druid definition from wikipedia

8/3/2019 Druid Definition From Wikipedia

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Druid

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For other uses, seeDruid (disambiguation).

"Two druids", 19th-century engraving based on a 1719 illustration by Bernard de Montfaucon.[1]

Series on

Celtic mythology

Celtic polytheismCeltic deities (list)Gaelic mythology

Irish mythologyScottish mythology

Hebridean mythologyTuatha D DanannMythological Cycle

Ulster CycleFenian Cycle

Brythonic mythology

British Iron Age religionBritish mythologyWelsh mythologyBreton mythology

MabinogionBook of Taliesin
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Trioedd Ynys Prydein

Religious vocations

Druids Bards Vates

Festivals

Samhain,Calan Gaeaf

Imbolc,Gyl FairBeltane, Calan MaiLughnasadh, Calan Awst

Index of related articlesThis box: viewtalkedit

A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain,Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other partsofCeltic western Europe, during theIron Age. Very little is currently known about the ancientdruids as they left no written accounts about themselves, and the only evidence of them are a fewdescriptions left by Greek and Roman authors, and stories created by later medieval Irish writers.[2] While archaeological evidence has been uncovered pertaining tothe religious practices of the

Iron Age people, "not one single artefact or image has been unearthed that can undoubtedly beconnected with the ancient Druids."[3] Various recurring themes emerge in a number of theGreco-Roman accounts of the druids, including that they performedhuman sacrifice, believed ina form ofreincarnation, and that they held a high position in Gaulish society. Next to nothing isknown about their cultic practice, except for the ritual of oak and mistletoe as described by Plinythe Elder.

The earliest known reference to the druids dates to 200 BCE, although the oldest actualdescription comes from the Roman military general Julius Caesarin his Commentarii de BelloGallico (50s BCE). Later Greco-Roman writers also described the druids, including Cicero,[4]

Tacitus[5] and Pliny the Elder.[6] Following the invasion of Gaul by theRoman Empire, druidism

was suppressed by the Roman government under the 1st-century emperorsTiberius andClaudius, and it disappeared from the written record by the 2nd century, although there werelikely later survivals in the British Isles.[7]

The druids then also appear in some of the medieval tales from Christianised Ireland like theTin B Cailnge, where they are largely portrayed as sorcerers who opposed the coming ofChristianity.[8] In the wake of theCeltic revival during the 18th and 19th centuries, fraternal andNeopagan groups were founded based upon the ideas about the ancient druids, a movementwhich is known asNeo-Druidism.

Contents[hide]

1 Etymology 2 Practices and doctrines

o 2.1 Societal role and trainingo 2.2 Sacrifice
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o 2.3 Philosophy 3 Sources on druidism

o 3.1 Greek and Roman records 3.1.1 Julius Caesar 3.1.2 Cicero, Diodorus Sicilus, Strabo and

Tacituso 3.2 Irish and Welsh records

3.2.1 Irish literature and law codes 3.2.2 Welsh literature

o 3.3 Archaeology 4 History of reception

o 4.1 Prohibition and decline under Roman ruleo 4.2 Possible late survival of Insular druidismo 4.3 Christian historiography and hagiographyo 4.4 Romanticism and modern revivalso 4.5 Modern scholarship

5 References

[edit] Etymology

The modern English word druidderives from the Latin druides (pronounced [druides]), whichitself was considered by ancient Roman writers to come from the native Celtic Gaulish word forthese figures.[9][10][11]Other Roman texts also employ the form druidae, while the same term wasused by Greek ethnographersas (druids).[12][13] Although no extant Romano-Celticinscription is known to contain the form,[9] the word is cognate with the later insular Celticwords,Old Irishdru("druid, sorcerer") and early Welsh dryw ("seer").[11] Based on all availableforms, the hypothetical proto-Celtic word may then be reconstructed as *dru-wid-s (pl.*druwides) meaning "oak-knower". The two elements go back to theProto-Indo-European roots*deru-[14] and *weid- "to see".[15] The sense of "oak-knower" (or "oak-seer") is confirmed byPliny the Elder,[11] who in hisNatural History etymologised the term as containing the Greeknoun (drus), "oak-tree"[16] and the Greek suffix -.[17]The modern Irish word for Oak isDara, as it derives to anglicised placenames like Derry, and Kildare (literally the "church ofoak"). There are many stories and lore about saints, heroes, and oak trees, and also many localstories and superstitions(calledpishogues) about trees in general, which still survive in ruralIreland. Both Irish druand Welsh dryw could also refer to the wren,[11] possibly connected withan association of that bird with augury bird in Irish and Welsh tradition (see alsoWren Day).[11][18]

[edit] Practices and doctrines

According to historian Ronald Hutton, "we can know virtually nothing of certainty about theancient Druids, so that - although they certainly existed - they function more or less as legendaryfigures."[19] However, the sources provided about them by ancient and medieval writers, coupled
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with archaeological evidence, can give us an idea of what they might have performed as a part oftheir religious duties.

