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[A Brief History of the Druids (Brief Histories S)] [By: Ellis, Peter Berresford] [March, 2002]
Shrouded in legend, the mysterious cult of the ancient Druids continues to fascinate, inspiring latter-day imitators who often are only a poorly researched and romantic reflection of Druidic lore. In this compelling and readable history, respected Celtic scholar Peter Berresford Ellis explores who the Druids really were and what role they played in the Celtic world. Ellis provides a fresh and convincing interpretation of the facts, based on both archaeological and etymological findings. "Remarkable ... offers much for the academician as well as the general reader. Fascinating reading!"—Joseph A. King, author of Ireland to North America
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First published February 7, 2013
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About the author
Peter Berresford Ellis
52 books154 followersPeter Berresford Ellis is a historian, literary biographer, and novelist who has published over 90 books to date either under his own name or his pseudonyms Peter Tremayne and Peter MacAlan. He has also published 95 short stories. His non-fiction books, articles and academic papers have made him acknowledged as an authority on Celtic history and culture. Under Peter Tremayne, he is the author of the international bestselling Sister Fidelma mystery series. His work has appeared in 25 languages.
He began his career as a junior reporter on an English south coast weekly, becoming deputy editor of an Irish weekly newspaper and was then editor of a weekly trade journal in London. He first went as a feature writer to Northern Ireland in 1964 for a London daily newspaper which had a profound effect on him. His first book was published in 1968: Wales: a Nation Again, on the Welsh struggle for political independence, with a foreword by Gwynfor Evans, Plaid Cymru's first Member of Parliament. In 1975 he became a full-time writer. He used his academic background to produce many popular titles in the field of Celtic Studies and he has written numerous academic articles and papers in the field for journals ranging from The Linguist (London) to The Irish Sword: Journal of the Irish Military History Society (UCD). He is highly regarded by academics in his own field and was described by The Times Higher Education Supplement, London, (June, 1999) as one of the leading authorities on the Celts then writing. He has been International Chairman of the Celtic League 1988–1990; chairman of Scrif-Celt (The Celtic Languages Book Fair in 1985 and in 1986); chairman and vice-president of the London Association for Celtic Education 1989–1995, and now is an Hon. Life Member); He was also chairman of his local ward Labour Party in London, England, and was editorial advisor on Labour and Ireland magazine in the early 1990s. He is a member of the Society of Authors.
Apart from his Celtic Studies interests, Ellis has always been fascinated by aspects of popular literature and has written full-length biographies on H. Rider Haggard, W. E. Johns, Talbot Mundy as well as critical essays on many more popular fiction authors. His own output in the fictional field, writing in the genre of horror fantasy and heroic fantasy, began in 1977 when the first "Peter Tremayne" book appeared. Between 1983 and 1993 he also wrote eight adventure thrillers under the name "Peter MacAlan". Ellis has published (as of January, 2009) a total of 91 books, 95 short stories, several pamphlets, and numerous academic papers and signed journalistic articles. Under his own name he wrote two long running columns: 'Anonn is Anall' (Here and There) from 1987–2008 for the Irish Democrat, and, "Anois agus Arís" (Now and Again) from 2000–2008 for The Irish Post. His books break down into 34 titles under his own name; 8 titles under the pseudonym of Peter MacAlan and 49 titles under his pseudonym of Peter Tremayne. He has lectured widely at universities in several countries, including the UK, Ireland, American, Canada, France and Italy. He has also broadcast on television and radio since 1968. With the great popularity of his 7th Century set Sister Fidelma Mysteries, in January, 2001, an International Sister Fidelma Society was formed in Charleston, South Carolina, with a website and producing a print magazine three times a year called The Brehon. In 2006 the Cashel Arts Fest established the first three-day international gathering of fans of the series which is now held bi-annually and receives the full support of the Society
He began his career as a junior reporter on an English south coast weekly, becoming deputy editor of an Irish weekly newspaper and was then editor of a weekly trade journal in London. He first went as a feature writer to Northern Ireland in 1964 for a London daily newspaper which had a profound effect on him. His first book was published in 1968: Wales: a Nation Again, on the Welsh struggle for political independence, with a foreword by Gwynfor Evans, Plaid Cymru's first Member of Parliament. In 1975 he became a full-time writer. He used his academic background to produce many popular titles in the field of Celtic Studies and he has written numerous academic articles and papers in the field for journals ranging from The Linguist (London) to The Irish Sword: Journal of the Irish Military History Society (UCD). He is highly regarded by academics in his own field and was described by The Times Higher Education Supplement, London, (June, 1999) as one of the leading authorities on the Celts then writing. He has been International Chairman of the Celtic League 1988–1990; chairman of Scrif-Celt (The Celtic Languages Book Fair in 1985 and in 1986); chairman and vice-president of the London Association for Celtic Education 1989–1995, and now is an Hon. Life Member); He was also chairman of his local ward Labour Party in London, England, and was editorial advisor on Labour and Ireland magazine in the early 1990s. He is a member of the Society of Authors.
