The Druids

Ancient Peoples and Places

by Stuart Piggott

Combines fact and folklore in exploring the history and culture of the mysterious Celtic priests

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Archaeology, Mythology, Paganism, Anthropology

214 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Stuart Ernest Piggott, CBE, FBA, FSA, FRSE FSA Scot was an English archaeologist, best known for his work on prehistoric Wessex.

Piggott was born in Petersfield, Hampshire, the son of G. H. O. Piggott, and was educated there at Churcher's College. On leaving school in 1927 he took up a post as assistant at Reading Museum, where he developed an expertise in Neolithic pottery.

In 1928 he joined the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales and spent the next five years producing a revolutionary study of the site of Butser Hill, near Petersfield. He also worked with Eliot Cecil Curwen on their excavations at The Trundle causewayed enclosure in Sussex.

Still without any formal archaeological qualification, Piggott enrolled at Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler's Institute of Archaeology, London, taking his diploma in 1936. In 1937 he published another seminal paper, The Early Bronze Age in Wessex.

In 1958 Piggott published a survey of Scottish prehistory, Scotland before History, and in 1959 a popular introductory volume, Approach to Archaeology.

Reviews

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A basic summary which attempts to separate what, in the popular imagination of the day, druids were and what and who they were, bolstered by the observations in Celtic, Greek and Roman sources as well as critical analysis of archeological evidence. The book is replete with photographs, drawings and diagrams which really add a dimension to this subject. I found its implications for the western development of religious concepts as well as receptivity of others ..such as personal immortality to be quite interesting.

[Bryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's one of those 'classics' that a lot of other books refer to. I can't claim it's any joy to read. Although Piggott was writing in the 1960s, his tone is dry to the point of dessication, and he assumes a familiarity with (then) contemporary achaeology and names that makes it hard going. If you read this because you're a druid, there's the additional problem that Piggott clearly didn't much like druids, ancient or modern.
However, there are some interesting bits of information about archaeology and interpreting Roman texts that I haven't seen anywhere else, so, if you're slightly masochistic, or a completest, or really into the subject of Celtic archaeology, it is worth a go.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first books to tackle the druids in a scholarly manner. This is not for those looking for fantasy or lore driven narrative. It is very dry and concise; Piggott does not speculate much (which I think is a good thing). Piggott does not play to the fancy of the druid, but focuses on what has been unearthed in search of the druid. A must for anyone with an interest in archaeology, history, and function of druids in ancient Celtic society. A nice addition to a Celtic library. Dated, but not irrelevant.

[Cole · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting exploration of some of the sources of Druid knowledge and some of the archaeological sites from around Britain and Celtic Europe.

Unfortunately, Piggott's work is very of its time in its attitude. He's very chauvinistic towards his own age and I feel he's a fundamental materialist. All will be explained by physical process and these Druids and their society was barbaric, primitive and full of things we can overlook and criticise today.

I feel there has been a shift in that sort of attitude in the past 30 to 40 years, and it doesn't need to be relativist either. Some of it has definitely been positive.

[Thomas T · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit dated and dry as a turkey left to roast long after it's prime.

[Cheshirka · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 из 5, потому что зубодробительное написание текста стало и в каком-то роде и открытием, и головной болью. Если хотите поистязать мозг-милости просим, написание соответствует языку научных работ, но (хвала богам!) почти без специфических терминов.
По объему книга маленькая, этакая концентрированная вычитка из разных авторов классической эпохи и эпохи Возрождения. Если сократить и это описание, то роль друидов в жизни кельтского общества так и не выяснена: либо жрецы, либо хранители традиций, либо судьи, либо все сразу. Так как сами о себе они не писали, а разные источники толкую все по-разному, то и сами друиды (да и кельты, что островные, что континентальные) предстают то мудрыми старцами, которые управляют народом, то дикарями, совершающими человеческие жертвоприношения, сжигая людей живьем. Все-таки, когда греческий мир "обнаружил" рядом такую большую народность, как кельты, их и народностью-то сложно назвать: родоплеменной строй, кучки кланов, которые постоянно вели борьбу между собой. Какие тут супер просвещенные философы, рассуждающие об устройстве вселенной и создающие выдающие теории всего? Кельты и галлы были продвинуты, насколько может быть продвинут любой человек железного века в плане выживания, славились кузнецами и постоянными войнами, но есть свидетельства того, что друиды могли останавливать войны и служили посредниками и судьями между вождями, при этом не занимая руководящих постов. Они вобрали в себя множество функций: изучение природы, выполнение ритуалов, обучение молодежи. И экспрессивность, с которой римский и греческий мир воспринял все то, что увидел своими глазами (включая жертвоприношения, конечно же), наложила отпечаток на то, как мы можем воспринимать этих друидов в современности. Решающую роль в их описании сыграло субъективное мнение описателя, а не их объективные черты. Различия мировоззрения греков и кельтов настолько впечатлили греков, что и друиды у них получились совершенно разные, у каждого автора свое описание.
В общем-то, это основной посыл книги. Там идет еще небольшой разбор погребальных обрядов, описания курганов и святилищ кельтов, археологические данные и, как бонус, восприятие друидизма в веке Ренессанса и в современном мире.
В общем смысле поучительно, но не панацея от всего, конечно) Если интересует кельтский народ-вполне годно к прочтению (если сумеете прорваться сквозь язык, конечно ;))

[Jrobertus · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most amusing part of this book is Piggott's observation that each era interprets Stone Henge in terms of its own technology.

[Snicketts · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a wide ranging topic and this book did its best to integrate and explain the different strands. There are three main elements here -the archaeological evidence of the celtic peoples, the literary sources from Greek and Roman writers, contemporary or otherwise, and the appropriation of the druid title by the romantics of the 18oo and 1900s. They do not make a good fit in my view.