[edit] Societal role and training

Imaginative illustration of 'An Arch Druid in His Judicial Habit', from "The Costume of theOriginal Inhabitants of the British Islands" by S.R. Meyrick and C.H. Smith (1815).

One of the few things that both the Greco-Roman and the vernacular Irish sources agree on aboutthe druids was that they played an important part in pagan Celtic society. In his description,Julius Caesarclaimed that they were one of the two most important social groups in the region(alongside the equites, or nobles), and were responsible for organising worship and sacrifices,

divination, and judicial procedure in Gaulish and British society.[20]He also claimed that theywere exempt from military service and from the payment of taxes, and that they had the power toexcommunicate people from religious festivals, making them social outcasts.[20] Two otherclassical writers, Diodorus Siculus and Strabo also wrote about the role of druids in Gallicsociety, claiming that the druids were held in such respect that if they intervened between twoarmies they could stop the battle.[21]

Pomponius Mela[22] is the first author who says that the druids' instruction was secret, and wascarried on in caves and forests. Druidic lore consisted of a large number of verses learned byheart, and Caesar remarked that it could take up to twenty years to complete the course of study.There is no historic evidence during the period when Druidism was flourishing to suggest that

Druids were other than male.[23]What was taught to Druid novices anywhere is conjecture: of thedruids' oral literature, not one certifiably ancient verse is known to have survived, even intranslation. All instruction was communicated orally, but for ordinary purposes, Caesar reports,[24] the Gauls had a written language in which they used Greek characters. In this he probablydraws on earlier writers; by the time of Caesar,Gaulish inscriptions had moved from the Greekscript to the Latin script.

[edit] Sacrifice
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An 18th century illustration of a wicker man, the form of execution that Caesar alleged thedruids used for human sacrifice. From the "Duncan Caesar", Tonson, Draper, and Dodsleyedition of the Commentaries of Caesar translated by William Duncan published in 1753.Further information: Celts and human sacrifice, Threefold death, andRitual of oak andmistletoe

Greek and Roman writers frequently made reference to the druids as practitioners ofhumansacrifice, a trait they themselves reviled, believing it to be barbaric. [25] Such reports of druidichuman sacrifice are found in the works ofLucan,Julius Caesar, SuetoniusandCicero.[26]Caesarclaimed that the sacrifice was primarily of criminals, but at times innocents would also be used,

and that they would be burned alive in a large wooden effigy, now often known as awicker man.A differing account came from the 10th-centuryCommenta Bernensia, which claimed thatsacrifices to the deitiesTeutates,Esus and Taraniswere by drowning, hanging and burning,respectively (see threefold death).

Diodorus Siculus asserts that a sacrifice acceptable to the Celtic gods had to be attended by adruid, for they were the intermediaries between the people and the divinities. He remarked uponthe importance of prophets in druidic ritual:

"These men predict the future by observing the flight and calls of birds and by thesacrifice of holy animals: all orders of society are in their power... and in very important

matters they prepare a human victim, plunging a dagger into his chest; by observing theway his limbs convulse as he falls and the gushing of his blood, they are able to read thefuture."

There is archaeological evidence from western Europe that has been widely used to back upthe idea that human sacrifice was performed by the Iron Age Celts. Mass graves found in aritual context dating from this period have been unearthed in Gaul, at bothGournay-sur-ArondeandRibemont-sur-Ancre in what was the region of the Belgae chiefdom. The
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicker_manhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts_and_human_sacrificehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threefold_deathhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_of_oak_and_mistletoehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_of_oak_and_mistletoehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrificehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrificehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrificehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-sacrifice-24http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Annaeus_Lucanushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Annaeus_Lucanushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suetoniushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suetoniushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicerohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicerohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicker_manhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicker_manhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commenta_Bernensiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commenta_Bernensiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commenta_Bernensiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teutateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teutateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teutateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taranishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taranishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threefold_deathhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diodorus_Siculushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gournay-sur-Arondehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gournay-sur-Arondehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gournay-sur-Arondehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gournay-sur-Arondehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribemont-sur-Ancrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribemont-sur-Ancrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WickerManIllustration.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WickerManIllustration.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicker_manhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts_and_human_sacrificehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threefold_deathhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_of_oak_and_mistletoehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_of_oak_and_mistletoehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrificehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrificehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-sacrifice-24http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Annaeus_Lucanushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suetoniushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicerohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicker_manhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commenta_Bernensiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teutateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taranishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threefold_deathhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diodorus_Siculushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gournay-sur-Arondehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gournay-sur-Arondehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribemont-sur-Ancre


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excavator of these sites, Jean-Louis Brunaux, interpreted them as areas of human sacrifice indevotion to a war god,[27][28] although this view was criticised by another archaeologist,Martin Brown, who believed that the corpses might be those of honoured warriors buried inthe sanctuary rather than sacrifices.[29] Bog bodies, said to show ritual sacrifice, are alsoknown from Great Britain and Ireland, such as the "Lindow Man", found in Lindow,

Cheshire.[30]

