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Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date. For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now. Javascript is not enabled in your browser. Enabling JavaScript in your browser will allow you to experience all the features of our site. Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser. NOOK Book. Crushed by the Romans in the first century A. Because of this, historian Ronald Hutton shows, succeeding British generations have been free to reimagine, reinterpret, and reinvent the Druids. Druids have been remembered at different times as patriots, scientists, philosophers, or priests; sometimes portrayed as corrupt, bloodthirsty, or ignorant, they were also seen as fomenters of rebellion. Hutton charts how the Druids have been written in and out of history, archaeology, and the public consciousness for some years, with particular focus on the romantic period, when Druids completely dominated notions of British prehistory. Sparkling with legends and images, filled with new perspectives on ancient and modern times, this book is a fascinating cultural study of Druids as catalysts in British history. He lives in Bristol, UK. Home 1 Books 2. Read an excerpt of this book! Add to Wishlist. Overview Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain by the Romans in the first century A. Related Searches. Praise for the author::'For anyone researching the subject, this is the book you've been waiting Praise for the author::'For anyone researching the subject, this is the book you've been waiting for. View Product. A Little History of the United States. A fast-paced, character-filled history that brings the unique American saga to life for readers of A fast-paced, character-filled history that brings the unique American saga to life for readers of all ages How did a land and people of such immense diversity come together under a banner of freedom and equality to form one of Bayreuth: A History of the Wagner Festival. Germany's cultural glory and for a time Germany's political shame: the operatic festival established by Germany's cultural glory and for a time Germany's political shame: the operatic festival established by Richard Wagner in is one of the most intriguing phenomena in modern European intellectual history. The oldest and best known of all musical festivals, Blood in the Hills: A History of Violence. To many antebellum Americans, Appalachia was a frightening wilderness of lawlessness, peril, robbers, and hidden To many antebellum Americans, Appalachia was a frightening wilderness of lawlessness, peril, robbers, and hidden dangers. The extensive media coverage of horse stealing and scalping raids profiled the region's residents as intrinsically violent. After the Civil War, this characterization continued Conversation: A History of a Declining Art. The story of the rise and fall of the art of conversation in Western civilization The story of the rise and fall of the art of conversation in Western civilization Essayist Stephen Miller pursues a lifelong interest in conversation by taking an historical and philosophical view of the subject. He chronicles the art of conversation Although politicians promise innovation and change when they run for office, once elected they face Although politicians promise innovation and change when they run for office, once elected they face inherited commitments to programs initiated by their predecessors, legacies that severely limit their freedom of choice. In this trail blazing work, Richard Rose and Phillip Modernism's History. The history of twentieth-century visual arts can no longer be written as a succession of The history of twentieth-century visual arts can no longer be written as a succession of avant-garde movements, contends eminent art historian Bernard Smith in this stimulating book. He argues that a return to the concept of period style is inevitable Pagan Britain. Britain's pagan past, with its mysterious monuments, atmospheric sites, enigmatic artifacts, bloodthirsty legends, and cryptic Britain's pagan past, with its mysterious monuments, atmospheric sites, enigmatic artifacts, bloodthirsty legends, and cryptic Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain, is both enthralling and perplexing to a resident of the twenty-first century. In this ambitious and thoroughly up-to-date Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain, Ronald Hutton reveals the long Yale University Press. Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain by Ronald Hutton

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Blood and Mistletoe by Ronald Hutton. Crushed by the Romans in the first century A. Because of this, historian Ronald Hutton shows, succeeding British generations have been free to reimagine, reinterpret, and reinvent the Druids. Druids have been remembered at different times as patriots, scientists, philosophers, or priests; sometimes portrayed as corrupt, bloodthirsty, or ignorant, they were also seen as fomenters of rebellion. Hutton charts how the Druids have been written in and out of history, archaeology, and the public consciousness for some years, with particular focus on the romantic period, when Druids completely dominated notions of British prehistory. Sparkling with legends and images, filled with new perspectives on ancient and modern times, this book is a fascinating cultural study of Druids as catalysts in British history. Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. More Details Original Title. Other Editions 4. