I keep getting flashbacks of Highlander...

Awesome wolf here to put it simply.

So had I while drawing it :P Glad you like

*hums a certain song from Queen to retrigger those flashbacks and drive ya plain nuts*

Oh, before I forget his little medallion looks cool. I know this wolf is clearly Celtic but I think that looks like a technically Norse charm that is Thor's hammer.

It is... I was confused, I fear, as in Germany during reenactments etc everyone wears this, but it is Germanic, not Celtic... I have no idea how Celtic pendants look like...

I'll look up more details. I have read on Norse myths though and one thing Vikings/Norsemen often did in homage of Thor was to wear a tiny charm sylized to look like his hammer. I will say the tattoo on his right forearm though is defnetely Celtic, but either way both details help this big wolf stand out!

It is a Thor's hammer, called Mjölnir. I do not know, though, what symbols are pure Celtic. ^^

and that's a leather sleeve with a branded design, not a tattoo

Give him here that is one hawt hairy chest

Ok.

Very nice. I do like how you give your art a vintage look :)

I can never resist

Don't forget to meantion that he is a companion of Alarich ^^

well thats not official :P

I meant a business relationship ;D

Du musst mir enstcheiden helfen, welche version ich von deinem Bild poste... XD

erm... okay, ich geh eben auf skype ^^

Kann heut nicht on kommen, zu viel los... sry... hab mich aber auch so entschieden, und du bekommst volle credits

Hehe. okay, bin auch gleich weg, finds aber echt gelungen. Super job. ^^ Vielleicht poste ich noch das original gekritzel ^^

Dal Riata...what an obscure historical reference. :P It's so old that "Scotia" meant Ulster rather than Scotland, because Gaels were still relative newcomers to Pictland.

Hmmm... so I should change it to Pictland? Though, Ireland and Scotland have not been two clearly separated nations at that time, so I thought Scotia might cover up whole north Britain... and Northern Ireland XD

Here are maps of Dal Riata. It mainly covers Antrim and some adjacent parts of Ulster, but also nearly all the Inner Hebrides as well as a few British mainland regions such as Argyll and bits of the Highlands proper. As a noteworthy point, the isle of Iona was a historically very important intellectual center of Dal Riata, where the Book of Kells is believed to have been compiled.

Wait... Is that...1970s hair? XD

Now that you mention it... It was not supposed to be, honestly!

muscle dudes. in kilts. ON A TRAMPOLINE. O3o

*is made to notice a historic anachronism...*

Knee-length waist kilts didn't really exist until the late 18th century. They were a redesign of the Scottish kilt for its reintroduction after it had been banned for decades by the British government as a perceived symbol of Scottish rebellion. Before that, kilts had evolved from long cloaks that were belted to fasten them in place, but those are only certain to date back to the 16th century.

Dal Riata, on the other hand, was much longer ago - 6th to 7th century, located in what are now County Antrim, Ireland and the Inner Hebrides of what is now Scotland. The rest of what is now Scotland was home to the Picts (a separate semi-Celtic people), the Brythons (an Old Welsh-speaking people in Strathclyde) and the Northumbrian Angles (ancestors of the modern Lowland Scots). Scandinavians had not yet arrived. At this time, there was no difference between Irish Gaels and Scottish Gaels, as the Gaels of Dal Riata were recent colonists from Ireland.

However, they were still "Scots" - the term "Scoti" after which Scotland was later named actually applied to all Gaelic peoples, including those who lived in Ireland, and even those Gaels of 100% Irish origin who had traveled to mainland Europe (mostly Celtic Christian monks). The original "Scotia" was the area of Ulster from where Dal Riata originally expanded, and later was refashioned as the Latin name for what is now Scotland (previously also "Caledonia" or "Albania"). It doesn't seem like the Gaels ever spent much time calling themselves Scoti - Gaels in both Ireland and Scotland refer to their peoples as Gaels, and the Gaelic name for Scotland is "Alba". It seems that historically, the practice of naming "Scotland" was made by Scottish Lowlanders. At first, the Lowlanders were the combined descendants of Northumbria and Strathclyde who spoke a form of Middle English they called "Inglis", while all Gaels were still called Scots. Later, the Lowlanders appropriated the term "Scots" for themselves, and started calling all Gaels "Erse" (Irish).