Some historians have questioned whether the Greco-Roman writers were accurate in theirclaims. J. Rives remarked that it was "ambiguous" whether the druids ever performed suchsacrifices, for the Romans and Greeks were known to project what they saw as barbariantraits onto foreign peoples including not only druids but Jews and Christians as well, therebyconfirming their own "cultural superiority" in their own minds.[31] Taking a similar opinion,Ronald Huttonsummarised the evidence by stating that "the Greek and Roman sources forDruidry are not, as we have received them, of sufficiently good quality to make a clear andfinal decision on whether human sacrifice was indeed a part of their belief system."[32]PeterBerresford Ellis, a Celtic nationalist who authored The Druids (1994), believed them to be

the equivalents of the Indian Brahmin caste, and considered accusations of human sacrificeto remain unproven,[unreliable source?][33] whilst an expert in medieval Welsh and Irish literature,Nora Chadwick, who believed them to be great philosophers, fervently purported the ideathat they had not been involved in human sacrifice, and that such accusations wereimperialist Roman propaganda.[34]

[edit] Philosophy

Alexander Cornelius Polyhistorreferred to the Druids as philosophers and called theirdoctrine of the immortality of the soul and reincarnation ormetempsychosis "Pythagorean":

"The Pythagorean doctrine prevails among the Gauls' teaching that the souls of men areimmortal, and that after a fixed number of years they will enter into another body."

Caesar remarks: "The principal point of their doctrine is that the soul does not die andthat after death it passes from one body into another" (see metempsychosis). Caesarwrote:

"With regard to their actual course of studies, the main object of all education is,in their opinion, to imbue their scholars with a firm belief in the indestructibilityof the human soul, which, according to their belief, merely passes at death fromone tenement to another; for by such doctrine alone, they say, which robs death

of all its terrors, can the highest form of human courage be developed. Subsidiaryto the teachings of this main principle, they hold various lectures and discussionsonastronomy, on the extent and geographical distribution of the globe, on thedifferent branches of natural philosophy, and on many problems connected withreligion".Julius Caesar, "De Bello Gallico", VI, 13
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-26http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-27http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-28http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindow_Manhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindow_Commonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-30http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Huttonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Huttonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-31http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Berresford_Ellishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Berresford_Ellishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahminhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Identifying_reliable_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Identifying_reliable_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-32http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nora_Chadwickhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-33http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Druid&action=edit&section=5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cornelius_Polyhistorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cornelius_Polyhistorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reincarnationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metempsychosishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoreanismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metempsychosishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-26http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-27http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-28http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindow_Manhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindow_Commonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-30http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Huttonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-31http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Berresford_Ellishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Berresford_Ellishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahminhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Identifying_reliable_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-32http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nora_Chadwickhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-33http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Druid&action=edit&section=5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cornelius_Polyhistorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reincarnationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metempsychosishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoreanismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metempsychosishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomy


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Diodorus Siculus, writing in 36 BCE, described how the druids followed "thePythagorean doctrine", that human souls "are immortal and after a prescribed number ofyears they commence a new life in a new body."[35] One modern scholar has speculatedthat Buddhist missionaries had been sent by the Indian king Ashoka.[36] Others haveinvoked common Indo-European parallels.[37]Caesar noted the druidic doctrine of the

original ancestor of the tribe, whom he referred to asDispater, orFatherHades.

[edit] Sources on druidism

[edit] Greek and Roman records

The earliest recorded mention of the druids comes from c. 200 BCE, when two Greektexts, one of which was a history of philosophy written by Sotion of Alexandria, and theother which was a study of magic that was widely albeit incorrectly attributed toAristotle, mentioned the existence ofDruidas, or wise men belonging to theKeltois(Celts) and Galatias (either the Galatians or the Gauls).[38]While both of these texts are

now lost, they were quoted in the 2nd century CE workVitae byDiogenes Laertius.[39]Meanwhile, there were also references in Greek and Roman texts during the ensuingcentury to "barbarian philosophers",[40] a possible reference to the Gaulish druids.

[edit] Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar, the Roman general and laterdictator, who wrote the "fullest" and "earliestoriginal text" to describe the druids.[38]

The first known text that actually describes the druids was Julius Caesar'sCommentariide Bello Gallico, book VI, which had been published in the 50s or 40s BCE. A militarygeneral who was intent on conquering Gaul and Britain, Caesar described the druids as
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diodorus_Siculushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-ReferenceC-34http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashokahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashokahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-35http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_religionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-36http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-36http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_(mythology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Druid&action=edit&section=6http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Druid&action=edit&section=7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-Hutton_2009_Page_02-37http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-Hutton_2009_Page_02-37http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes_Laertiushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes_Laertiushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-38http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-39http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Druid&action=edit&section=8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictatorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-Hutton_2009_Page_02-37http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-Hutton_2009_Page_02-37http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commentarii_de_Bello_Gallicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commentarii_de_Bello_Gallicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commentarii_de_Bello_Gallicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gaius_Julius_Caesar_(100-44_BC).JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gaius_Julius_Caesar_(100-44_BC).JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diodorus_Siculushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-ReferenceC-34http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashokahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-35http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_religionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-36http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_(mythology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Druid&action=edit&section=6http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Druid&action=edit&section=7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-Hutton_2009_Page_02-37http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes_Laertiushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-38http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-39http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Druid&action=edit&section=8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictatorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-Hutton_2009_Page_02-37http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commentarii_de_Bello_Gallicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commentarii_de_Bello_Gallico


