Celtic Knot Meaning: What Each Knot Stands For

A Celtic knot is a pattern of lines that cross over and under with no start and no end. Most people today read that endless line as a sign of eternity, or of lives that stay joined. The older story is more interesting than the usual claims, so this guide separates what we can show from what is modern.

What is a Celtic knot?

A Celtic knot is a type of interlace. The lines weave over and under one another, and the pattern repeats until it fills a space. Artists used it to decorate books, stone crosses and metalwork.

In early medieval Ireland and Britain, the style grew very popular. The earliest true knotted designs in the Celtic manner appear in a 7th-century gospel fragment made in northern Britain, which is now in Durham Cathedral Library. Famous later examples include the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels.

Are Celtic knots really Celtic?

Not entirely. Knot patterns appear in Roman floor mosaics from the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, long before the Irish and British artists used them. Plaited designs spread from northern Italy and southern Gaul, and they reached Ireland by the 7th century. Other cultures, such as Coptic and Islamic artists, also developed their own forms of interlace.

What makes a knot “Celtic” is the style. Artists in Ireland and Britain took the pattern, made it far more complex and used it everywhere. For that reason the label is fair, as long as we do not claim the knot began with the Celts.

What do Celtic knots mean?

Nobody wrote down a meaning for the early knotwork, so we cannot say what the first artists intended. The meanings people give today come from later readers. They are still valid as personal symbols, as long as we call them interpretations.

The two most common readings are these:

• Eternity. The line never ends, so the knot stands for something that lasts.
• Connection. Strands cross and depend on one another, so the knot stands for linked lives.

Because the first two readings are so easy to see, they work well on rings and pendants. A knot on a wedding band says that two lives are joined. A knot on a gift says that the bond will last.

Types of knot you will see on jewellery

Scholars once sorted the patterns into a small set of basic forms. J. Romilly Allen, who wrote on Celtic art around 1900, named eight elementary knots that underlie most interlaced designs. Jewellers use them in many ways, and these are the forms you will meet most often.

• Plait. Strands braid together in a simple repeat. It suits bands and bracelets.
• Trinity knot. One line forms three points, as our guide to the trinity knot explains.
• Cross knotwork. Interlace fills the arms of a high cross. Our Celtic symbols guide covers the cross.
• Square or round knot. The line loops back on itself inside a frame. It suits studs and brooches.

The knot as a modern fashion

The Celtic knot became a popular tattoo design in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. Writers sometimes call designs that borrow the look without the history “pseudo-Celtic”. This does not make them bad, but it does mean that a claim of “ancient Celtic wisdom” deserves a second look.

We try to avoid that trap. When we describe a knot, we say what the evidence shows, and we say when a meaning is a later idea.

Knots and the Claddagh ring

Many Claddagh rings add knotwork to the band. The Claddagh itself is not an ancient Celtic symbol, because it dates from around 1700, but a knot band fits it well. Our guide to the meaning of the Claddagh ring explains the hands, the heart and the crown, and our advice on how to wear a Claddagh ring covers the positions.

If you are choosing metal, our comparison of gold and silver Claddagh rings may help. For men’s styles, see choosing a Claddagh ring for men.

Before you buy

Measure first, because a knot band only works if it fits. Our ring size guide shows you how. Silver knotwork collects tarnish in the grooves, so read the jewellery care guide too. The delivery and returns page sets out the terms for when the shop opens, and the Claddagh ring history guide tells that story in full.

Sources

• Celtic knot (Wikipedia)