Sacrifice
Page 16
There was another knock on the door. My grandmother answered it and welcomed in Cáma and Sinann, the two druids who had been at our interrupted dinner a few weeks earlier.
“It looks like we’re all here. Deirdre, are the sausages ready yet?”
“Yes, Grandmother. Everyone can take a seat. Dari, would you pour the wine?”
I set the platter of steaming sausages on the table next to the leeks, relishes, and basket of freshly baked bread with honey butter. My mouth was already watering.
“Ailbe, would you like to say a blessing?” my grandmother asked.
“Gladly, Aoife.”
As we bowed our heads, he began.
“Master of the Universe, Creator of us all, grant us your grace over this meal. May it nourish us so that all at this table and those in our hearts may work for peace and healing. Amen.”
“Amen,” said Dari.
“Amen,” said my grandmother and the other druids.
“Amen,” I said. “Amen.”
Afterword
Most of what we know about the fascinating world of the ancient druids comes from descriptions (often hostile) by Greek and Roman authors, along with a few stories written by Christians in early Ireland. We know the druids were priests in much of Celtic Europe and were held in high esteem by all members of their society. Julius Caesar says their order originated in Britain and studied up to twenty years to practice their profession. The Greek philosopher Posidonius, who traveled in Gaul (modern France) in the early first century B.C., says they believed in reincarnation, rendered legal judgments, carefully observed the natural world, and performed sacrifices, occasionally with human victims. He also says they could stop battles by stepping between armies. Druids could be either male or female. In fact, of the few individual druids we know from antiquity, most are women.
The myths and legends from early medieval Ireland portray the druids as Merlin-like figures who have much in common with their counterparts in Gaul. But Irish law shows their status sadly declining over the centuries as Christianity spread across the island. Once respected leaders, they were relegated by the church to the fringes of Irish society and reduced to little more than potion-makers and objects of ridicule before they disappeared completely from our view.
For those who would like to learn more about the druids, an excellent book is Miranda Green’s The World of the Druids, which traces them from their ancient beginnings to modern revival movements. My own War, Women, and Druids is a handy translation of almost everything the Greeks and Romans wrote about the religion and life of the pre-Christian Celts, while my The World of Saint Patrick gives the Christian point of view in early stories and documents translated from the original Latin and Old Irish, including The Life of Saint Brigid, the earliest story we have about any saint from Ireland.
Sacrifice—like Saint Brigid’s Bones before it—is based as much as possible on what we know from the literature and archaeology of ancient Ireland, but it is a work of fiction.
Many thanks to my friends and colleagues who helped me in shaping the book, especially my wife Alison, my agent Joëlle Delbourgo, and my editor Maia Larson.
SACRIFICE
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Copyright © 2015 Philip Freeman
First Pegasus Books edition October 2015
Interior design by Maria Fernandez
Ireland map courtesy of the author.
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ISBN: 978-1-60598-889-4 (hardcover)
ISBN: 978-1-60598-890-0 (e-book)
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