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being concerned with "divine worship, the due performance of sacrifices, private orpublic, and the interpretation of ritual questions." He claimed that they played animportant part in Gaulish society, being one of the two respected classes along with theequites (a term meaning 'horsemen' which has been usually interpreted as referring towarriors) and that they performed the function of judges. He claimed that they

recognised the authority of a single leader, who would rule till their death, when asuccessor would be chosen by vote or through conflict. He also remarked that they metannually at a sacred place in the region owned by the Carnute tribe in Gaul, while theyviewed Britain as the centre of druidic study, and that they were not found amongst theGerman tribes to the east of the Rhine. According to Caesar, many young men weretrained to be druids, during which they had to learn all the associated lore off by heart.He also claimed that their main teaching was "that souls do not perish, but after deathpass from one to another" but that they were also concerned with "the stars and theirmovements, the size of the cosmos and the earth, the world of nature, the powers ofdeities", indicating that they were involved with such common aspects of religion astheology and cosmology, but also astronomy. Caesar also held that they were

"administrators" during rituals ofhuman sacrifice, for which criminals were usuallyused, and that the method was through burning in awicker man.[20]

While he would have had first hand experience with Gaulish people, and therefore likelywith druids, Caesar's account has been widely criticised by modern historians as beinginaccurate. One issue that had been raised by such historians as Fustel de Coulanges[41]and Ronald Hutton was that while Caesar described the druids as a significant powerwithin Gaulish society, he did not mention them even once in his accounts of his Gaulishconquests, and nor didAulus Hirtius, who continued Caesar's account of the Gallic Warsfollowing the latter's death. Hutton believed that Caesar had manipulated the idea of thedruid so that they would appear both civilised (being learned and pious) and barbaric

(performing human sacrifice) to Roman readers, thereby representing both "a societyworth including in the Roman Empire" and one that required civilising with Roman ruleand values, thus justifying his wars of conquest.[42]

Sean Dunham suggested that Caesar had simply taken the Roman religious functions ofsenators and applied them to the druids.[43] Daphne Nash believed it "not unlikely" thathe "greatly exaggerates" both the centralised system of druidic leadership and itsconnection to Britain.[44]

Other historians have accepted the possibility of Caesar's account being more accurate.Norman J. DeWitt surmised that Caesar's description of the role of druids in Gaulishsociety may report an idealised tradition, based on the society of the 2nd century BCE,before the pan-Gallic confederation led by the Arverni was smashed in 121 BCE,followed by the invasions ofTeutones andCimbri, rather than on the demoralised anddisunited Gaul of his own time.[45]John Creighton has speculated that in Britain, thedruidic social influence was already in decline by the mid-1st century BCE, in conflictwith emergent new power structures embodied in paramount chieftains.[46]Other scholarssee the main reason for the decline of druidism in the Roman conquest itself.[47]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnuteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrificehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicker_manhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicker_manhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-ReferenceA-19http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fustel_de_Coulangeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fustel_de_Coulangeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-40http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fustel_de_Coulangeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Huttonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aulus_Hirtiushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aulus_Hirtiushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-41http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-42http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-42http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-43http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvernihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teutoneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimbrihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimbrihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-44http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-44http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-45http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-45http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-45http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-46http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnuteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrificehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicker_manhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-ReferenceA-19http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fustel_de_Coulangeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-40http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Huttonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aulus_Hirtiushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-41http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-42http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-43http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvernihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teutoneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimbrihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-44http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-45http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-46


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[edit] Cicero, Diodorus Sicilus, Strabo and Tacitus

It would not only be Caesar, but other Greco-Roman writers who would subsequentlycomment on the druids and their practices, although none of them would go into as muchdetail as he. Caesar's contemporary,Marcus Tullius Cicero, noted that he had met a

Gallic druid, Divitiacus, who was a member of the Aedui tribe. Divitiacus supposedlyknew much about the natural world and performed divination through augury.[4] WhetherDiviaticus was genuinely a druid can however be disputed, for Caesar also knew thisfigure, and also wrote about him, calling him by the more Gaulish-sounding (and therebypresumably the more authentic) Diviciacus, but never referred to him as a druid andindeed presented him as a political and military leader.[48]

Another classical writer to take up describing the druids not too long after wasDiodorusSiculus, who published this description in hisBibliotheca historicae in 36 BCE.Alongside the druids, or as he called them, drouidas, whom he viewed as philosophersand theologians, he also remarked how there were poets and singers in Celtic society

whom he called bardous, or bards.[35]

