Picts in fantasy
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Many writers have been drawn to the idea of the
Picts The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...
and created fictional stories and mythology about them in the absence of much real data. This romanticised view tends to portray them as sometimes wearing the modern Kilt or as
noble savage A noble savage is a literary stock character who embodies the concept of the indigene, outsider, wild human, an "other" who has not been "corrupted" by civilization, and therefore symbolizes humanity's innate goodness. Besides appearing in man ...
s, much as the view of Europeans on Native Americans in the 18th century.


The usage of the word Pict

Popular etymology has long interpreted the name Pict as if it derived from the Latin the word Picti meaning "painted folk" or possibly "tattooed ones"; and this may relate to the Welsh word Pryd meaning "to mark" or "to draw".
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
, who never went near Pictland, mentions the British Celtic custom of body painting in Book V of his Gallic Wars, stating
"Omnes vero se Britanni vitro inficiunt, quod caeruleum efficit colorem, atque hoc horridiores sunt in pugna aspectu" ("In fact all Britanni stain themselves with vitrum, which produces a dark blue colour, and by this means they are more terrifying to face in battle.")


Robert E. Howard

The Picts were an especial favourite race of Robert E. Howard and are mentioned frequently in his tales, having a continuity from the
Thurian Age Kull of Atlantis or Kull the Conqueror is a fictional character created by writer Robert E. Howard. The character was more introspective than Howard's subsequent creation, Conan the Barbarian, whose first appearance was in a re-write of a rejec ...
tales of King
Kull Kull may refer to: Arts * Kull of Atlantis, a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard ** ''Kull the Conqueror'', a 1997 fantasy action film based on Howard's character and starring Kevin Sorbo * King Kull (DC Comics), a Fawcett Comics and D ...
of Valusia, where they are his allies, to the
Hyborian Age The Hyborian Age is a fictional period of Earth's history within the artificial mythology created by Robert E. Howard, serving as the setting for the sword and sorcery tales of Conan the Barbarian. The word "Hyborian" is derived from the l ...
of
Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...
, where they are the mortal enemies of the Cimmerians (who are actually descended from the old Atlanteans, though they don't remember their ancestry or old alliance). Howard also wrote tales about the last King of the Picts Bran Mak Morn set in real historical time, and they figure commonly as enemies of Cormac Mac Art. Of all the races and civilizations in Howard's writings, the Picts are the race or civilization with the longest history. They even appear in his story "The Valley of the Worm", set long before Kull, where a tribe of Picts help the protagonist, Niord, battle a giant snake and a creature which resembles a shoggoth. Howard gave the Picts a sense of continuity between different ages by making Bran Mak Morn a descendant of Kull's ally Brule the Spear Slayer, and then describing how the king's soul had been affixed to a black stone statue worshiped by the medieval Picts. The status of the Picts and their civilization generally declined over time; the Picts of the Thurian Age were far more sophisticated than their primitive, brutish descendants. Howard's Picts are said to have originated on "islands far out on the Western ocean" and gradually migrated into the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
area. At one point, they spread across large areas of the world, but gradually vanished except for several splinter groups. Although some of these groups lived in remote jungles and southern continents, the most prominent body of Picts settled in the British isles, where they displaced a supposedly mongoloid race that had been the initial residents of the isles (though their origins were elsewhere). This previous race sought refuge underground, where over a millennia they evolved into stunted and hideous creatures, who were the initial subjects of tales concerning elves or dwarves, as described in the Bran Mak Morn short story " Worms of the Earth", as well in " The Children of the Night". The Picts were in turn displaced some thousands of years later by the invading
Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...
, and driven northward into Scotland where they interbred with a tribe of red-haired barbarians, resulting in a genetic shift toward diminished height. Following subsequent
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
,
Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...
, and
Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
invasions, the Picts too sought refuge underground, just like the natives they had displaced before. An interesting point is that, in the Hyborian age stories such as "
Beyond the Black River "Beyond the Black River" is one of the original short stories about Conan the Cimmerian, written by American author Robert E. Howard and first published in ''Weird Tales'' magazine, v. 25, nos. 5-6, May-June 1935. The story was republished in t ...
", when they populated the western edge of Europe and share a border with Aquilonia, which tries to push them further west to colonize new provinces, the Picts show clear Native American influence, in their appearance, dress, armament, manner of conducting wars, and even the place names of the new Aquilonian provinces. It's hard to tell whether this is a case of inconsistency on the part of Howard, or a throwback to their earliest origins and savagery, as the Picts who Conan battled during the Hyborian Age are definitely more primitive than those Kull knew many millennia earlier. The story "Kings of the Night", in which Kull is summoned forward in time to help battle a Roman army, references a decline of the Picts after the age of Kull, specifically noting the Picts lost the skills of metalworking. The Picts described in stories such as "The Dark Man", set in the early Middle Ages, portray them as more primitive yet, with a Neolithic level of technology such as flint arrowheads. These Picts are clearly a people at the last stages of decline, and are living as a hidden tribe of savages of whom their neighboring Norse, Scottish, and Irish peoples are not aware of. Howard's descriptions of the later Picts portray them as very small in height, squat and muscular, adept at silent movement, and most of all brutish and uncivilized, quite unlike the Picts of Kull's day. They painted themselves with
woad ''Isatis tinctoria'', also called woad (), dyer's woad, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant. Its genus name, Isatis, derives from ...
, much like the historical Picts, and lived in very large caverns, some natural and some artificially expanded. They had a custom of burning enemy prisoners alive, a ceremony usually presided over by their druid-like 'wizards' or priests, whom Howard portrayed as having a twisted philosophy and mindset produced by many years of hatred, in direct opposition to the Pictish warrior-king Bran Mak Morn, who attempted to restore the Picts to their honourable place in the world and drive out the Roman invaders. Bran Mak Morn's mindset was very unusual for his time and location, because he favored an alliance of the "native" British populations, including the Picts, Bretons, and Celts, against the Romans, in a setting when each of these tribes fostered an intense hatred and mistrust for all the others. Robert E. Howard also mentions that some warriors among the Picts could assume the forms of wolves, in the manner of
werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...
, on their own free will. These Picts were a "race" with whom Howard felt the most affinity, and for this reason they were one of his favourite subjects, despite being almost wholly fictitious and deviating from historical fact.