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Blood and Mistletoeplease sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Aug 22, Abigail Bok rated it really liked it Shelves: didn-t-finish. Ronald Hutton has built his career on being a buzz-killer for all of us who had a childhood crush on British pagans. While I mourn my youthful fantasies, I have to admire his scholarly rigor and commitment to resisting over-interpretation. I didn't finish this door-stopper tome ca. In Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain Hutton examines the entire documentary record with strategic dives into archaeology referring to the Druids from Greek and Roman sources to medieval Irish and Welsh in order to demonstrate that there is nothing, nothing at all, we can really know about who the Druids were, their beliefs, practices, or place in society. By implication, he suggests we can't even know whether they even existed, though Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain is inclined to think they did. For every claim made about them he is able to show why no single interpretation or determination of authenticity is possible. It's a shattering, bravura performance. I suppose it is possible to be too skeptical, but considering the cultures Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain about the Druids, the motives behind their portrayals, and the standards of "history" writing in antiquity and the Middle Ages, his skepticism of the sources seems thoroughly justified. He left me with nothing to hang my old sorcerer's hat on! After tearing the ancient "record" of Druidry to shreds, Hutton moves on in subsequent chapters to a historiography of the ways subsequent British societies used the idea of the Druid to promote their worldviews, and the systems of belief constructed by modern people identifying as Druid. I got through some of the historiography but none of the modern religious practice and therefore can't comment on those aspects of the book, but if you're interested in these subjects, this is the third book by Hutton I have read and I respect his skills. Perhaps a search for authenticity in spiritual practice by plumbing the spiritual practices of the past is a misguided effort anyway. May 23, Maya rated it it was amazing Shelves: druid-celtic-religion. Ronald Hutton is presenting the outcome of his research into the subject of Druidry, which took place between and Unlike his previous book The Druids, this book is in depth, and its format is chronological, which gives the reader time to fully integrate and compare each time period to the one preceding it. It talks about the druids from the time they were first mentioned until the modern day. In the last statement of the introduction to Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain book, Ronald Hutton tells us what this Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain Ronald Hutton is presenting the outcome of his research into the subject of Druidry, which took place between and In the last statement of the introduction to the book, Ronald Hutton tells us what Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain book is really about from his point of view. XV I think anyone reading this book will come to the conclusion that not everything is as it seems. The origins of some of the orders will certainly surprise the members who are in them now. This is an illuminating book that is a must read for anyone who is interested in Druidry and druids. As for the goal of the book which is a look at the British and how they saw themselves and their island I think that Hutton has done an amazing job of fulfilling that goal. For a full review of the book please check out my website: Blood and Mistletoe Feb 05, Margaret Sankey rated it liked it. Hutton uses the first chapter to exhaustively review what can be known about Druids from Roman sources and archaeology, then concentrates on how subsequent Britons have projected their contemporary needs onto Druidism--Reformation scholars needing a history untethered to and defiant of Rome, 17th century antiquarians, Romantics in search of nature, Celtic nationalists, a s post-WWI fascination with anthropology and human sacrifice, s hippies, s neo-pagans. Somehow, this always ends u Hutton uses the first chapter to exhaustively review what can be known about Druids from Roman sources and archaeology, then concentrates on how subsequent Britons have projected their contemporary needs onto Druidism--Reformation scholars needing a history untethered to and defiant of Rome, 17th century antiquarians, Romantics in search of nature, Celtic nationalists, a s post-WWI fascination with anthropology and human sacrifice, s hippies, s neo-pagans. Somehow, this always ends up in costume-y robes rolling in the Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain at Stonehenge. Apr 04, Nimue Brown rated it it was amazing. Essential reading for Druids, or anyone interested Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain the history of Druidry. It is academic, it is a doorstopper of a tome and it will probably tax you, but it is written with absolute style and is full of detail and insight. Not a comfotable read for anyone who might feel embarassed by the shape of revivalist druidry, but we ought to know, and we have to deal with it. I've written a much longer review at www. Nov 02, Gabriel Clarke rated it it was amazing. I need to write a more detailed review of this. Be aware that this is an academic though marvellously readable account of a strand of cultural history, not a new age pseudo-history. Certain kinds of Druids and pagans will struggle with this. Others that would increasingly include me will welcome the implicit challenge to critically construct our own myths and meanings out of such materials as we've inherited and created. Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain 01, Graculus rated it really liked it Shelves: historicalnon-fiction. This is one of those books which I'm glad I persevered with, considering that it's quite literally a solid piece of work very small type too, which doesn't help but it doesn't quite do what it says on the cover. Considering that the first chapter is all about how little we actually know and can prove about the druids in the first place, I suppose there wasn This is one of those books which I'm glad I persevered with, considering that it's quite literally a solid piece of work very small type too, which doesn't help but it doesn't quite do what it says on the cover. Considering that the first chapter is all about how little we actually know and can prove about the druids in the first place, I suppose there wasn't really much else for the author to do, either in this book or in his previous one. Perhaps that one The Druids: A History was the one I should have read instead, though this one certainly introduced me to a wide variety of folks with varying degrees of scruples about making up history out of whole cloth if it didn't exist previously or didn't quite say what they wanted to hear. Jan 30, Fred Johnson rated it liked it. A well researched history of what little is known about the Druids. Unfortunately, there is virtually no historical record of the Druids so this study is largely a discussion of the different interpretations that varying scholars have made over the years. The author is clear in pointing out the flaws in these interpretations, but from the perspective of a general reader the bottom line is that there is little to say on the subject. Jan 24, Wren rated it liked it. This book could have been good if it had been half as long and structured very differently. It was worth the read, but thank merciful God it's over. Very enjoyable scholarly assessment of the historical perspectives on and contingent development of more modern Druids. Hutton portrays the origins and alternating fortunes of the Druid, how they have been reimagined, reinterpreted, and reinvented to portray them as patriots, scientists, Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain and priests, or alternately as corrupt, bloodthirsty and ignorant, fomenters of rebellion, or forefathers of Christian Religion and along the way how they have become either by example or exclusion, Very enjoyable scholarly assessment of the historical perspectives on and contingent development of more modern Druids. Hutton portrays the origins and alternating fortunes of the Druid, how Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain have been reimagined, reinterpreted, and reinvented to portray them as patriots, scientists, philosophers and priests, or alternately as corrupt, bloodthirsty and ignorant, fomenters of rebellion, or forefathers of Christian Religion and along the way how they have become either by example or exclusion, guardians of tradition. Such an extensive work merits a repeated reading, here is a brief review of the many areas that he explores. Setting out with a exposition of the ancient literary references such as that of Pliny, Julius Caesar and etc which cast doubt over the Druid's roles and presented the conquering forces of Rome as that of civilizing a savage and cruel religion, Hutton thoughtfully presents a fascinating and objective assessment of their actual value as historical documents and reveals the many influencing factors at play in them Following a period of little interest, the historical threads pick up in the late medieval period, as Hutton explores how subsequent notions of Druids were formed and employed in the service of national prestige and also the reverse engineering of their alleged role in supporting Christianities apparently literal historical accuracy and ensuing spiritual eminence. At the end of the 15thc the new Humanist movement in scholarship with its aims to recover and build upon the knowledge of the classical ancient world, gave rise to a concurrent celebration of the indigenous peoples as honorable ancestors Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain a culture of some merit and in this context increasingly presented the Druids as the nearest thing that Europe had had to scientists and philosophers. Despite the lack of evidence, the German Humanist Conrad Celtes claimed that the Druids had fled there across the Rhine to escape the Romans and hide in German forests, which along with the fact that Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain Rhineland had been part of the Roman province of Gaul, established their reclamation as of a shared Gallic ancestry. Basing their accounts on Caesar's comments of the Druids as meeting at Carnute where the Druids of Gaul had met each year, Symphorien Champier seems to have made the case for the druids as French noble ancestors, and in the French author Taillepied was the first author in any language to devote a book to them. In this new favorable view, which deftly set aside Caesar's comments about sacrifice as an unimportant fringe activity, the popularity of Druids rose to the extent that by the early 16thC the Druid and Christian cult had been united with claims of the cathedral of Dreux being founded by them following a prediction they had made over a coming saviour and by Rabelais could refer to them as 'familiar beloved figures'. They also appeared in a book published in Paris 'Scotorum Historiae' about Scotland written by the Scottish Hector Boece who nationalistically claimed the Druids main meeting place as the Isle of Man and thus shifted their central locus From Germany and France to Scotland. Whilst the Scots were taking advantage of this new