However, I get the more down-to-earth impression that it's simply just fun to watch guys jump on trampolines with kilts and no undies. :3 But it's fun to ramble. X3

Wow... an expert. May I suppose you are either an "amateur" of the ancient Britannic history, or you are Scot yourself? Anyway, thanks a lot for the detailed information, I will use this for future projects.

BUT I knew that they had long, coat-like kilts. Yet, I decided to use a simple one - in this picture - so one can see his abdomen better

I am an amateur...with a sponge-like memory for certain issues. Anyway, as for your various questions, I am not entirely sure it is appropriate to treat Scotland of today as if it were a contiguous entity during the time of Dal Riata. There was a Pictland, but there are many gaps in the understandings about the Picts, and even their language remains undeciphered (possibly non-Indo-European with heavy Celtic influence). Scotland was at one point largely Pictish, but this gave way to Gaels and Angles over time. Anyway, if you are referring to the collective area that is now Scotland, it would probably be more appropriate to refer to the area "that is now Scotland", etc. Any reference to Scotland as Scotland during the time of Dal Riata brings with it a certain anachronism. Because though Dal Riata was a kingdom of Scots, at this time "Scoti" was a Roman term for Irish Gaels who sailed and raided the British coasts, similar to how "Viking" referred to Scandinavians who traveled abroad for trade, etc. So Dal Riata is certainly Scotian...but not quite "Scottish" in the modern sense - though Dal Riata is the primary Gaelic ancestor of Scottish Highlanders as a people.

......does any of that make sense?

And I'm an ethnic Galwegian (people of Galloway), though this is purely in a diaspora sense as I was born and raised in the tropical Pacific islands and I've never been to Europe. X3 Galloway is also traditionally a Gaelic region in what is now Scotland (distinct from the Highlands and Hebrides which are also traditionally Gaelic), but Galloway was settled from Ireland en masse at a much later time (like during the 13th century), settling among an already-present Brythonic and Northumbrian population. (To make this history more complicated, the Gaelic settlers of Galloway were not themselves of Gaelic ancestry - they were the descendants of Scandinavians that had settled the coasts of Ireland centuries before who had completely assimilated into Irish Gaelic culture.) Galloway remained mostly Gaelic-speaking until about the 17th century, when it became majority Scots (Anglic) speaking, and is now mostly English-speaking. Gaelic culture remains in much of Scotland as a substratum, while only a minority (mainly in Highland and the Hebrides) actually speak Gaelic.

I ramble very easily, so I'll try to wrap this comment up. I have an affinity for much of Gaelic culture in both Scotland and Ireland (as well as in the Isle of Man), but I prefer to avoid favoring one or the other (especially given Galloway's historically transitional position between the two), and I especially avoid taking a personal stance in the historical conflicts that helped cement the ultimate separation of Scottish and Irish culture (like Protestants vs. Catholics, religious wars, etc.). And I love ancient Gaelic myth and lore full of brawny, burly warrior fags. :D *senses  diarmaidhutchence rolling his eyes from his modern Ireland where tall buff guys are nigh impossible to find* Finally, Dermot Mac Flannchaidh is not my real name, but has been my primary pseudonym for my online interactions for almost a decade and a half. This basically summarizes my connection to Gaelic culture.

Ahh, my mistake about the Pictish language: Within the past several years, it is now fairly understood that the Picts were Celtic. During the latter half of the 20th century it was generally thought that they retained a non-Indo-European language, but this is no longer thought to be the case (at least not into the historical period).

0o* Now that was campus-level.

I will certainly try to keep Shaw more to the historical facts, as I see gladly that at least someone is deeply interested in this subject. :) Oh, and tell your pal that Shaw is from the Highlands, which explains his gorgeousness. I have been in Ireland (http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2697542/) and was surprised indeed everyone was smaller than me (1.95 m)

So, a genetic Celt in the Pacific... May I ask on which Isle? ^.^

My "friend" is Wikipedia and its accredited reference lists. :3 The orthodoxy that Pictish was probably non-Indo-European was common in older books I'd read on the subject, but now the ogham inscriptions are decipherable as Celtic.