Terry Pratchett

The
Nac Mac Feegle The Nac Mac Feegle (also sometimes known as Pictsies, Wee Free Men, the Little Men and "Person or Persons Unknown, Believed to be Armed") are a fictional type of fairy folk that appear in Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' novels '' Carpe Jugulum'', ...
(also known as
Picts The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...
ies, the Wee Free Men, the Little Men, 'Person or Persons Unknown, Believed to be Armed', and occasionally 'The Defendants') are a type of
fairy A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...
appearing in
Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first nov ...
's ''
Discworld ''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat pla ...
'' novels ''
Carpe Jugulum ''Carpe Jugulum'' (; Latatian for "seize the throat", cf. ''Carpe diem'') is a comic fantasy novel by English writer Terry Pratchett, the twenty-third in the ''Discworld'' series. It was first published in 1998. In ''Carpe Jugulum'', Terry Pra ...
'', ''
The Wee Free Men ''The Wee Free Men'' is a 2003 comic fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, which takes place in his Discworld setting. It is labelled a "Story of Discworld" to indicate its status as children's or young adult fiction, unlike most of ...
'', ''
A Hat Full of Sky ''A Hat Full of Sky'' is a comic fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld and written with younger readers in mind. It is labelled a "Story of Discworld" to indicate its status as children's or young adult fiction, un ...
'' and ''
Wintersmith ''Wintersmith'' is a comic fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, set in the Discworld and written with younger readers in mind. It is labelled a "Story of Discworld" to indicate its status as children's or young adult fiction, unlike ...
''. Aside from being six inches tall, they largely invert the Victorian concept of mystical and refined fairies, and hark back to the fairies of folklore, who were generally seen as occasionally helpful thieves and pests. The Nac Mac Feegle's skin appears blue because it is heavily
tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...
ed and covered with paint, and all have red hair. The tattoos identify a Feegle's clan. Wings or similar features of any kind are out of the question. Their speech can only be described as some sort of variation on the
Scots language Scots ( endonym: ''Scots''; gd, Albais, ) is an Anglic language variety in the West Germanic language family, spoken in Scotland and parts of Ulster in the north of Ireland (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots). Most commonly ...
, usually
Glaswegian The Glasgow dialect, popularly known as the Glasgow patter or Glaswegian, varies from Scottish English at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum to the local dialect of West Central Scots at the other. Therefore, the speech of many Glaswegia ...
in the clans encountered, although William the Gonnagle (from a different clan) has a softer,
Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
accent. They are notably strong and resilient, which comes in handy given that male Feegles (almost all of them) tend to be notoriously rowdy as a lifestyle.


