The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy [Paperback]

Ronald Hutton (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0631189467 | ISBN-13: 978-0631189466 | Publication Date: December 16, 1993

This is the first survey of religious beliefs in the British Isles from the Old Stone Age to the coming of Christianity, one of the least familiar periods in Britain's history. Ronald Hutton draws upon a wealth of new data, much of it archaeological, that has transformed interpretation over the past decade. Giving more or less equal weight to all periods, from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages, he examines a fascinating range of evidence for Celtic and Romano-British paganism, from burial sites, cairns, megaliths and causeways, to carvings, figurines, jewellery, weapons, votive objects, literary texts and folklore.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Hutton (British history, Bristol Univ.) offers an excellent, up-to-date compendium on British pagan religions based primarily upon recent archaeological findings. Various pre-Christian religions in the British Isles throughout history are discussed beginning as far back as 30,000 B.C., when carvings on portable objects first seem to have appeared. Hutton continues coverage through the Roman influence and the eventual advance of Christianity, which coincided with the disappearance of the pagan religions from the British Isles. He closes with a discussion of the remaining influences and traces of the early pagan religions. Hutton has contributed a well-documented resource which has popular interest. Recommended for most libraries.
- Paula I. Nielson, Loyola Mary mount Univ. Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"An excellent, up-to-date compendium of British pagan religions based primarily upon recent archaeological findings. Hutton has contributed a well documented resource which has popular interest." Library Journal

"Brilliant ... Hutton's book gives us by far the best, most level-headed overview of this fascinating but contentious subject." Times Literary Supplement

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell (December 16, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0631189467
• ISBN-13: 978-0631189466
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Earth-Based Religions > Paganism

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Academic Masterpiece, October 2, 2004

By 

Ogma (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy (Paperback)

As a practising pagan of several years now, I'm rather disappointed by the review that dashes this work and author out of hand with a curt, "he must be a Christian" followed by a stream of rhetoric. No, this book isn't the fuzzy little love-love story that pagandom has been inundated with, and the world is the greater for it.

Ronald Hutton IS actually well versed in pagan traditions as an academic, if not a practitioner, having attended numerous pagan celebrations in the U.K. and actually pursuing pagan history as a personal interest (over what the establishment might deem as more suitable research topics). His degree of scholarship is apparent throughout this work. Archaeologically and historically (or prehistorically, if you will), this work is comprehensive and current, quite an eye-opener to those who have been bombarded with outdated archaeology/anthropology on the one hand and romantic mythology dressed as fact on the other.

Although parts of this book are dry, that is more a comment on the material than on the author himself. Containing numerous priceless diagrams and sketches, this book is a virtual treasure trove. This is the Number One book on my ample bookshelves for its history and applicability to my understanding of my own religious tradition.

I would highly recommend it to both academics and to pagans seeking a better comprehension of what has gone before (without the fluff and filler). For a more modern history of current paganism, try the author's Triumph of the Moon. For more great history/prehistory, try Ellis' The Celtic Empire, Barry Raftery's Pagan Celtic Ireland, Dillon's and Chadwick's Celtic Realms, Harding's European Societies in the Bronze Age and Whittle's Europe in the Neolithic.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is how historical surveys should be written., December 22, 2005

By 

Paul Caton (NUI Galway, Ireland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy (Paperback)

Agreeing with D.P. Birkett's review below, the greatest strength of this book (and it has many) is that it can stand as a model of how a scholar with integrity can not only give you the facts about a subject but can also discuss - fairly and rigourously - what others (scholars and non-scholars) have said before. Hutton scrupulously gives credit where it is due, even to writers with whom (on other points) he utterly disagrees. This is scholarship at its best, and if only more books were written in this manner (ie. diligently finding out what IS known, and not distorting or going beyond the facts), we would all be intellectually better off.
Highly recommended.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT, INCISIVE, FASCINATING, June 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy (Paperback)

This is a subject that is new to me, and I discovered the book while browsing. What persuaded me to buy it was obvious intelligence, good sense, and high scholarship of the author--comfirming from the first pages that he is a worthy guide. Yes, Hutton is a thinker and no, he is not a believer; but does this disqualify him from studying and passing judgement on monuments and describing ancient ways of life? I would say certainly not. Where he disagrees with other scholars or believers, he disagrees respectfully but firmly, as is appropriate. His writing is lucid, well organized, and a pleasure to read. It's a joy to encounter a true scholar that can confront or explore the past--and the present.