Apart from his Celtic Studies interests, Ellis has always been fascinated by aspects of popular literature and has written full-length biographies on H. Rider Haggard, W. E. Johns, Talbot Mundy as well as critical essays on many more popular fiction authors. His own output in the fictional field, writing in the genre of horror fantasy and heroic fantasy, began in 1977 when the first "Peter Tremayne" book appeared. Between 1983 and 1993 he also wrote eight adventure thrillers under the name "Peter MacAlan". Ellis has published (as of January, 2009) a total of 91 books, 95 short stories, several pamphlets, and numerous academic papers and signed journalistic articles. Under his own name he wrote two long running columns: 'Anonn is Anall' (Here and There) from 1987–2008 for the Irish Democrat, and, "Anois agus Arís" (Now and Again) from 2000–2008 for The Irish Post. His books break down into 34 titles under his own name; 8 titles under the pseudonym of Peter MacAlan and 49 titles under his pseudonym of Peter Tremayne. He has lectured widely at universities in several countries, including the UK, Ireland, American, Canada, France and Italy. He has also broadcast on television and radio since 1968. With the great popularity of his 7th Century set Sister Fidelma Mysteries, in January, 2001, an International Sister Fidelma Society was formed in Charleston, South Carolina, with a website and producing a print magazine three times a year called The Brehon. In 2006 the Cashel Arts Fest established the first three-day international gathering of fans of the series which is now held bi-annually and receives the full support of the Society
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
November 9, 2017
I came to this book with a layman´s knowledge of the Druids, intrigued by Caesar´s descriptions and wondering how true the stereotypical image of bearded men in white robes was. I leave with a much broader picture of what this caste of Celts was, and for that I give the book a solid three stars.
There is a lot of information here, mainly and necessarily drawn from Irish and Gaulish sources as the pre-Christian Celts of England left very little written down. The idea of one broad, Indo-European culture, which links the Celts and Hindus in religion and language is fascinating (and seductive) and there is also much to enjoy about the Celts know-how in the fields of astronomy, medicine and philosophy, but the book is inconsistent, repetitive and frustrating to read.
For me it is a text in need of an editor with a clear vision for how to present the material, to cut the chaff, to organise the chapters and to provide structure. This is more "overview" than "introduction" and both it and reader finally suffer from a general lack of focus, not helped by over-quoting from other books on the subject.
There´s so much information here, clumped together, sometimes brief, sometimes rambling, that the book reads like the author´s notes and he might have done well to throw a bit more caution to the wind and write a clear, orderly, bold introduction, in his own words, as to what he thinks the Druids were. He obviously knows.
There is a lot of information here, mainly and necessarily drawn from Irish and Gaulish sources as the pre-Christian Celts of England left very little written down. The idea of one broad, Indo-European culture, which links the Celts and Hindus in religion and language is fascinating (and seductive) and there is also much to enjoy about the Celts know-how in the fields of astronomy, medicine and philosophy, but the book is inconsistent, repetitive and frustrating to read.
For me it is a text in need of an editor with a clear vision for how to present the material, to cut the chaff, to organise the chapters and to provide structure. This is more "overview" than "introduction" and both it and reader finally suffer from a general lack of focus, not helped by over-quoting from other books on the subject.
There´s so much information here, clumped together, sometimes brief, sometimes rambling, that the book reads like the author´s notes and he might have done well to throw a bit more caution to the wind and write a clear, orderly, bold introduction, in his own words, as to what he thinks the Druids were. He obviously knows.
July 21, 2022
In A Brief History of the Druids, I discovered an updated anthropological and archaeological rendering of what had to be a thriving culture in history; pre-Roman. We now have confirmed that the roads in the United Kingdom, once believed to be Roman-built, are actually remnants of a remarkable Celtic civilisation that evidence supports lasted for centuries.
Astonished, are ye? at such claims? Peter Bereford Ellis is currently accepted as the foremost expert on the peoples that populated all of Europe. In this book, he brushes on the broad number of sciences that have now come together, combining their individual pools of data collected and their knowledge. If you have any interest at all in history, especially in pre-Roman times, I must encourage you to sample this book.
I found it a wonderment, an inspiration, to discover. But I am a weirdo science nerd, jus' saying!
And I love linguistics, archaeology, and pre-history.
Astonished, are ye? at such claims? Peter Bereford Ellis is currently accepted as the foremost expert on the peoples that populated all of Europe. In this book, he brushes on the broad number of sciences that have now come together, combining their individual pools of data collected and their knowledge. If you have any interest at all in history, especially in pre-Roman times, I must encourage you to sample this book.
I found it a wonderment, an inspiration, to discover. But I am a weirdo science nerd, jus' saying!
And I love linguistics, archaeology, and pre-history.
