What do we know about the Druids?

Vixagoras

Banned
I am having trouble turning up anything besides the writings of Julius Caesar, Diodorus Siculus, and Tacitus on the subject. From what it sounds like, they were a lot like rabbis, regulating matters of British law which intersected quite a bit with religion, but like rabbis, they don't seem to have taken part in sacrifices - that was for an entirely different group, though druids would have been present during sacrifices.


So, does anyone else have any good sources?
 
I am having trouble turning up anything besides the writings of Julius Caesar, Diodorus Siculus, and Tacitus on the subject. From what it sounds like, they were a lot like rabbis, regulating matters of British law which intersected quite a bit with religion, but like rabbis, they don't seem to have taken part in sacrifices - that was for an entirely different group, though druids would have been present during sacrifices.


So, does anyone else have any good sources?

You've managed to hit the nail on the head when it comes to the Druids. They left no writings about themselves so all that we know of them comes from outsiders. That being said, they were written about by later Irish and Welsh writers; showing up in the lives of saints as well as mythological stories. I would also suggest "Pagan Celtic Ireland" by Barry Raftery, which is a good scholarly work about the Irish Iron Age. A quick Amazon search also shows "Pagan Celtic Britain" by Ann Ross. I believe those would be two good works to start with.

Also (personally), when I think of Druids, I imagine them less as Rabbis and more like Brahmin. The later always seemed liek a good analogy as they were another Indo-European priestly group. However, I would suspect that its an analogy that shouldn't be taken too far.
 

Puzzle

Donor
I believe the scholarly consensus can be summed up thusly:
David St. Hubbins said:
In ancient times,
Hundreds of years before the dawn of history
Lived a strange race of people, the Druids

No one knows who they were or what they were doing
But their legacy remains
Hewn into the living rock, of Stonehenge
 
I think we can infer a degree of devoutness in the beliefs, and something dark enough that the Romans were clearly terrified. One of the reasons Boudicca was as successful as she was involved the Romans attacking the Druids on the island of Anglesey. Speaking of which, the fact that there was a centralised place which, when brought down, weakened the religion so dramatically suggests some degree of larger organisation.

When Caesar describes them as "Pythagorean", there are two possible meanings usually taken from this. Either they believed in reincarnation, we're practiced vegetarians, or both.
 
I think we can infer a degree of devoutness in the beliefs, and something dark enough that the Romans were clearly terrified. One of the reasons Boudicca was as successful as she was involved the Romans attacking the Druids on the island of Anglesey. Speaking of which, the fact that there was a centralised place which, when brought down, weakened the religion so dramatically suggests some degree of larger organisation.

When Caesar describes them as "Pythagorean", there are two possible meanings usually taken from this. Either they believed in reincarnation, we're practiced vegetarians, or both.

The story of Tuan (Irish myth) strongly suggests a belief in reincarnation, something Ceaser mentions. Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh (Irish Myth) the final verses describe shamanistic divination similar (and probably related to) to Norse Seidecraft. Considering that the Druids were known as first class diviners, these things match.

What we don't have are a lot of 'the druids did this' in the historical record by sources that fully understood the underlying beliefs. So we have a lot of indirect evidence of a lot but no proof of very much.

What I suggest is reading some soft scholarship, Miranda Aldhouse-Green comes to mind, which will help you get your mind around such belief systems.

Hope that was helpful.
 
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