Such an idea was expanded on by Strabo, writingin the 20s CE, who declared that amongst the Gauls, there were three types of honouredfigures: the poets and singers known as bardoi, the diviners and specialists in the naturalworld known as o'vateis, and those who studied "moral philosophy", the druidai.[49]

Nonetheless, the accuracy of these writers has been brought into question, with RonaldHutton stating that "All that can be concluded is that we have absolutely no secureknowledge of the sources used by any of these authors for their comments on Druids,and therefore of their date, their geographical framework or their accuracy."[50]

The Roman writerTacitus, himself a senator and a historian, described how when theRoman army, led bySuetonius Paulinus, attacked the island of Mona (Anglesey, Ynys

Mn in Welsh), the legionaries were awestruck on landing by the appearance of a bandof druids, who, with hands uplifted to the sky, poured forth terrible imprecations on theheads of the invaders. He states that these "terrified our soldiers who had never seen sucha thing before..." The courage of the Romans, however, soon overcame such fears,according to the Roman historian; the Britons were put to flight, and the sacred grovesofMona were cut down.[51] Tacitus is also the only primary source that gives accounts ofdruids in Britain, but maintains a hostile point of view, seeing them as ignorant savages.[52]Ronald Hutton meanwhile points out that there "is no evidence that Tacitus ever usedeye-witness reports" and casts doubt upon the reliability of Tacitus's report.[53]

[edit] Irish and Welsh records

During the Middle Ages, after Ireland and Wales were Christianised, druids appeared ina number of written sources, namely tales and stories such as the Tin B Cailnge, butalso in the hagiographies of various saints. These were all written by Christian monks"who may not merely have been hostile to the earlier paganism but actually ignorant ofit" and so would not have been particularly reliable, but at the same time may provideclues as to the practices of druids in Ireland and to a lesser extent Wales .[54]
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Druid&action=edit&section=9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Tullius_Cicerohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Tullius_Cicerohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divitiacushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-ReferenceB-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-47http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diodorus_Siculushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diodorus_Siculushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diodorus_Siculushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-ReferenceC-34http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-ReferenceC-34http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strabohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-48http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Huttonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Huttonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-49http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suetonius_Paulinushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suetonius_Paulinushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angleseyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ynys_M%C3%B4nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ynys_M%C3%B4nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_grovehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_grovehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-50http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-51http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Huttonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-52http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Druid&action=edit&section=10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianisedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianisedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A1in_B%C3%B3_C%C3%BAailngehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A1in_B%C3%B3_C%C3%BAailngehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-53http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-53http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Druid&action=edit&section=9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Tullius_Cicerohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divitiacushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-ReferenceB-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-47http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diodorus_Siculushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diodorus_Siculushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-ReferenceC-34http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strabohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-48http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Huttonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Huttonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-49http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suetonius_Paulinushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angleseyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ynys_M%C3%B4nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ynys_M%C3%B4nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_grovehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-50http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-51http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Huttonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-52http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Druid&action=edit&section=10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianisedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A1in_B%C3%B3_C%C3%BAailngehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagiographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-53


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[edit] Irish literature and law codes

The Irish passages referring to druids in such vernacular sources were "more numerousthan those on the classical texts" of the Greeks and Romans, and paint a somewhatdifferent picture of them. The druids in Irish literature - for whom words such as drui,

draoi, drua and drai are used - are sorcerers with supernatural powers, who are respectedin society, particularly for their ability to perform divination. They can cast spells andturn people into animals or stones, or curse peoples crops to be blighted. At the sametime, the term druid is sometimes used to refer to any figure who uses magic, forinstance in the Fenian Cycle, both giants and warriors are referred to as druids when theycast a spell, even though they are not usually referred to as such; as Ronald Hutton noted,in medieval Irish literature, "the category of Druid [is] very porous."[55]

When druids are portrayed in early Irish sagas and saints' lives set in the pre-Christianpast of the island, they are usually accorded high social status. The evidence of the law-texts, which were first written down in the 7th and 8th centuries, suggests that with the

coming of Christianity the role of the druid in Irish society was rapidly reduced to that ofa sorcerer who could be consulted to cast spells or practise healing magic and that hisstanding declined accordingly.[56] According to the early legal tractBretha Crlige, thesick-maintenance due to a druid, satirist and brigand (dberg) is no more than that due toa baire (an ordinary freeman). Another law-text, Uraicecht Becc (Small primer), givesthe druid a place among the der-nemedor professional classes which depend for theirstatus on a patron, along with wrights, blacksmiths and entertainers, as opposed to thefili, who alone enjoyed free nemed-status.[57]

[edit] Welsh literature

Whilst druids featured prominently in many medieval Irish sources, they were far rarer intheir Welsh counterparts. Unlike the Irish texts, the Welsh term commonly seen asreferring to the druids, dryw, was used to refer purely toprophets and not to sorcerers orpagan priests. Historian Ronald Hutton noted that there were two explanations for theuse of the term in Wales: the first was that it was a survival from the pre-Christian era,when dryw had been ancient priests, whilst the second was that the Welsh had borrowedthe term from the Irish, as had the English (who used the terms dry and drycraeftto referto magicians and magic respectively, most probably influenced by the Irish terms.)[58]

