Celtic Code: Drawing Knots with Python

Summary

I have made a web app that uses Python to create Celtic knots and it's really fun! Go-to > The programming project Go-to > The web-app Go-to > The source code Above: An example Celtic knot, drawn programmatically The Celts were dispersed tribes of peoples with a shared linguistic and cultural history which lives on today in modern languages, especially Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic. This post takes the instantly-recognisable Celtic knot as a jumping-off point for briefly exploring the history of the Celts and rope/knots before detailing how I programmed a web app to create Celtic knots in just a few clicks. The Celtic Peoples The “Celtic Peoples” lived across Europe and Western Asia but their origin is essentially contested, with theories debating Westwards, Eastwards, or even Outwards (from the centre) expansion. Early linguistic roots are proposed to have emerged between 3000-1000 BC, with Celtic languages becoming more defined around 400 BC. By 500 AD the expansion of the Roman Empire restricted the Celts to Ireland, Western and Northern Britain and Brittainy, in turn leading to greater socio-cultural cohesion (ref). It’s in those regions that the archaeological record and cultural legacy of the Celts is most pronounced. In Glasgow, evidence of the Kingdom of Strathclyde includes the Govan Stones, a series of carved sarcophagi, crosses and hogbacks (in turn a result of Viking influence). Around the same time (c 800 AD) the Book of Kells was made in Ireland or Scotland, featuring lavish decoration featuring highly complex Celtic knots in many styles throughout. Utility and knowledge; can-knot or can-not Obviously, knots serve a primarily utilitarian function and are likely one of the oldest human technologies. The archaeological record for knots is limited by the degredation of rope, so the earliest evidence of their invention is simply holes in stone or bone tools, or pieces which would have been tied together, such as a flint to a spear. Knots are themselves ...