October 9, 2021
I’ve read this book before. I did so while riding on a bus to my job in Manhattan (see Sects and Violence in the Ancient World for more details on that). Now that I could sit down and annotate it, I found this a fascinating treatment in many regards. A lot of stories are told about the Druids, most of them based on no, or very little, evidence. Ellis provides a needed corrective, and suggests throughout that they are part of early Indo-European culture, analogs to the Indian Brahmins.
Whether or not that’s the case, the Druids were clearly leaders in Celtic society. They believed in telling the truth and justice (something the government Republican could stand to learn). They believed in the equality of the sexes. They reverenced nature. In fact, they sound very much like progressives today. They were, of course, doomed by their encounter with Christianity. Christians take no prisoners, and in the conversion process some of the Druid survived, but not so much that we can reconstruct who they were accurately.
Ellis does a good job with the evidence at hand. This book is a primer for Celtic religion as well as for learning about the Druids. The two topics are hopelessly entangled. We suffer for not having extensive written records by the Celts themselves. Their teachings, it was felt, were too sacred to write down. Putting together the puzzle of what was left behind will require working with many missing pieces. A Brief History of the Druids does an admirable job of putting it together with no box top to go on.
Whether or not that’s the case, the Druids were clearly leaders in Celtic society. They believed in telling the truth and justice (something the government Republican could stand to learn). They believed in the equality of the sexes. They reverenced nature. In fact, they sound very much like progressives today. They were, of course, doomed by their encounter with Christianity. Christians take no prisoners, and in the conversion process some of the Druid survived, but not so much that we can reconstruct who they were accurately.
Ellis does a good job with the evidence at hand. This book is a primer for Celtic religion as well as for learning about the Druids. The two topics are hopelessly entangled. We suffer for not having extensive written records by the Celts themselves. Their teachings, it was felt, were too sacred to write down. Putting together the puzzle of what was left behind will require working with many missing pieces. A Brief History of the Druids does an admirable job of putting it together with no box top to go on.
May 20, 2018
(3.5 stars)
The good news: Berresford Ellis is a serious scholar and approaches his subject matter with an academic eye. One has to be careful with any Celtic-related book, particularly if there are Druids involved. There's definitely a fringe element of Wiccan Gaia Earth Mother people who love the Celts (or more accurately, have an understanding of the Celts rooted in Ossian-esque romanticism and then further warped by New Age spirituality). Fortunately, this is not one of those books.
The bad news: Hard information on the Druids is hard to find. Druidic teachings were rooted in an oral tradition, and there were strict prohibitions against writing it down. What few records did survive, either in written form or societal memory, were stamped out in what basically amounts to a cultural genocide against the Irish by the English. The remaining sources we have on the Druids fall into two camps. First you have the Roman records, which are essentially war-time propaganda, given that the Romans were *in the process of conquering the Celts at the time.* Second you have the Medieval Irish sources, which do a better job depicting the culture, but are also too busy trying to shoehorn these Druidic sinners into Christianity.
*Sigh* It really just gets depressing when you think what kind of a cultural and historical treasure trove has been destroyed forever. Peter Berresford Ellis does the best he can with what little he has to work with, but the giant gaps in the literature give him a little too much free rein. The book has two main flaws. First, Berresford Ellis has strong opinions on many different facets of Celtic culture, and he frequently warps or rearranges the scanty evidence to support his thesis. His other sin: using his book as a public platform to settle feuds he has with other academics working on early Celtic history. In particular, there's a scholar named Nora Chadwick that Ellis apparently *loathes.* He name-drops her every chapter, usually with a fair degree of sass.
Bottom line: Compact, accessible, scholarly but not impenetrable. Ellis's history is untainted by superstition and New Age quackery, but is tainted by his own personal biases, so read with caution.
The good news: Berresford Ellis is a serious scholar and approaches his subject matter with an academic eye. One has to be careful with any Celtic-related book, particularly if there are Druids involved. There's definitely a fringe element of Wiccan Gaia Earth Mother people who love the Celts (or more accurately, have an understanding of the Celts rooted in Ossian-esque romanticism and then further warped by New Age spirituality). Fortunately, this is not one of those books.
The bad news: Hard information on the Druids is hard to find. Druidic teachings were rooted in an oral tradition, and there were strict prohibitions against writing it down. What few records did survive, either in written form or societal memory, were stamped out in what basically amounts to a cultural genocide against the Irish by the English. The remaining sources we have on the Druids fall into two camps. First you have the Roman records, which are essentially war-time propaganda, given that the Romans were *in the process of conquering the Celts at the time.* Second you have the Medieval Irish sources, which do a better job depicting the culture, but are also too busy trying to shoehorn these Druidic sinners into Christianity.
*Sigh* It really just gets depressing when you think what kind of a cultural and historical treasure trove has been destroyed forever. Peter Berresford Ellis does the best he can with what little he has to work with, but the giant gaps in the literature give him a little too much free rein. The book has two main flaws. First, Berresford Ellis has strong opinions on many different facets of Celtic culture, and he frequently warps or rearranges the scanty evidence to support his thesis. His other sin: using his book as a public platform to settle feuds he has with other academics working on early Celtic history. In particular, there's a scholar named Nora Chadwick that Ellis apparently *loathes.* He name-drops her every chapter, usually with a fair degree of sass.