[edit] Archaeology

As the historian Jane Webster stated, "individual druids... are unlikely to be identifiedarchaeologically",[59]a view which was echoed by Ronald Hutton, who declared that "notone single artefact or image has been unearthed that can undoubtedly be connected withthe ancient Druids."[3] A.P. Fitzpatrick, in examining what he believed to be astralsymbolism on Late Iron Age swords has expressed difficulties in relating any materialculture, even the Coligny calendar, with druidic culture.[60] Nonetheless, somearchaeologists have attempted to link certain discoveries with written accounts of thedruids, for instance the archaeologist Anne Ross linked what she believed to be evidence
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ofhuman sacrifice in Celtic pagan society - such as the Lindow Manbog body - to theGreco-Roman accounts of human sacrifice being officiated over by the druids.[61][62]

[edit] History of reception

[edit] Prohibition and decline under Roman rule

During the Gallic Wars of 58 to 51 BCE, the Roman army, led by Julius Caesar,conquered the many tribal chiefdoms of Gaul, and annexed it as a part of the RomanEmpire. According to accounts produced in the following centuries, the new rulers ofRoman Gaul subsequently introduced measures to wipe out the druids from that country.According toPliny the Elder, writing in the 70s CE, it was the emperorTiberius (whoruled from 14 to 37 CE), who introduced laws banning not only druidism, but also othernative soothsayers and healers, a move which Pliny applauded, believing that it wouldend human sacrifice in Gaul.[63]A somewhat different account of Roman legal attacks ondruidism was made by Suetonius, writing in the 2nd century CE, when he claimed that

Rome's first emperor, Augustus (who had ruled from 27 BCE till 14 CE), had decreedthat no-one could be both a druid and a Roman citizen, and that this was followed by alaw passed by the later EmperorClaudius (who had ruled from 41 to 54 CE) which"thoroughly suppressed" the druids by banning their religious practices.[64]

[edit] Possible late survival of Insular druidism

Further information:Christianization of Ireland, Christianization of Wales, andTaliesin

The best evidence of a druidic tradition in the British Isles is the independent cognate ofthe Celtic*druwid- in Insular Celtic: The Old Irish drudechtsurvives in the meaning of"magic", and the Welsh dryw in the meaning of "seer". Although there are nocontemporary records of Insular druidism in antiquity other than the account by Tacitus,there is some evidence that the druidic tradition in Ireland may have survived until as lateas the 7th century: in theDe mirabilibus sacrae scripturae of Augustinus Hibernicus (fl.655), there is mention of local magi who teach a doctrine oftransmigration in the form ofbirds. The word magus was often used in Hiberno-Latin works for a translation ofdruid.[65]

While the druids as a priestly caste were extinct with theChristianization of Wales,complete by the 7th century at the latest, the offices ofbard and of "seer" (Welsh: dryw)persisted inmedieval Wales into the 13th century.

Phillip Freeman, a classics professor, discusses a later reference to Dryades, which hetranslates as Druidesses, writing that "The fourth century A.D. collection of imperialbiographies known as the Historia Augusta contains three short passages involvingGaulish women called "Dryades" ("Druidesses")." He points out that "In all of these, thewomen may not be direct heirs of the Druids who were supposedly extinguished by theRomans but in any case they do show that the druidic function of prophesy continuedamong the natives in Roman Gaul."[66] However, the Historia Augusta is frequently
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interpreted by scholars as a largely satirical work, and such details might have beenintroduced in a humorous fashion. Additionally, Druidesses are mentioned in later Irishmythology, including the legend ofFionn mac Cumhaill, who, according to the 12thcenturyThe Boyhood Deeds of Fionn, is raised by the druidessBodhmall and a wise-woman.[67][68]

[edit] Christian historiography and hagiography

The story ofVortigern, as reported byNennius, provides one of the very few glimpses ofpossible druidic survival in Britain after the Roman conquest: unfortunately, Nennius isnoted for mixing fact and legend in such a way that it is now impossible to know thetruth behind his text. He wrote that after being excommunicated by Germanus, theBritish leader Vortigern invited twelve druids to assist him.

In the lives of saints and martyrs, the druids are represented as magicians and diviners. InAdamnan's vita of Columba, two of them act as tutors to the daughters ofLegaire mac

Nill, the High King of Ireland, at the coming ofSaint Patrick. They are represented asendeavouring to prevent the progress of Patrick and Saint Columbaby raising clouds andmist. Before the battle of Culdremne (561) a druid made an airbe drtiad(fence ofprotection?) round one of the armies, but what is precisely meant by the phrase isunclear. The Irish druids seem to have had a peculiar tonsure. The word druis alwaysused to render the Latinmagus, and in one passage St Columba speaks of Christ as hisdruid. Similarly, a life of St Beuno states that when he died he had a vision of 'all thesaints and druids'.