Other references

The antagonist of renowned writer Anne Rice's ''The Mayfair Witches'' trilogy, Lasher, is revealed to be a "Taltos" which is the name given to the Picts in the Anne Rice literary universe. Rice's Pictish Taltos are not humans per se, rather they are a similar looking but vastly genetically different primate which can engage in sexual acts with humans which rarely produces viable offspring. Taltos-human hybrids usually result in the death of human mothers birthing them with the exception of human "witches" which have genetic predispositions that allow some to survive such inter-species breeding. The Stonehenge of the Salisbury Plains are attributed to Rice's humanized, complex mythological Taltos Pictish character of Saint Ashlar. Taltos can live for thousands of years but can die from blunt force trauma and trances induced by dancing or music. They are said to be a "childlike" people. Any sexual acts between fertile heterosexual Taltos couples instantaneously results in the rapid conception and birth of a new Taltos, all of which mature within hours to sexual maturity as described in Anne Rice's novels ''Lasher'' (book 2 of the trilogy) and ''Taltos'' (3rd and final book). In the roleplaying game ''
Pendragon Pendragon or ( wlm, pen dreic, ''pen dragon''; composed of Welsh , 'head, chief, top' and / ''dragon'', 'dragon; warrior'; borrowed from the Latin word , plural , 'dragon , br, Penn Aerouant) literally means 'chief dragon' or 'head dragon', but ...
'', a supplemental book entitled '' Beyond the Wall: Pictland & The North'' depicts a Pictish kingdom called
Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the part of Great Britain () that lies north of the River Forth, which includes most of the land area of Scotland. Today, it is used as a romantic or poetic name for all ...
during the legendary era of
King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
. Picts appear as characters in the
Nancy Farmer Nancy Farmer is an American author of children's and young adult books and science fiction. She has written three Newbery Honor Books and won the U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature for ''The House of the Scorpion'', published ...
's Norse-Medieval fantasy novels, ''
The Sea of Trolls ''The Sea of Trolls'' is a fantasy novel for children, written by American author Nancy Farmer and published by Atheneum in 2004. It inaugurated the unofficially titled Sea of Trolls series, which Farmer continued in 2007 and 2009.. Retrieved 2 ...
'' and ''
The Land of the Silver Apples ''The Land of the Silver Apples'' is a fantasy novel for children, written by Nancy Farmer Nancy Farmer is an American author of children's and young adult books and science fiction. She has written three Newbery Honor Books and won the U.S. ...
''. Picts also appear in the film ''
Centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...
'', with Michael Fassbender. In
Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...
's book ''
Puck of Pook's Hill ''Puck of Pook's Hill'' is a fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906, containing a series of short stories set in different periods of English history. It can count both as historical fantasy – since some of the stories told of ...
'', a Roman soldier stationed in Britain describes the Picts as wily adversaries. The Picts also appear in
John Cowper Powys John Cowper Powys (; 8 October 187217 June 1963) was an English philosopher, lecturer, novelist, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse ...
'
Arthurian King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a Legend, legendary king of Great Britain, Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest tradition ...
novel '' Porius'' (1951) as the ''Ffichti'', a tribe in
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
of Greek descent. Powys’ Picts are allied to the ancestors of the
Irish people The Irish ( ga, Muintir na hÉireann or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common history and culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has been c ...
(''Gwyddylaid'') and are usually referred to as “''Gwyddyl-Ffichti''” throughout the novel. Powys’ Nineue is also described as a Pict.
Juliet Marillier Juliet Marillier (born 27 July 1948) is a New Zealand-born writer of fantasy, focusing predominantly on historical fantasy. Biography Juliet Marillier was educated at the University of Otago, where she graduated with a BA in languages and a ...
wrote a fantasy series about the Pictish king Bridei, called ''
The Bridei Chronicles ''The Bridei Chronicles'' is Juliet Marillier's third series of historical fantasy novels. They depict the tutelage by Broichan, rise to power, and reign of King Bridei I, Bridei I of the Picts in the sixth century. Like much of Marillier's wo ...
'', beginning with ''The Dark Mirror'',"''The Dark Mirror''...shows the rise of the future leader of the Picts, Bridei, assisted by the mysterious fey foundling, Tuala". Tim Lloyd, Review of ''The Dark Mirror'' by Juliet Marillier, '' The Advertiser'', February 19, 2005. (p. W09). (Pan Macmillan 2004) and continued in ''Blade Of Fortriu'' (Pan Macmillan 2005) and ''The Well Of Shades'' (Pan Macmillan 2006). John Flanagan's novel series ''
Ranger's Apprentice ''Ranger's Apprentice'' is a series written by Australian author John Flanagan. The first novel in the series, ''The Ruins of Gorlan'', was released in Australia on 1 November 2004. The books were initially released in Australia and New Zeala ...
'' includes a country called "Picta", north of "Araluen", or the series' reflection of
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, in which savage, uncivilized tribes reside. In
Arthur Ransome Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of childre ...
's ''
Swallows and Amazons series The ''Swallows and Amazons'' series is a series of twelve children's adventure novels by English author Arthur Ransome. Set in the interwar period, the novels involve group adventures by children, mainly in the school holidays and mainly in En ...
'', Dick and Dorothea in ''
The Picts and the Martyrs ''The Picts and the Martyrs'' is the eleventh book in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published in 1943. This is the last completed book set in the Lake District and features the Blackett sisters, the Amaz ...
'' imagine they are Picts when hiding from their Great Aunt. In '' Great Northern?'' they find an ancient Pict House in the Outer Hebrides. The main character of ''
Ninja Theory Ninja Theory Limited is a first-party British video game development studio based in Cambridge, England. Notable games it has developed include '' Kung Fu Chaos'', ''Heavenly Sword'', '' Enslaved: Odyssey to the West'', '' DmC: Devil May Cry ...
s action-adventure game '' Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice'' and its sequel, ''Senua's Saga: Hellblade II'', is confirmed to be Pictish in origin.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Picts In Fantasy Fantasy by nationality