Bottom line: Compact, accessible, scholarly but not impenetrable. Ellis's history is untainted by superstition and New Age quackery, but is tainted by his own personal biases, so read with caution.
January 27, 2018
The author appears to have written some or all of this in somewhat of an angry state of mind. Nearly every prior historian who has written anything on the Druids appears to have been an imbecile, and I do not know what Mrs Nora Chadwick has ever done to the author, but clearly he is not a fan. I was hoping, given the title, that the book would be a brief history of the Druids. I accept that this, to be historically accurate, would require other authors to be cited and in places for elements on the sources are unclear to be vague or even for the author to state the lack of evidence. Instead, this book appears to be a vehicle for the author to expand on his theory of an Indo-European source for the Celtic culture with strong parallels with Hinduism. I have no issues with those theories (in fact in many cases the parallels are very interesting), however it is not what I was hoping to read about. Finally, contrary to the review of the Times Higher Education Supplement, which is on the front of the book cover, I did not find this "readable". What with the roll call of nearly all authors on the topic and the overly critical nature of the author when discussing other people's opinions, it is quite difficult to ascertain exactly what we do know about the druids.
January 5, 2017
This book was a wonderful introduction to the Druids and it really got me thinking. I will certainly be coming back to it time and again. Peter Berresford Ellis is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors on the Druids and the Celts.
Read
July 28, 2011The Druids
Peter Berresford Ellis
Running Press , 4/10/2002
The Druids were an Indo-European people who migrated out of the Danube River area and settled all over Europe. Their realm extended all the way from Ireland to Galatia in Turkey. The word Celtic meant “ The Hidden ones” Their language Gaelic was related to Sanskrit another Indo-European language. In fact it could well be said that many of their religious customs are similar to customs held in India.
In Hindu society there were the Brahmin who were sort of like the priestly caste or the intellectual caste. They were the judges, lawyers, philosophers and doctors and sometimes wizards. THe Celts, who name meant the hidden ones were indo -Europeans and as Indo Europeans they have a caste system. The equivalent off the Brahmins for the Celt were the Druids.
Not much is known about the Druids as they left almost nothing behind in writing. Writing their holy texts was something they shunned for a variety of reason. One such reason is that if the information were to fall in the wrong hands it could be used against them. The Druids also used to memorize their religious texts verbatim. To commit religious texts to writing would cause them to rely less on their memory. There is also a third reason why nothing is left. Celtic written sources were all destroy by invaders whether they be Romans or the British.
What is known about the Druids is writing left behind by the Romans and the Greeks. Much of what was written about the Druids is biased against them. Most of the writers did not observe the Druids first hand but relied upon the observation of others such as Poseidonous. Often times Roman writing used to depict the Druids as being barbaric and cruel with their human sacrifices. Truth be told the Roman and the Greeks both practiced human sacrifice and such a practice was rare in Druidic society.
As mentioned earlier the Celts were spread over Europe. They were known as fearsome fighter and since they had learned how to use Iron they had advanced weapon and were able to conquer anyone they went against. There were several battle and wars in which they victorious over the Greek and Roman Armies. In fact Celts were such good fighters that often times they were used as merceneries and saw action as far a field in the Middle East. In fact the Celts helped the Phoenician Hannibal to fight against the Roman.
Anyone could learn to be a Druid male or female. In Celtic society both had equal power and equal rights. There were even women warriors. Kings were selected by vote and did not have absolute rule. Kingship was not automatically handed down from father to son. The Druids ruled over cases , cured people, and ran Druid universities. The Druids were also expert astronomers and knew the stars and had their own system.
The Celts claim descent from the Goddess Danu and her consort Beleni. Dagda was their son. Danu was represented by a river and Beleni was represented by a Oak Tree. The Druids supposedly could conjure mist and shape change. This book is a must read for those who wish to learn about the Druids and Celtic society.
October 23, 2024
There is no denying that Peter Berresford Ellis is this era’s preeminent scholar on the Celtic peoples of ancient Europe. He demonstrates unparalleled knowledge of the literary history related to the Celts. In this work, he focuses on the Celtic Druids. Largely, he attempts to peel away the Roman biased reports from individuals like Julius Caesar, or later Christian Romans like Augustine of Hippo in their writings about the Celts, but particularly the Druidic Celts.
I actually found the work disappointing. Ellis knows his material, but this worked felt labored. It also felt more like a refutation of Roman history of conquered peoples than a history of the Celtic Druids. Ellis and any historian are at severe disadvantage due to the lack of original Celtic writing. Ellis blames Christian missionaries and church leaders like St. Patrick for having unnecessarily destroyed original Celtic manuscripts. However, the length of time spent comparing Latin Roman texts to point out discrepancies really distracts from the stated objective of writing a historical account of the Druids. They seem to take a back seat to historiographical and academic squabbles.