Sulpicius Severus' Vita ofMartin of Tours relates how Martin encountered a peasantfuneral, carrying the body in a winding sheet, which Martin mistook for some druidic

rites ofsacrifice, "because it was the custom of the Gallic rustics in their wretched follyto carry about through the fields the images ofdemons veiled with a white covering." SoMartin halted the procession by raising his pectoral cross: "Upon this, the miserablecreatures might have been seen at first to become stiff like rocks. Next, as theyendeavoured, with every possible effort, to move forward, but were not able to take astep farther, they began to whirl themselves about in the most ridiculous fashion, until,not able any longer to sustain the weight, they set down the dead body." Thendiscovering his error, Martin raised his hand again to let them proceed: "Thus," thehagiographer points out," he both compelled them to stand when he pleased, andpermitted them to depart when he thought good."[69]

[edit] Romanticism and modern revivals

Main articles: Celtic revivalandNeo-druidism
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"The Druidess", oil on canvas, by French painterAlexandre Cabanel (1823-1890)

A group ofNeo-druids inEngland.

From the 18th century, England and Wales experienced a revival of interest in the druids.John Aubrey (16261697) had been the first modern writer to connect Stonehenge andothermegalithic monuments with the druids; since Aubrey's views were confined to hisnotebooks, the first wide audience for this idea were readers ofWilliam Stukeley(16871765).[70]John Toland (16701722) shaped ideas about the druids current during much ofthe 18th and 19th centuries. He founded theAncient Druid Orderin London whichexisted from 1717 until it split into two groups in 1964. The order never used ( and stilldoes not use ) the title "Archdruid" for any member, but in retrospect creditedWilliamBlake as having been its "Chosen Chief" from 1799 to 1827, without corroboration in

Blake's numerous writings or among modern Blake scholars. Blake's bardic mysticismderives instead from the pseudo-Ossianicepics of Macpherson; his friend FrederickTatham's depiction of Blake's imagination, "clothing itself in the dark stole of muralsanctity" in the precincts of Westminster Abbey "it dwelt amid the Druid terrors", isgeneric rather than specifically neo-Druidic.[71]John Toland was fascinated by Aubrey'sStonehenge theories, and wrote his own book about the monument without creditingAubrey.
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The 19th-century idea, gained from uncritical reading of the Gallic Wars, that undercultural-military pressure from Rome the druids formed the core of 1st-century BCEresistance among the Gauls, was examined and dismissed before World War II,[72] thoughit remains current in folk history.

Druids began to figure widely in popular culture with the first advent ofRomanticism.Chateaubriand's novelLes Martyrs (1809) narrated the doomed love of a druid priestessand a Roman soldier; though Chateaubriand's theme was the triumph of Christianity overPagan druids, the setting was to continue to bear fruit.Opera provides a barometer ofwell-informed popular European culture in the early 19th century: in 1817 GiovanniPacini brought druids to the stage in Trieste with an opera to a libretto by Felice Romaniabout a druid priestess,La Sacerdotessa d'Irminsul("The Priestess ofIrminsul"). Themost famous druidic opera, Vincenzo Bellini'sNorma was a fiasco at La Scala, when itpremiered the day after Christmas, 1831; but in 1833 it was a hit in London. For itslibretto, Felice Romani reused some of the pseudo-druidical background ofLaSacerdotessa to provide colour to a standard theatrical conflict of love and duty. The

story was similar to that ofMedea, as it had recently been recast for a popular Parisianplay by Alexandre Soumet: the diva ofNorma's hit aria, "Casta Diva", is the moongoddess, being worshipped in the "grove of theIrminstatue".

A central figure in 19th century Romanticist Neo-Druidism is the Welshman EdwardWilliams, better known asIolo Morganwg. His writings, published posthumously as TheIolo Manuscripts (1849) andBarddas (1862), are not considered credible bycontemporary scholars. Williams claimed to have collected ancient knowledge in a"Gorsedd of Bards of the Isles of Britain" he had organized. Many scholars deem part orall of Williams's work to be fabrication, and purportedly many of the documents are ofhis own fabrication, but a large portion of the work has indeed been collected from

meso-pagan sources dating from as far back as 600 AD.

[citation needed]

Regardless, it hasbecome impossible to separate the original source material from the fabricated work, andwhile bits and pieces of theBarddas still turn up in some "Neo-druidic" works, thedocuments are considered irrelevant by most serious scholars.