Yes, I'd believe a Highlander being taller and hotter. Though in Irish myth, demographics were claimed to be different from today - more people, men and women alike, were taller and larger. (Not entirely sure this is historically accurate, since ancient Irish people may have had the same wet dreams about big strong guys that people have today with necessarily being big and strong themselves.) Throughout Ireland's recorded history there has been some kind of ethnic melting pot (like Celts + pre-Celts), but the gene pool of today is certainly different from the gene pool of the past, as Ireland has since been heavily settled by other visitors (Norse-Gaels, Hiberno-Normans, Anglo-Irish, Ulster Scots, Poles, and various other Ethnic groups in Ireland). Ireland is still perfectly Irish no matter who birthed you, but you're unlikely to meet big buff guys. But could there have been big buff guys in ancient times? Possibly - the Highlanders came from somewhere. Though modern Scottish Highlanders are primarily a mix of three sources: Gaels, Picts and Norse. Irish Gaels are primarily a mix of Gaels, Norse, Cruithne (probably also Picts) and Normans. Not so different. There are various theories on the origins of the vaguely-defined Black Irish, which range from as ancient as the mythical Fir Bolg to the theory that survivors of the Spanish Armada settled in Ireland. But sometimes you just can't come up with a clear explanation of why people start to look different over time - gene pools fluctuate in Ireland and Scotland just like they do everywhere in the world. The ancient Gaels also observed this by distinguishing the Fingals (Norwegian Norse = "fair strangers" = Fionnghall, plural Fionnghaill) from the Dougals/Doyles (Danish Norse = "dark strangers" = Dubhghall, plural Dubhghaill), in reference to the observation that Danes tended to have darker hair than Norwegians. Ultimately these superficial traits are mostly biologically meaningless (just like the artificial human construct of "race"), though I do agree that big guys tend to be just-as-superficially hotter than tiny guys.

Which isle am I from? Born on O'ahu, raised on Kwajalein until I was a teenager. But now I'm stuck in North America......in the Great Basin. >_< I miss the rain! ;.;

You live in Nevada? Kewl ^^'

No, not Nevada.

the name sounds more irish than scotish

The name Áedán is Old Irish, from which the Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx languages all evolved from. Besides, Áedán mac Gabráin was the name of a real historical king of Dál Riata, which spanned parts of both what are now Ireland and Scotland. Also, at the time, Irish Gaels and Scottish Gaels did not constitute separate nationalities, though they had numerous clan divisions.

ah okay then

I must make a nitpick as a native English speaker: "Terrible fighter" sounds like he's no good at fighting at all. If he is truly terrifying in a fight, perhaps the best word to use is "fearsome", though "terrifying" would work as well.

Very, very awesome picture.

Corrected. Thank you, that mistakes happen to me all the time...

Oh, more information on your "Shaw". :3 I recognized Áedán as an Old Irish name, but Shaw was very clearly a modern anglicized name. So I did some research. I can't guarantee what I found, but it seems to check out from multiple sources.

The Old Irish form is Segda, which was probably pronounced /ˈɕɛɣðˠə/. This name has evolved forms in both modern Irish Gaelic and modern Scottish Gaelic, as well as anglicized spellings.

The modern Irish form is Séaghdha, pronounced /ɕeː/. It has a simplified alternative spelling, Sé (same pronunciation). Its anglicized form is usually Shea ("shay").

The modern Scottish form is Seaghdh. I'm not as certain about its pronunciation (since I actually know less about Scottish Gaelic than about Irish Gaelic - that's lopsided, I know), but I think it's something like /ʃaɣ/. Its anglicized form seems to usually be Shaw.

I don't know anything about the Manx form. I don't even know if there is one.

... but I like "Shaw"...

And I like "Dermot". :3 It's okay, I understand "Shaw" as translative. X3

Lots of Irish and Scottish Gaelic names we know are actually just anglicized spellings (sometimes centuries old) of authentic Gaelic language forms. :3

As an example: The name Kevin is now common all over Europe, but it is an anglicized spelling of Modern Irish Caoimhghin, simplified spelling Caoimhín. It evolved from Middle Irish Caoimhghín, which evolved from Old Irish Cóemgein or Cóemgen, meaning "kind birth" (compare Eugene = "good birth"). It is latinized as Coemgenus. But it was specifically the English spelling "Kevin" that spread to other countries. All things considered, which spelling est la plus naturelle en français? Kevin, n'est-ce pas?

Kevin is just Kevin, I think. My name is Patrick, by the way XD

awwwesome

Glad you like it

Awesome!