I actually found the work disappointing. Ellis knows his material, but this worked felt labored. It also felt more like a refutation of Roman history of conquered peoples than a history of the Celtic Druids. Ellis and any historian are at severe disadvantage due to the lack of original Celtic writing. Ellis blames Christian missionaries and church leaders like St. Patrick for having unnecessarily destroyed original Celtic manuscripts. However, the length of time spent comparing Latin Roman texts to point out discrepancies really distracts from the stated objective of writing a historical account of the Druids. They seem to take a back seat to historiographical and academic squabbles.
December 9, 2019
This is pretty good as an overview of the Druids. I learned a lot and it was reasonably well written. It is well worth the time reading, but I do have a few gripes. First he includes a lot of anecdotes and incidents, but is not very good at drawing them together to actually tell us anything more general about Druids. He also takes a fair amount of prior knowledge for granted. He will suddenly start talk about somebody and just assume that the reader knows who this person is - I had to go and look a few people and places up before what he was saying made any sense at all. Also, not too sure about the "Brief" part of the title. But on the whole I came away knowing much more about the Druids than I did when I started. Job done.
April 16, 2025
Highly researched, authoritative and considered. I by no means agreed with every conclusion but the argumentation was thorough, easy to follow and it fitted my purposes nicely. A great overview of a huge subject. Rammed with history and mythology.
August 18, 2021
This book does an exquisite job of diving in deep and debunking many of the misconceptions generally accepted and perpetuated by the modern world as either historical truth or spiritual-romanticism. With scholarly gloves, Ellis gently pries apart piece by piece the layers of myth, archeology, history, cultural-bias, and linguistics; to give the reader a firm scholastic foundation upon which to stand in regards to understanding the elements that make up Celtic Heritage.
I was surprised to find this book is more a study of Celtic Heritage (spanning both p-Celtic and q-Celtic language families) than just the archetype of the Druid itself. This book takes a look at source from both within the cultures that these images originate (Irish, Welsh, Gaulish, Scottish, Cornish, Breton, Manx, Galatian, Lepontic) and from how outside, foreign sources viewed and interacted with the various tribes that made up a Celtic culture (Particularly Roman and Greek). Though I will say, a good portion of the book deals with the internal Irish Sources (Leabhar Gabhála Érenn) and external Roman Sources (Caeser and Poseidonius).
The book goes into much greater depth than I was expecting. If your a casual reader, you may find this a bit hard to read due to the heavy citations of native sources from notoriously hard to read languages like Irish and Welsh. If your a fan of the subject, or have encountered the language before, you're in for a treat. Ellis accomplishes much in just under 300 pages. If your looking for a sword of academic truth to cut through a lot of the New-Age Fantasy flooding the modern Neo-Pagan Market, this is your book. If you're a curious student who wants to learn more, this is your book. Anyone whose ever been interested in anything labeled "Celtic" would do well to start here as a jumping off point.
Upon completion of the book you are rewarded with a vast wealth of other sources with which to dive into for further study; containing about 10 pages or so full of respected authors and their books and articles on the subject at hand.
A small word of caution however, If you've never heard of Ms. Nora Chadwick and her work before, you soon will, as it becomes VERY apparent in the first few chapters that Mr. Ellis is rather appalled by her notions and her work, strongly. Once you get over his bias however, it's ends up being much like a rather comical running gag throughout the book where old friends make jabs at each other (as she is very pro-Roman, apparently). The other con, is that the very last chapter leaves the reader with a very bad taste in ones mouth regarding any attempted modern day revival of the subject. He does this from a scholars perspective for the sake of clearly separating fact and history from myth and fantasy. I just note that his tone at the end of the book came off with a strong negative bias.
Highly Recommend for your personal Historical, Cultural, Magical, or Mythological Library Collections. Have re-read multiple times and found myself being re-enlightened each and every time.
I was surprised to find this book is more a study of Celtic Heritage (spanning both p-Celtic and q-Celtic language families) than just the archetype of the Druid itself. This book takes a look at source from both within the cultures that these images originate (Irish, Welsh, Gaulish, Scottish, Cornish, Breton, Manx, Galatian, Lepontic) and from how outside, foreign sources viewed and interacted with the various tribes that made up a Celtic culture (Particularly Roman and Greek). Though I will say, a good portion of the book deals with the internal Irish Sources (Leabhar Gabhála Érenn) and external Roman Sources (Caeser and Poseidonius).
The book goes into much greater depth than I was expecting. If your a casual reader, you may find this a bit hard to read due to the heavy citations of native sources from notoriously hard to read languages like Irish and Welsh. If your a fan of the subject, or have encountered the language before, you're in for a treat. Ellis accomplishes much in just under 300 pages. If your looking for a sword of academic truth to cut through a lot of the New-Age Fantasy flooding the modern Neo-Pagan Market, this is your book. If you're a curious student who wants to learn more, this is your book. Anyone whose ever been interested in anything labeled "Celtic" would do well to start here as a jumping off point.