T.D. Kendrick's dispelled (1927) the pseudo-historical aura that had accrued to druids,[73]

asserting that "a prodigious amount of rubbish has been written about druidism"; [74] Neo-druidism has nevertheless continued to shape public perceptions of the historical druids.The British Museum is blunt:

Modern Druids have no direct connection to the Druids of the Iron Age. Many ofour popular ideas about the Druids are based on the misunderstandings andmisconceptions of scholars 200 years ago. These ideas have been superseded bylater study and discoveries.[75]

Some strands of contemporary Neodruidism are a continuation of the 18th-centuryrevival and thus are built largely around writings produced in the 18th century and afterby second-hand sources and theorists. Some are monotheistic. Others, such as the largestDruid group in the world, The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids draw on a wide range
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallic_Warshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaulshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-71http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois-Ren%C3%A9_de_Chateaubriandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois-Ren%C3%A9_de_Chateaubriandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Pacinihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Pacinihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triestehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felice_Romanihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irminsulhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincenzo_Bellinihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincenzo_Bellinihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norma_(opera)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Scalahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felice_Romanihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medeahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_Soumethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irminhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irminhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irminhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iolo_Morganwghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iolo_Morganwghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorseddhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-druidismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-72http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-73http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-74http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotheismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Bards,_Ovates_and_Druidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallic_Warshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaulshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-71http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois-Ren%C3%A9_de_Chateaubriandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Pacinihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Pacinihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triestehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felice_Romanihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irminsulhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincenzo_Bellinihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norma_(opera)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Scalahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felice_Romanihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medeahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_Soumethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irminhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iolo_Morganwghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorseddhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-druidismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-72http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-73http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid#cite_note-74http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotheismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Bards,_Ovates_and_Druids


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of sources for their teachings. Members of such Neo-druid groups may beNeopagan,occultist, Reconstructionist, Christian or non-specifically spiritual.

[edit] Modern scholarship

In the 20th century, as new forms of textual criticism and archaeological methods weredeveloped, allowing for greater accuracy in understanding the past, various historiansand archaeologists published books on the subject of the druids and came to their ownconclusions. The archaeologist Stuart Piggott, author ofThe Druids (1968), accepted theGreco-Roman accounts and considered the druids to be a barbaric and savage priesthoodwho performed human sacrifices.[76] This view was largely supported by anotherarchaeologist, Anne Ross, author ofPagan Celtic Britain (1967) and The Life and Deathof a Druid Prince (1989), although she believed that they were essentially tribal priests,having more in common with the shamans of tribal societies than with the classicalphilosophers.[77] Ross' views were largely accepted by two other prominentarchaeologists to write on the subject, Miranda Aldhouse-Green[78] - author ofThe Gods

of the Celts (1986),Exploring the World of the Druids (1997) and Caesar's Druids:Story of an Ancient Priesthood(2010) - and Barry Cunliffe, author ofIron AgeCommunities in Britain (1991) and The Ancient Celts (1997).[79]

[edit] References

Footnotes

1. ^Antiquitas explanatione et schematibus illustrata vol. ii, part ii, book v. (p. 436).Montfaucon claims that he is reproducing a bas-relief found atAutun, Burgundy.2. ^ Hutton 2009. p. 01.

3. ^a

b

Hutton 2009. p. 23.4. ^ abCicero 44. I.XVI.90.5. ^ Tacitus. XIV.30.6. ^ Pliny c.78. XVI.249.7. ^ mention of Irish dru"druid" in a Christianized context as late as the 8th century in the

poems ofBlathmac. Mac Mathna, Liam (1999) "Irish Perceptions of the Cosmos"Celtica vol.23 (1999), 174-187 (p. 181).8. ^ Hutton 2009. p. 32-37.9. ^ abPiggott 1968. p. 89.10. ^ Druides, Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short,A Latin Dictionary, on Perseus project11. ^ abcde Caroline aan de Wiel, "druids [3] the word", in Celtic Culture.12. ^ , Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott,A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus

13. ^ Pokorny'sIndogermanisches etymologisches Wrterbuch, see alsoAmerican HeritageDictionary (4th ed.),14. ^ Proto-IE *deru-, a cognate to English tree, is the word for "oak", though the root has awider array of meanings related to "to be firm, solid, steadfast" (whence e.g. Englishtrue). TheAmerican Heritage Dictionary of the English Language . Fourth Edition, 2000 Indo-EuropeanRoots: deru-.15. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition, 2000Indo-European Roots: weid-.
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16. ^ , Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott,A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseusproject17. ^ List of ancient Greek words ending in -, on Perseus18. ^ See further Brian Cuv, "SomeGaelictraditions about the wren".igse 18 (1980):

pp. 43-66.19. ^ Hutton 2007. p. xi.

20. ^a

b

c

Caesar, Julius.De bello gallico. VI.13-18.21. ^ Hutton 2007. p. 44-45.22. ^ Pomponius Mela iii.2.18-19.23. ^ Hutton 1991. p. 171.24. ^ Gallic Wars vi.14.3.25. ^ John Daniel The Philosophy of Ancient Britain, Kessinger Publishing, LLC (May 23,2010), ISBN 978-116137874026. ^ Lucan,Pharsalia i.450-58; Caesar, Gallic Wars vi.16, 17.3-5; Suetonius, Claudius 25;Cicero,Pro Font. 31; Cicero,De Rep. 9 (15);cited after Norman J. DeWitt, "The Druids andRomanization" Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association69(1938:319-332) p 321 note 427. ^ Brunaux, Jean-Louis (2001). "Gallic Blood Rites" inArchaeology 54.2.

druid definition from wikipedia

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