Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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if you will), this work is comprehensive and current, quite an eye-opener to those who have been bombarded with outdated archaeology/anthropology on the one hand and romantic mythology dressed as fact on the other.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.

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.

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.

Many people do not think this book looks favorably on the Celtic pagan community, when in fact, Hutton thinks that there is a lot of magic to be found in the old tales and in paganism itself, however, good scholarship is important, too,

Many people also think that Hutton was tedious in mentioning so many facts that are similar in the same book, but I believe that this was to prove a point. Sure, you can discuss this in one sentence - "We don't know exactly what the ancinet pagans beleived and many of the alleged information we have about them is suspect". However, if asked to give proof and discuss sources, many people would be unable to do so.

This book is a wonderful study of practices of the ancient Celts by a neo-pagan author who has a lot of regard for his subject.

One would have to be an expert in many fields to fairly judge this remarkable book. The author is evidently not only a master of many subjects and an excellent writer but a nice man. Much of what he writes debunks and deflates the cherished beliefs of neo-pagans and witchcraft adherents but he is never sarcastic or unkind and he goes out of his way to show his respect for the believers. He goes from archeological findings about prehistoric Britain to the anthropology of folklore and it's disillusionment all the way. The things we thought were survivals are mostly modern fakes. Photographs would have been useful.

The book may be dry, but what a refreshing change from all the junk that has been published on this subject! While Hutton does give you a lot more information about what was NOT going on in the British Isles than what WAS going on, that's only because the man point-blank refuses to accept theories as facts. If you're looking for a real introduction to what was actually going on in the pre-medieval British Isles, you can do no better than to start with this book. Even the dry tone of the information is counteracted by some hilariouisly funny caustic passages revealing Hutton's view on new-agers.
The reason that many shy away from Hutton is his uncompromising attitude towards many new-age myths of the modern pagan religions. Even people who feel that they are relatively debunked may (in my opinion, WILL) find that Hutton is prepared to shatter some of their preconceived notions. While this is at first dismaying, it is no reason not to read this book. Even if you come away feeling a little depressed and unsatisfied, you can at least turn to other sources knowing where to take things with a grain of salt. For this reason I believe that this is THE BEST book that you could possibly read for information on the subject.

I found this book while beginning research for a novel set in Britain around 60AD. Hutton's work here completely trashed my pre-conceived notions concerning a religious clash between the Celts and Romans in that period; and all I can say is, "Thank the Gods!" And no, I'm not being sarcastic - I'm not Wiccan or NeoDruidic or any of the multitude of New Age faiths, but I am a pantheist.

I had no idea so many of the sources of information I had been taught to believe were accurate are actually suspect. I am relieved that much of the romanticized notions I have heard over the last thirty years concerning stone age and Celtic religious beliefs and practices are fantastical extrapolations: I always found the fantasies to be a little too pat and convenient in their support of Twentieth Century political agendas and concepts. I love that the archeological record paints an incomplete picture of people that were not living in some lock-step, religion-ruled utopia, but who were seemingly as different, unique, and opinionated as free-thinking people are today - they could barely bury two people the same way twice, and they chose from hundreds of Gods.

Hutton's take on it comes across as wonderful and welcome militant agnosticism (I don't know, and you don't either). He writes with great thoroughness, and often displays a fine sense of dry wit. I am not concerned about his respect, or lack thereof, for people and their beliefs in this century or the last: I am grateful to him for showing the utmost respect for the Pagans of the British Isles by saying with great clarity what they did not say; and thus removing the words that others have falsely put in their mouths.

I found this to be a very informative book. The author presents what was know about the various time periods in Great Britian, states clearly that any further interpretation is best guess on anyone's parts, and presents both the archeological data, the guesses of academia and the guesses of intuitives. A very all around approach to the subject.

Dr. Hutton writes from a very narrow academic perspective that has the effect of invalidating almost all other possible research done by any academic who isn't a British Historian.

This narrowness allows him to dismiss Nora Chadwick and almost any other researcher as irrelevant to any discussion of his topic.

He makes a number of broad assertions concerning religion and magical practices. The instance that comes to mind is his statement that no religious groups work nude. What about the Jains, the various Tantric orders, or the European Anabaptists?

His distinction between magic and religion is a product of the Anglican church, and is generally not accepted as valid within other academic disciplines.

By dismissing all folkloric research as irrelevant, as well as ignoring the entirety of comparitive mythic studies, he is able to ignore entire bodies of evidence.

While he is probably correct that many features of modern Europaganism are invented, he should be willing to follow the evidentiary threads more completely. How can one even begin to discuss the grail materials or Ross Nichols without a full discussion of Wagner's seminal article on the Grail, or Jesse Weston's place in this, or the importance of the Surrealists and Welsh poets of the 1930's?

Hutton is firmly within the anti-nativist camp of Celtic studies, without bothering to discuss the transparent agendas of its founders, or to consider the evidence or counters discussed by Patrick Ford and others to the notion that the Celts had no religion before Christianity.

Each generation re-invents its own mythologies and histories in accordance with the agendas of its proponents. This is as true of British historians as it is of Europagans.

...then the Gods owe me twenty-seven copies of this book.

Over the past year or so, I've bought and given away nine. At last, a book on the roots of Paganism that wouldn't be embarrasing in the bibliography of an undergraduate term paper. The sheer weight of *fact* here is impressive, and the bibliography alone is worth the price of the book.

Hutton attempts a rather sweeping debunking of long-standing pseudohistorical myths, and he's done a fairly good job. However, his thoroughness may be a bit off-putting to non-academic readers. There's an awful lot of "We don't know what really happened, but such-and-such a Victorian author is probably wrong." This is legitimate in scholarly circles, but the recipients of my nine gift copies have found it a bit tedious.