Pagan Tama
(Yale University Press; Reprint edition 2015)
Prof. Ronald Hutton is one of the most important people alive in the field of Pagan Studies, making some of the most significant contributions to our understanding of paganisms (both old and new) in modern times. Pagan Britain more than lives up to its author’s reputation.
An epic work spanning the history of Paganism from prehistory to its modern interpretations, Pagan Britain aims to distil various hypotheses and theories surrounding pre-Christian religion in the British Isles down to hard facts. Every kind of paganism that has been attributed to Britain – Celtic, Druidic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Viking – is covered, and a lot of myths are busted on the way. From the perspective of today’s Neopagans, many of whom view their religion as one with truly ancient origins, this work is almost iconoclastic. Hutton convincingly (and respectfully) disproves some of the most deeply-held assumptions about the beliefs and practises of our ancestors, and also analyses why such assumptions were made in the first place. A key message in Pagan Britain is how little we know about pre-Christian beliefs in Europe, and therefore how little we can prove (or disprove) with absolute certainty. In some ways as much a work of Historiography as History, Pagan Britain tells the story not only of the pagans, but those who came to study them later.
Weighty and written in dense, fact-filled prose (and in tiny text), Pagan Britain is nevertheless quite readable (more readable I would argue, than Hutton’s celebrated Triumph of the Moon). A big reason for this is simply the fascinating nature of the text; as the story of the ancient Britons progresses, it becomes increasingly complex and interesting. For me, the most fascinating part of this book was the section on Roman religion. Not only is this section the most satisfying because there’s a lot we can say on this subject (the Romans left a lot more written evidence than other ancient people of Britain), but Hutton’s concise summary of Roman beliefs and practises is perhaps the clearest I have ever read. Throughout the book there are also plenty of illustrations and photographs which are both interesting and helpful.
I consider Pagan Britain an essential work for any Neopagan who wants to sift the facts from fictions behind the origins of Paganism, and heighten their awareness of where their beliefs come from. Some of the sacred cows of your beliefs may be slaughtered in the process, but if you wish to understand and appreciate the true nature of pre-Christian religion and society, you probably can’t do much better than Pagan Britain.
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