Editing Celtic knot

{{Short description|Decorative knot used extensively in the Celtic style of Insular art}}
[[File:Celtic-knot-basic-linear.svg|thumb|One very basic form of Celtic or pseudo-Celtic linear knotwork.]]
[[Image:Bromptoncross.jpg|thumb|Stone [[Celtic cross]]es, such as this, are a major source of knowledge regarding Celtic knot design.]]
[[Image:Meister des Book of Lindisfarne 002.jpg|thumb|[[Carpet page]] from Lindisfarne Gospels, showing knotwork detail.]]
[[Image:KellsDecoratedInitial.jpg|thumb|Almost all of the folios of the Book of Kells contain small illuminations like this decorated initial.]]

'''Celtic knots''' ({{langx|ga|snaidhm Cheilteach}}, {{langx|cy|cwlwm Celtaidd}}, {{langx|kw|kolm Keltek}}, {{langx|gd|snaidhm Ceilteach}}) are a variety of [[knot]]s and [[Style (visual arts)#Stylization|stylized]] [[graphic]]al representations of knots used for decoration, used extensively in the [[Celt]]ic style of [[Insular art]]. These knots are most known for their adaptation for use in the [[ornament (architecture)|ornament]]ation of Christian [[monument]]s and [[manuscript]]s, such as the 8th-century [[St. Teilo Gospels]], the [[Book of Kells]] and the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]]. Most are [[endless knot]]s, and many are varieties of [[basket weave knot]]s.

== History ==
The use of [[interlace (visual arts)|interlace]] patterns had its origins in the late Roman Empire.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Language of Ornament|last=Trilling|first=James|publisher=Thames and Hudson|year=2001|isbn=978-0500203439|series=World of Art|url=https://archive.org/details/languageoforname00tril}}</ref> Knot patterns first appeared in the third and fourth centuries AD and can be seen in Roman floor [[mosaics]] of that time. Interesting developments in the artistic use of interlaced knot patterns are found in [[Byzantine architecture]] and [[Illuminated manuscript|book illumination]], [[Coptic art]], Celtic art, [[Islamic art]], Kievan Rus' book illumination, [[Ethiopian art]], and European architecture and book illumination.

[[Spiral]]s, step patterns, and [[key pattern]]s are dominant motifs in Celtic art before the Christian influence on the Celts, which began around 450. These designs found their way into early Christian manuscripts and artwork with the addition of depictions from life, such as [[animal]]s, [[plant]]s and even [[human]]s. In the beginning, the [[pattern]]s were intricate interwoven cords, called [[Braid|plaits]], which can also be found in other areas of [[Europe]], such as [[Italy]], in the 6th century. A [[Gospel Book Fragment (Durham Cathedral Library, A. II. 10.)|fragment]] of a Gospel Book, now in the [[Durham Cathedral]] library and created in northern [[Great Britain|Britain]] in the 7th century, contains the earliest example of true knotted designs in the Celtic manner.

Examples of plait work (a woven, unbroken{{clarify|date=January 2018}} cord design) predate knotwork designs in several cultures around the world,<ref name=georgebain>{{cite book |author=George Bain |title=Celtic art: The methods of construction |year=1951 |publisher=Constable Press|location=London }}{{cite book |author=George Bain |title=Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction |year=1973 |publisher=Dover Publications, Inc |isbn=0-486-22923-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/methodsofconstru00bain }}</ref> but the broken and reconnected{{clarify|date=January 2018}} plait work that is characteristic of true knotwork began in northern Italy and southern Gaul and spread to [[Ireland]] by the 7th century.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/TheBookOfKells|title=The Book of Kells|author=Sullivan|first=Sir Edward|publisher="The Studio" Ltd.|year=1920|isbn=1-85170-035-8|edition=Second|pages=[https://archive.org/details/TheBookOfKells/page/n38 39]|author-link=Sir Edward Sullivan, 1st Baronet#Family_and_personal_life}}</ref> The style is most commonly associated with the Celtic lands which included England and was then exported to Europe by Irish and Northumbrian monastic activities on the continent. [[J. Romilly Allen]] has identified "eight elementary knots which form the basis of nearly all the interlaced patterns in Celtic decorative art".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/celticartpagan00alleiala|title=Celtic Art in Pagan and Christian Times|author=Allen|first=J. Romilly|publisher=Methuen & Co|year=1904|isbn=1-85891-075-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/celticartpagan00alleiala/page/265 265]|author-link=John Romilly Allen}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thinkythings.org/knotwork/jra-knots.html|title=Eight Basic Knotwork Patterns|author=Ivan|first=Drew|date=10 August 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130091801/https://www.thinkythings.org/knotwork/jra-knots.html|archive-date=30 January 2018|url-status=live|access-date=2007-01-10}}</ref>