Upon completion of the book you are rewarded with a vast wealth of other sources with which to dive into for further study; containing about 10 pages or so full of respected authors and their books and articles on the subject at hand.
A small word of caution however, If you've never heard of Ms. Nora Chadwick and her work before, you soon will, as it becomes VERY apparent in the first few chapters that Mr. Ellis is rather appalled by her notions and her work, strongly. Once you get over his bias however, it's ends up being much like a rather comical running gag throughout the book where old friends make jabs at each other (as she is very pro-Roman, apparently). The other con, is that the very last chapter leaves the reader with a very bad taste in ones mouth regarding any attempted modern day revival of the subject. He does this from a scholars perspective for the sake of clearly separating fact and history from myth and fantasy. I just note that his tone at the end of the book came off with a strong negative bias.
Highly Recommend for your personal Historical, Cultural, Magical, or Mythological Library Collections. Have re-read multiple times and found myself being re-enlightened each and every time.
April 16, 2019
Ellis' thesis is that we've had the Druids all wrong. They were not the priests and witch doctors of the Celts, they were not a religious order, they were not a separate culture. Rather, he asserts that they functioned as a learned and revered caste within Gaelic society, much as Brahmins do in Hinduism.
Ellis does an excellent job of peeling away the mostly Roman sources that have shaped our idea of the Druids, and getting closer to source materials; listening to what Celts and Gaels said of their own people, rather than what Caesar wrote about them. Rather than the wild and uncultivated islanders the Romans claimed them to be, the Celts, and Druids specifically, were learned, wise, highly organized, and certainly capable of holding their own both in discourse and war.
His argument is convincing to me, though I have no intention of digging deeper to cross-check his references. His thoroughness and logic stand on their own, and he has emerged as the authoritative scholar on all things Druid for this generation.
Ellis' biggest weakness is simply that the book isn't what it claims to be. It is neither "brief" nor a readable volume for the general public. It's highly academic, with so much page-space dedicated to the other writers he references that the reader is forced through whole chunks of unedited source material in order to get to the author's own point. This seems more like a dissertation tactic than the way you write a book intended for a layperson's enjoyment and education.
Due to this, I skimmed huge portions, because I was more interested in reading the arguments that developed as a result of them. But those sections are highly engaging and interesting, because, as stated above, Ellis makes an excellent point. I would recommend this to the scholar, but probably not to the general reader who has a casual interest in the history. It did not provide me the enjoyable reading that I was hoping for as I scaled the tombs of Carrowmore and Tara. But for content and research, it's exquisite.
Ellis does an excellent job of peeling away the mostly Roman sources that have shaped our idea of the Druids, and getting closer to source materials; listening to what Celts and Gaels said of their own people, rather than what Caesar wrote about them. Rather than the wild and uncultivated islanders the Romans claimed them to be, the Celts, and Druids specifically, were learned, wise, highly organized, and certainly capable of holding their own both in discourse and war.
His argument is convincing to me, though I have no intention of digging deeper to cross-check his references. His thoroughness and logic stand on their own, and he has emerged as the authoritative scholar on all things Druid for this generation.
Ellis' biggest weakness is simply that the book isn't what it claims to be. It is neither "brief" nor a readable volume for the general public. It's highly academic, with so much page-space dedicated to the other writers he references that the reader is forced through whole chunks of unedited source material in order to get to the author's own point. This seems more like a dissertation tactic than the way you write a book intended for a layperson's enjoyment and education.
Due to this, I skimmed huge portions, because I was more interested in reading the arguments that developed as a result of them. But those sections are highly engaging and interesting, because, as stated above, Ellis makes an excellent point. I would recommend this to the scholar, but probably not to the general reader who has a casual interest in the history. It did not provide me the enjoyable reading that I was hoping for as I scaled the tombs of Carrowmore and Tara. But for content and research, it's exquisite.
July 4, 2019
I picked this up at a used bookstore, thinking it would only be a general overview of the subject, but I was surprised at the breadth of its treatment of the history of what little we can know actually about the Druids. Ellis is a prolific historian and fiction writer, and his background in Celtic languages and his use of classical Greek and Roman sources is on full display.
While much of what can be known about the Druids is limited, he teases out what can be known and points out important sources that are considered classical but which are actually Celtic writers, usually from Gaul, who became Roman citizens and who wrote in Latin and carried their backgrounds into their work. He also notes that early Celtic Christianity likely kept alive some Druidic lore and much lived on in Ireland until the country was ravaged by the English under Cromwell.
Ellis takes a shotgun approach to the subject, so expect to be peppered with source after source after source, as well as engagement with the work of other historians of the Celts. His thesis, that the Druids were the intellectual class of Celtic societies the same as the Brahim were to India, is not especially persuasive to me, but taken with the breadth of his scholarship, it doesn't matter.
