Religion in Britain from the Megaliths to Arthur : An Archaeological and Mythological Exploration

Melrose, Robin

McFarland & Co Inc（2016/02発売）

• 製本 Paperback:紙装版/ペーパーバック版／ページ数 284 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9781476663609
• DDC分類 200.941

Full Description

The Druids and the Arthurian legends are all most of us know about early Britain, from the Neolithic to the Iron Age (4500 BC-AD 43). Drawing on archaeological discoveries and medieval Welsh texts like the Mabinogion, this book explores the religious beliefs of the ancient Britons before the coming of Christianity, beginning with the megaliths--structures like Stonehenge--and the role they played in prehistoric astronomy.

Topics include the mysterious Beaker people of the Early Bronze Age, Iron Age evidence of the Druids, the Roman period and the Dark Ages. The author discusses the myths of King Arthur and what they tell us about paganism, as well as what early churches and monasteries reveal about the enigmatic Druids.

Contents

Table of Contents

Preface: Routes to the Past

Introduction: Celts, Druids and the Age of Arthur

1: The Age of Megaliths (1): Stone Monuments and Neolithic Astronomy

2: The Age of Megaliths (2): Rich Burials and More Astronomy in the

Early Bronze Age

3: The Age of Depositions (1): Water, Fire and Earth in the Late Bronze Age

4: The Age of Depositions (2): The Sky God and Iron Age Hillforts

5: The Age of Depositions (3): Chariot Burials, Lunar Eclipses and Wooden Buckets in the Later Iron Age

6: The Romans in Britain: Roman Gods and British Gods, Roman Burials and Decapitated Burials

7: The Beginnings of the Age of Arthur: Arthur the ­Bear-Man

8: Arthur in the Underworld

9: Arthur the ­Witch-Slayer, Warrior and King

10: Arthur and the Early Medieval World: Holy Islands and the Arthurian Cycle in Cornwall

11: Druids and the Early Medieval World: the ­Bear-Druid of Welsh Mythology

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index