get a peak of a possible deeper meaning, imbuing the symbol with aspects of the twists and turns of fate, the overcoming of personal struggle and the mortality of man.