While much of what can be known about the Druids is limited, he teases out what can be known and points out important sources that are considered classical but which are actually Celtic writers, usually from Gaul, who became Roman citizens and who wrote in Latin and carried their backgrounds into their work. He also notes that early Celtic Christianity likely kept alive some Druidic lore and much lived on in Ireland until the country was ravaged by the English under Cromwell.
Ellis takes a shotgun approach to the subject, so expect to be peppered with source after source after source, as well as engagement with the work of other historians of the Celts. His thesis, that the Druids were the intellectual class of Celtic societies the same as the Brahim were to India, is not especially persuasive to me, but taken with the breadth of his scholarship, it doesn't matter.
August 11, 2008
I have finished reading Peter Ellis's "A Brief history of Druids" which I found to be a thoughtful and scholarly work. I was glad that he cited his sources and the book was not just made up of how he imagined Druids, as so many other works on the topic.
He advocated the position that Druids actually were a caste akin to the Brahmans of India. He traces the Indo-European roots back to the northern Indian sources to the Indo-European language family. His use of the distribution of language families to fill in the route of a pre-historical migration from northern India into Europe is legitimate.
Most of what I had read previously had seen Druids as a priest class in Celtic society, but without restrictions as to who could aspire to be a Druid. As we know, the status of Druid can only be achieved after 20 years of study, i.e. it is an achieved status not inherited, so I don't fully understand Ellis's position on this. If, in fact, there were a caste, then one would be born into that caste and new Druids could only come from that caste.
He advocated the position that Druids actually were a caste akin to the Brahmans of India. He traces the Indo-European roots back to the northern Indian sources to the Indo-European language family. His use of the distribution of language families to fill in the route of a pre-historical migration from northern India into Europe is legitimate.
Most of what I had read previously had seen Druids as a priest class in Celtic society, but without restrictions as to who could aspire to be a Druid. As we know, the status of Druid can only be achieved after 20 years of study, i.e. it is an achieved status not inherited, so I don't fully understand Ellis's position on this. If, in fact, there were a caste, then one would be born into that caste and new Druids could only come from that caste.
December 21, 2017
While the author says this is a book written for the general public, it is filled with academic references and scholarly language. I enjoyed it because of the content (I am researching the Druids for a paranormal fantasy novel currently in draft stage) and found the information exactly what I needed. However, it can be dense going, especially when Ellis references works from the ancient world - the writings of, for example, Caesar and Poseidonius. In addition, reading the Irish, Welsh and Scottish names in Gaelic is as tongue-twisting an exercise as I have encountered. I had to take a crash course in the language to get through the linguistic challenges. Recommendation: do not attempt this unless you enjoy a serious dip into the history pool. Side note: Ellis provides a number of interesting discussions about the varied and sometimes spurious interpretations of the past civilizations based on the limited knowledge we have on the Celts in general and Druids in particular. This, of course, allows a fiction writer to chart any number of plausible plot lines. Great stuff, that. :)
February 28, 2021
While there are some rythm issues with this book where the author gets stuck in a strange loop of relating the works of several people one after the other for pages and pages (as if making a literature review in an academic context) this book is a goldmine of information on a subject we don't know much about.
I knew enough about the roman empire but barely anything about the celtic empire, and I realize most of my knowledge on druids is related to new age and romanticism interpretations.
This book is interesting, covers a subject difficult to tackle (so little information is left about the celts and druids) and brings back the image of the druids to a more grounded portrait. It made me disappointed and even frustrated at Christianity and the roman empire while reading some chapters, but thats a more personal note.
I knew enough about the roman empire but barely anything about the celtic empire, and I realize most of my knowledge on druids is related to new age and romanticism interpretations.
This book is interesting, covers a subject difficult to tackle (so little information is left about the celts and druids) and brings back the image of the druids to a more grounded portrait. It made me disappointed and even frustrated at Christianity and the roman empire while reading some chapters, but thats a more personal note.
October 23, 2021
This is a very complete and outstanding history book of the "intelligentsia" of the Celts. It is written by the author of the Sister Fidelma books and is the second scholarly history book of his that I have read.
The Druids were not as popular culture would have us believe magicians, priests, or Merlin-type figures of the ancient Celts. These images were created by one sentence in Caesar's accounts as well as the imaginations of much later people such as Henry Rowlands and William Stukeley (both of the 18th century). Rather the Druids were the class in Celtic society that contained: judges, philosophers, educators, historians, doctors, seers, and astrologers. Also they were both men and women.
The Druids were not as popular culture would have us believe magicians, priests, or Merlin-type figures of the ancient Celts. These images were created by one sentence in Caesar's accounts as well as the imaginations of much later people such as Henry Rowlands and William Stukeley (both of the 18th century). Rather the Druids were the class in Celtic society that contained: judges, philosophers, educators, historians, doctors, seers, and astrologers. Also they were both men and women.