The first two elements of the druidic identity wove quite well together and the author gave an overview of the celtic world and the evidence we have for that knowledge. The hard archaeological evidence for the druid class is sparse, but Piggott made room for the idea of a priest/wise man/bard/teacher/judge into which the druid might well have plugged a gap. Following this he reviewed the literary evidence, putting it into context to explain the motivations and expectations of the writers which was very useful and interesting.

The last part of the book was always going to be problematic, but the author examined the druidic renaissance in some detail but with academic rigour which showed it to be almost entirely without basis in fact.

While this provided an excellent overview of the druids, modern and ancient, putting the two together detracted from the scholarship of the topic for me. They are discrete lines of inquiry linked only by the imagination of a romantic ideal and the word.

If I'd stopped reading before the third element of the text, I would have been better served. And of course, this is a book written some years ago now, so perhaps the modern druid movement held more sway than it does today. Either way, it's a good, solid read for someone with a background in the classics or archaeology as those with a more casual interest might find the evidence a little dry at times.

[Federica Bookblogger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dal blog "Gli occhi del lupo"
Il tomo racconta la struttura gerarchica dell'antica Gallia: dopo il re e la famiglia reale, ci fa sapere l'autore, la società era tripartita. C'erano due classi di proprietari terrieri, cavalieri e baroni, sacerdoti o chierici (Druidi).
Questa classe comprendeva anche i veggenti o divinatori e, infine, vi era la plebe. Essi venivano paragonati ai magi persiani, ai preti egiziani e ai bramini indiani (membro della casta sacerdotale del Varnasrama dharma).
I Druidi erano visti come veggenti, profeti, guaritori, maghi e divinatori: un misto fra l'uomo della medicina e lo stregone del mondo antico.
Erano soliti creare incantamenti che venivano operati con vischio, selagio e samolus; si ricollegano a una conoscenza empirica delle erbe, incluse quelle medicinali.
L'autore analizza questa casta fornendoci dei particolari sullo stile di vita, la religione, i loro rituali.
Detto ciò, il saggio era interessante, forse un po' noioso a tratti ma sicuramente molto esplicativo.
Blog: gliocchidellupolibro.blogspot.it

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a gift I received years ago from a friend. While it is interesting and I did learn a lot from rereading it, it was also challenging. It is quite academic and the author assumes that I am aware of many things that I am not. Things like place names in Bronze and Iron Age Europe; the names and works of multiple scholars from the time of Julius Caesar to the present; and fluency in Latin, Greek, French and a bit of German. In addition, the sentence lengths sometimes stretched to complete paragraphs!
I learned that the Celtic culture existed from Ireland and Scotland to Spain and all the way across Europe to Galatia; as far back as the 13th Century BCE. The ancient Druids were the priestly class of the Celts, and they were not involved with the building of Stonehenge. Apparently Stonehenge predates the Druids by several millennium.

[Riley M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dry and academic but a good overview of what we actually know about ancient druids (not much) and how a romanticised vision about them took hold and linked them to things they weren’t actually connected to (like Stonehenge).

[Ryan Ricks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely written in a scholarly style which takes some getting used to. The book was highly informative and had some great ideas. However it felt like the first half of the book was background and context.

[Luca · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to cut facts from fictions about the drudis, this is the book for you.
The author will bring you on a well-structured and critical journey from ancient times to modern days via the source of ancient authors and more recent speculation on this mysterious figure.

[SamTheOwl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuart is extremely dry, but if you feel you can persevere, this is a good read. I suggest it for anyone starting down the Druid path, or just wanting to gain further knowledge in general.

[Leda Frost · Rating 2 out of 5]

Those interested in the druids and Celtic history will find a wealth of detailed knowledge in this book, including the popular presentation of such people throughout time. That said, this is not a book for amateurs or the casual reader.

[Mary-Jean Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was alright, quite academic and looking at different interpretations on the Druids. It looked at archeological evidence, Classical writers' conceptions of the Druids (such as Caesar and Posidonius), and later "Romantic" conceptions. I would have liked more descriptions about how the Druids lived and what they actually did though (I'm trying to get info like this for my next novel and haven't been particularly successful). I did find that there were a lot of interesting fragments of information in this book, but I would have liked them to be grouped by topic instead of by the time of interpretation. Overall though, it was a good book for research and included a lot of nice pictures and drawings.

[Ancestral Gaidheal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though only a small book, it does discuss most the information available about historical druids. It takes a glance at the modern groups, but there are other books, most recently written, that cover them in more depth.

Easy to digest and with good illustrations and bibliography allowing further reading. I liked this little pelican paperback, despite having difficulty with one or two statements made therein by the author.

[SmarterLilac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thorough and complete. Nothing I wouldn't recommend to others, unless they couldn't tolerate the somewhat antiquated language used throughout the text (as in the references to everything pre-Roman as 'barbarian.') Nothing in here about the Druids rumored blood sacrifices, some great photos of sculpture and statuary of the period, (really, really interesting stuff, too) and actual photos of 'modern day' Druids (fascinating.)

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little repetitive and quite dry, but fun. I enjoyed this review of the archeological record, epigraphy, and classical sources on Druids, as well as the romantic nonsense that evolved about them in the 17th through 20th centuries.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

mythology,religion,nonfiction

[Norabear · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nicely illustrated, unreadable, very little information.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

The classical historical work on the druids, much interesting historical information, but too stiff to see the whole picture

[Cicely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative!

[Karissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Over a year to finish this book...dry and boring.

[Michael Wylde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many classics, it is dated, and if you've read anything about the Druids since 1970 you've probably already read the information that Piggott collected in this volume.