The Druids

by Nora Kershaw Chadwick, Anne Ross (Noted by)

Despite their great influence in prehistoric Europe, the knowledge and teaching of the druids was never committed to writing and so their prestige steadily declined. This study seeks to classify the evidence afresh and to place the druids in their historical setting.

Genres: History, Mythology

119 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Nora Kershaw Chadwick, CBE, FSA, FBA, married to Hector Munro Chadwick, published widely on the Celts and Oral Literature.

Reviews

[Mitchel Weaver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book, but lots of fluff even for its short length. The book could have been five pages and lost very little. We don't know much about the druids, but we know they were respected as physicians and had high status in their societies. They evidently believed strongly in reincarnation and may have borrowed this idea from the Pythagoreans.

[Stephanie (Gorelenore) Cover2CoverBlog · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to start with if you want to learn about the Druids.

[Hilary "Fox" · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nora Kershaw Chadwick was a prolific author on the Celts during her time. This particular book on the druids was originally published in the 1960s, and has stood the test of time as being one of the most in-depth studies of the scant written resources that history has passed down to us on the topic of the druids. While the written resources that we have are slim, this book digs into them quite thoroughly to discern as much as we possibly can. The findings might be rather surprising to some.

Chadwick divides the druidic texts into two separate periods. The earlier of these two periods is the Posidonion, due to the fact that all of the written sources seem to stem from an original history written by Posidonius. During this period the writings focus upon the darker aspects of the druids - evidence of human sacrifice and "barbarous" practices within the groves. This contrasts mightily with the later sources, deemed Alexandrian by Chadwick, which focus upon the druids as being potentially the origins of Pythagorean philosophies and intellectual powerhouses among the Gallic and Celtic worlds.

Chadwick analyzes these accounts to argue in favor of the druids not having been priests, but rather philosophers. She finds political motives beyond the wildly contrasting views of their natures, and uses what little evidence we have to back up these claims. There is a lengthy appendix that tells the story of Divatiacus and Dumnorix, druids in contact with Caesar who were known to be druids and what roles that they served. It was interesting to note that her evidence supports druids as commonly knowing the Greek alphabet and language, as so many resources talk about them having not been necessarily literate.

The argument against them having been veritable priests is one I am uncertain I wholly agree with, but the rest of the book is very sound. I am excited to delve into Miranda Green's Rethinking the Ancient Druids with a proper background now.