May 29, 2015
Very thorough and detailed history of the Celts and the Druids. I was surprised how much is not known, the history lost over time. The book covers the perspectives of the ancient Greeks and Romans towards the Druids, as well as the views of the Celts themselves. When Christianity spread through Europe, the Celts converted and the Druids transitioned into the Celtic Church, often becoming priests. The final chapter deals with the modern revival of the Druids' knowledge and rituals, and traces the growing interest in Druids from the 19th Century Romantic movement to the present.
September 25, 2019
A Brief History of the Druids covers a large variety of aspects about the Celtic druids. Ellis includes many sources, and argues for and against their reliability throughout the entire book, carefully explaining what is fact and what is myths.
I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. The book is very readable, and the chapters are short enough and with many anecdotes and side-info, that you don't get tired of reading about a particular subject. Very enjoyable and informative read.
4 stars.
I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. The book is very readable, and the chapters are short enough and with many anecdotes and side-info, that you don't get tired of reading about a particular subject. Very enjoyable and informative read.
4 stars.
May 6, 2013
This book did a great job of posing a question with each chapter, analyzing the the historical facts as we know them, disputing ideas previously held, and then summing up the conclusion at the end of each chapter. The last chapter was truely enlightening as the author walked you through the re-emergence of interest in the Druids through contemporary history, highlighting a number of misconceived notions. Truely a must read for anyone interested in the history of the celts.
July 20, 2020
An excellent overview of this shadowy group. Ellis does a great job of sorting through the literary sources of antiquity and separating supposed fact from the tall tales of propaganda.
The chapter on "The Wisdom of the Druids" is superb.
A great introduction for anyone with an interest and the desire to dig deeper.
The chapter on "The Wisdom of the Druids" is superb.
A great introduction for anyone with an interest and the desire to dig deeper.
March 7, 2022
Reasonably interesting overall -- probably the most fascinating bit, to me, was that the proto-Aryans in Eurasia essentially split into early Vedic/Indian culture and early Celtic culture (brahmins = druids), as evidenced by similarities in music, theology, etc.
April 26, 2011
In my opinion the most balanced and down to earth druid history in print.
August 27, 2014
Seems like good information, but very dry and tough to slog through even though I was interested in the subject.
August 6, 2024
This is not so much a 'Brief History' but more an in-depth scholarly exploration of the druids, full of primary and secondary sources, long quotations of others' work and linguistic analyses. Granted this is necessary given the extreme needle in a haystack hunt that any quest for the original druids requires, it did make the text incredibly dense and difficult to get through at times. Still, I'm glad I persisted as it was all super interesting and I feel like I know a bit more about the original druids and ancient Celts now, and the origins of the pseudo-Celtic revivalist movements who continue to inexplicably be allowed to practice their nonsense spiritual inventions at Stonehenge. Of course the original ancient druids had nothing to do with Stonehenge, but hey ho, try telling them that. It's just a shame that this book is so dense and tough to read as I do think it should be required reading for anyone today claiming to practice 'Celtic religion'.
January 23, 2022
First published in the UK in 1994, in the US in 2002.
While the title states "A Brief History of the Druids" it is a rather lengthy, scholarly work that does get kind of boring in sections because of stating,quoting of historical and literary works etc
There is an abundance of historical information about the Druids and Celts in this work. It must be remembered, the Druids did not have written histories, they passed their stories down by oral traditions. The Celts, much later, began writing down some of the orals traditions. Most of what is known about the Druids comes from the writings of other ancient translated works.
It is a good reference book if you have interest in learning what history has left us about the early Druid and Celtic cultures.
While the title states "A Brief History of the Druids" it is a rather lengthy, scholarly work that does get kind of boring in sections because of stating,quoting of historical and literary works etc
There is an abundance of historical information about the Druids and Celts in this work. It must be remembered, the Druids did not have written histories, they passed their stories down by oral traditions. The Celts, much later, began writing down some of the orals traditions. Most of what is known about the Druids comes from the writings of other ancient translated works.
It is a good reference book if you have interest in learning what history has left us about the early Druid and Celtic cultures.
January 23, 2018
Despite the author's disclaimer, this is an academic work on the Druids and the Celtic world. Religion and education are covered based on secondary reference works according to the bibliography. The history appears to be written for professional scholars but with some effort the layman can gleam some information from it.
May 26, 2020
First half was easier to read, more interesting. The second half was a bit tiresome for non-academic readers like me, a lot of comparative studying of different Celtic historians and sources. A good book for someone who has a historian's background.
March 30, 2022
This book is both informative and fascinating. No new age BS, just good scholarship with a real feeling for the subject that is unparalleled from anything I've read before. Really worth your while if at all interesting in this subject.
March 30, 2024
I enjoyed some parts of this book, but no fault of the writing, I struggled to read all of the Celtic and Welsh names and places. I skimmed probably half of the book. I wish more history books had pronunciation guides.
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