Visions of Celtic warfare we have in our minds today, one of vast armies on foot running, screaming toward a terrfied enemy has been reinforced in films such as BRAVEHEART... Though there were many instances were Celtic tribes were known to engage in all-out war with the enemy on vast battlefields, much of Celtic life revolved around heroic single combat, which in today's world of highly-organized professional armies is somewhat of an unusual concept.
Perhaps a more familiar form of single combat to us today is that of duelling. In a duel, two adversaries choose to officially settle a dispute or claim, often in the presence of witnesses and subject to established rules. This too, was a common mechanism of non-judicial dispute resolution in Celtic culture. Later in medieval times, swordsmanship (i.e. fencing) and jousting were examples of valiant forms of duelling, reserved to men of knightly status. Note, that the average Celt, -- when engaged in combat, -- wore scant armour, while a medieval knight were coverned in shiny metal suits-of-armour. (you could see the average Roman foot-soldier or legionaire as sort of a middle ground between the two)
However, a shortage of manpower, for purposes of warfare, prohibited the accumulation of large war parties to be dispatched on lengthy campaigns. The Celts were predominantly farmers and craftsmen, not professional, full-time soldiers. (as opposed to later Roman legions). So single combat was pervasive. In many Celtic communities, though expressing strong clan behaviour and emphasizing family-ties, an attitude of "every man for himself" was not uncommon, when it came to defending one's property, honor or being held personally accountable for wrongs committed. Celtic law, deals with this more deeply. Embodied in various Celtic lores, is the notion of a hero's enchanted weapons, which possessed magical skills. The most famous and universally known examples of such today are King Arthur's Excalibur or Siegfried's Balmung.
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