pro-Druid perspective, the Irish already had Druids built into their national literature via Irish sagas and saints' lives recorded by Christian monks where Druids are accorded high social status until the coming of Christianity when the role of the Druid in Irish society was rapidly reduced to that of a sorcerer who could be consulted to cast spells or practice healing magic and their standing declined accordinglyand the Welsh who claimed direct descent and therefore unbroken lineage from the ancient Britons themselves. The English annexed these various views into their own greater history with a view to establishing cultural supremacy of the whole archipelago, with which they could rival the French. Tudor England however during late 16thC and early 17thC saw, rather than an ongoing rise in the popularity of Druids, a decline based on a number of factors including that the Irish writers presented the Druids as main opponents of their Roman Catholic Saints, the Welsh were co-opting them from the Scottish, and the English at this time did not wish to associate with the Welsh, plus identification of Druids with the poorly regarded Scottish and French may have been a further deterrent in and of itself. Following this decline of favor, a resurgence of interest was slow but steady and backed with good credentials. John Aubrey — was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer best known as author of the short biographical pieces 'Brief Lives'. He was also a pioneer archaeologist, who recorded often for the first time numerous megalithic and other field monuments in southern England, and is particularly noted as the discoverer of the Avebury henge monument. Blood And Mistletoe: The History Of The Druids In Britain - Current Archaeology

The mistletoe in the title of this book does not come as a surprise: most people, asked to say what they associate with the idea of Druids, might come up with it sooner or later, along with oak trees, flowing white robes, eisteddfods and, possibly, ceremonies to welcome the summer solstice at Stonehenge. The answer lies in some of the Greek and Roman accounts of the ancient Celtic Druids, which are almost the only sources of information we have. The historian Diodorus Siculus wrote that the Druids predicted the future not only by peering at animal entrails, but also by stabbing a man in the chest and seeing how he wriggled in his death throes. According to Julius Caesar, the Druids sometimes organised human sacrifices on a massive scale, making giant figures of twigs, filling them with victims and setting them alight. Hence the cult horror film The Wicker Man. Inpeat-cutters at Lindow Moss in Cheshire found a well-preserved body which was eventually dated to the first century AD. Proof at last, it was said, that the Greeks and Romans were right: Druidic sacrifice was a grisly business, involving both mistletoe and blood. But when Ronald Hutton discusses this evidence, he shows that not a single detail can be relied on. Our knowledge of who and what the Druids were is based, in fact, on a tiny stock of ancient texts; all that the archaeologists can do is first make an interpretation of the texts and then select those bits of physical evidence that appear to back it up. Professor Hutton gets through all of this, with masterly inconclusiveness, in fewer than Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain pages. The great bulk of his book and it is a great, bulky book, with more than large pages of small print is taken up Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain with the history of the Druids — as the subtitle might suggest — but with the history of what people have subsequently thought, imagined and claimed about them. Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain is, of course, a much richer subject; and its richness is due to the fact that this was an almost empty canvas, on to which people Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain paint whatever historical fantasies they preferred. In the Elizabethan period, the fiercely Protestant historian John Bale portrayed the Druids as prototype Catholic priests, pullulating with corruption and hypocrisy; but the Cambridge physician John Caius hailed them as the wise men who had originally founded Cambridge University. In the 17th century, some described the Druids as having practised the pure and ancient religion of the Hebrew patriarchs; and the antiquary John Aubrey started the long-running argument that the megalithic complexes of Avebury and Stonehenge had been the temples where the Druids worshipped. When a friend showed Aubrey a Roman strigil he had found that is, a bronze skin-scraper used in Roman bathsAubrey triumphantly declared that it was a Druidic mistletoe-sickle. Druidomania had begun. Iolo was an autodidact with a rich imagination, a charismatic personality and a talent for forgery on a colossal scale. He announced to the world that the tradition of the Druids had been kept up by the medieval Welsh bards and that the order of bards, far from dying out as everyone supposed had somehow continued, culminating in the last true bard and Druid — Iolo Morganwg himself. He built Caerphili Castle But just occasionally, even-handedness tips over towards relativism — as if there are just different ways of looking at reality, each as good as the other. And that cannot be right. For these self-styled Druids are not just saying things about God, the cosmos and the soul: they are making claims about their own historical credentials which are simply and ludicrously false. However little we know about the real Druids, we do at least know that about the phoney ones. Available from Telegraph Books By Ronald Hutton.