1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:10,400 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Bolga Baum Here. Pay pretty much any 3 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:13,000 Speaker 1: topic on the planet, and you can go straight to 4 00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 1: Google with as many questions as you like, emerging from 5 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,079 Speaker 1: your search with answers from at least a few solid 6 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: original sources. A glaring exception to this fact finding rule 7 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: of thumb, though, is the Druids. We spoke by email 8 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: with Owen Jaris, journalist who specializes in history and archaeology, 9 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: and whose name I hope I am pronouncing correctly. He said, 10 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:38,520 Speaker 1: what's fascinating is how little we know about the Druids. 11 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: The written references we have are written by non Druids, 12 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: and their writings may be affected by anti Druid Roman sentiment. 13 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,919 Speaker 1: When and where the Druids originated, and much about their 14 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 1: practices remains unknown. In fact, famed Roman general and statesman 15 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: Julius Caesar is considered the world's pre eminent expert on 16 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:00,080 Speaker 1: all things Druid, and the fact that he died in 17 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 1: forty four b c. May indicate just how little we 18 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: actually know about this class of Celtic speaking experts in 19 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: magical and religious practice who inhabited northwestern Europe about two 20 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:14,679 Speaker 1: thousand years ago. But we also spoke via email with 21 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: Mariah Williams, a lecturer in Celtic studies at UC Berkeley. 22 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: She said, because we don't have any accounts of druids 23 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: from early Celtic speaking people's themselves, there remains an air 24 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: of mystery around them. Perhaps this air of mystery is attractive. 25 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,560 Speaker 1: Without concrete evidence of who druids were and what their 26 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: role in society was, they can be shaped to fit 27 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:39,960 Speaker 1: different molds for different purposes. The basic definitions of Druidism 28 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: as we know it can be tied to two main sources, 29 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 1: ancient Greek and Roman writings and portions of medieval Irish literature. 30 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: The former sources have an advantage in that these writings 31 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: originated from people who were actually alive at the time 32 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: that the druids existed. The main issue, however, is that 33 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 1: almost all of these writings relied on second hand information, 34 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 1: and none of it was very fleshed out. Williams said, 35 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: according to the accounts of classical authors, who will have 36 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: had their own biases, and only some of whom may 37 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: have been direct witnesses, Druids seemed to have been a 38 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: learned class of Celtic speaking peoples who may have wielded 39 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: some political authority and who acted as religious intermediaries. Some 40 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 1: Greek sources described them as philosophers. According to Caesar, they 41 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 1: had to spend twenty years in training. Caesar also said 42 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 1: that there were two groups of men in Gaul, which 43 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 1: is a historical region of western Europe inhabited by Celtic 44 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: tribes who were considered honorable, the druids and the nobleman, 45 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: and that because druids were in charge of public and 46 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: private sacrifices, many people went to them for instruction. It's 47 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,359 Speaker 1: also thought that the druids assembled annually to review all 48 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 1: legal disputes. The other main source of Druid knowledge, ancient 49 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: Irish literature, has the advantage of being produced by a 50 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: society that once included druids and involved more frequent references 51 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:05,240 Speaker 1: to the group. But this source also has two big problems. 52 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:08,840 Speaker 1: Like the Greek in Roman texts, the ancient Irish texts 53 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: also include widely varying depictions of druids, and so it's 54 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:16,399 Speaker 1: hard to glean whether they were considered wise powerful figures 55 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: or quote savage pagan priests. The other main problem is 56 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:23,959 Speaker 1: that these accounts were written long after Druids had ceased 57 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,320 Speaker 1: to exist, hundreds of years after the Irish were largely 58 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:32,359 Speaker 1: converted to Christianity. What is known about the Druids can 59 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: be boiled down to their basic roles in society. Jara's 60 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 1: credits scholar Sir Barry Cunliffe with much of what's known 61 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: about the Druids today. Jaras said, as Cunliffe wrote in 62 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: his book Druids a very short introduction, the Druids performed 63 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: a variety of roles, including quote philosophers, teachers, judges, the 64 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: repository of communal wisdoms about the natural world and the 65 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 1: traditions of the people, and the mediators between humans and 66 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: the gods. The ancient form of druids and seems to 67 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: have died out during the Middle Ages before being revived 68 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: centuries later, although there may be little to no continuity 69 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:12,320 Speaker 1: between ancient drudism and more modern forms. One major misconception 70 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: about the Druids is that they were the group responsible 71 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:19,480 Speaker 1: for building Stonehenge, the iconic English monument constructed of massive rocks. 72 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: While you may have heard that the Druids built the 73 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: mysterious landmark to serve as a Temple. The approximately five 74 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:28,479 Speaker 1: thousand year old site is actually thought to predate the 75 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: group by at least a few thousand years. Jaras said, 76 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 1: One important thing to note is that while modern Druids 77 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: have a special reverence for Stonehenge, there's little evidence that 78 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 1: the ancient Druids did. Stonehenge was constructed between about five 79 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: thousand to four thousand years ago, while the earliest written 80 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: references to Druids date back two thousand, four hundred years. 81 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: While the Druids may go back further than the surviving 82 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:54,720 Speaker 1: written records, it's a big jump to say that they 83 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: were involved with Stonehenge. While little is known about the 84 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: original ancient Druid, Jaris says he can see why modern 85 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:06,400 Speaker 1: people continue to be fascinated by this enigmatic group quote. 86 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,479 Speaker 1: The fact that ancient Druidism is poorly understood makes it 87 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: easier for people to put their own beliefs and hopes 88 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: into modern Druidism. Today's episode was written by Michelle Konstantinovski 89 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: and produced by Tyler. Playing. For more and listen lots 90 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:27,159 Speaker 1: of other curious topics, visit how stuff works dot com. 91 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio or 92 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 93 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.