The Celtic knot as a tattoo design became popular in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/11/25/366584255/the-american-origins-of-the-not-so-traditional-celtic-knot-tattoo|title=The American Origins Of The Not-So-Traditional Celtic Knot Tattoo|last=Shapiro|first=Ari|author-link=Ari Shapiro|date=25 November 2014|website=[[NPR]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123223441/https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/11/25/366584255/the-american-origins-of-the-not-so-traditional-celtic-knot-tattoo|archive-date=23 January 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Examples ==
{{Gallery
|title=Examples of Celtic knots
|File:mosaic.woodchester.arp.750pix.jpg|A small part of ''The Great Pavement'', a Roman mosaic laid in AD&nbsp;325 at Woodchester, Gloucestershire, England
|File:Cruz de Santa Susana.JPG|[[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] cross atop the church of St. Susanna, [[Santiago de Compostela]], [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]]
|File:Cahir Priory of St. Mary Tower Doorway Celtic Knot 2012 09 05.jpg|[[Cahir Abbey]], {{circa|15th century}}
|File:Lindisfarne StJohn Knot2 3.svg|Design influenced by illustration in the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]]
|File:Knotwork-cross-multicolored.svg|A basic form of a Celtic knotwork cross
|File:Ccross.svg|Ornamental version of Celtic "[[high cross]]" with decorative knotwork
|File:Celtic-knot-cross.svg|A quasi-Celtic cross made of a large symmetrical knot with a circle interlaced through its center
|File:-Possible Productions knotwork- by Steve Ball.svg|This knotwork by Steve&nbsp;Ball illustrates [[King Crimson#King Crimson, line-up 4 (1981–1984)|King Crimson]]'s ''[[Discipline (King Crimson album)|Discipline]]'' and is the logo of [[Discipline Global Mobile]]
|File:Vodicka_knot_modified.svg|Slightly modified version of quasi-Celtic knot
|File:Vodicka_triquetra1.svg|Triquetra knot
||}}

== See also ==
{{colbegin}}
* [[Celtic art]]
*[[Celtic button knot]]
* [[Celtic cross]]
* [[Croatian interlace]]
* [[Endless knot]]
* [[George Bain (artist)]]
* [[Islamic interlace patterns]]
* [[Khachkar]]s
* [[Knot garden]]
* [[Knot (mathematics)]]
* [[Oseberg style]]
* [[Triquetra]]
* [[Turk's head knot]]
{{colend}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Celtic knots}}
*[https://irisharoundtheworld.com/the-celtic-knot-and-meanings/ Make Your Own Celtic Knotwork] Comprehensive list of links to both knotwork tutorials and different variations of Celtic Knots. 
* [http://www.celtarts.com/celtic_interlace.htm Celtic Interlace - An Overview] by Stephen Walker, reproduced with permission from ''Dalriada Magazine'', 2000
* [https://github.com/MrBenGriffin/Knot Font with Zoomorphic (animal) ornaments] GPL Font and generator project
* [http://obyx.org/knots.obyx Celtic Knot Generator] Online Celtic knot designer that uses the [http://openfontlibrary.org/font/knots Knots] typeface.
{{Celts}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Celtic Knot}}
[[Category:Insular art|Knot]]
[[Category:Decorative knots]]