Druidic Yews, Lucan, and Scary Sacred Groves

Tuesday Timber!

Timber was extremely important to the invading Roman legions in Britannia, but it was equally as important to the indigenous people of the areas inhabited by my characters in Before Beltane, the Prequel to my Celtic Fervour Series. 

Timber was essential for fuel to cook, fuel to heat living quarters, for constructing buildings, vehicles and for weapons. 

Settlements, whether the Iron Age Roundhouses of the Brigantes and Selgovae or the new Roman forts that were springing up in Brigantia, all needed a constant supply of wood. There was a preference for strong straight trunks for constructing Roman fort exteriors and interiors. Some types of timber were clearly better for this purpose than others, and some species of wood were known to survive the damp weather conditions better, the posts lasting longer in the ground. The Brigante tribes would also have had preferences for the stout beams used to support their roundhouse roofs, and for pliable willow-types for fashioning the frames for the wattle and daub exterior circular walls. Transportation of wood would have been necessary when local supplies became exhausted. 

In different ways, a regular supply of wood is important to both Nara of Tarras and to Lorcan of Garrigill in Before Beltane. 

Trees had those practical uses mentioned, but trees also provided spiritual backgrounds. 

Ancient Yew - Wikimedia Commons

Some tree species e.g. oaks and elms were likely to have been particularly revered, and left to mature into old age, especially if they were growing in 'nominated' specially-chosen druid groves. Where druidic groves were sited is not really known now, though till recent centuries there were places that people didn't venture into. Folklore and traditional tales, especially local ones, maybe hold some traces still and hark back to times before pre-Christian traditions were replaced by Christian versions. 

The druid way of life is mentioned in antiquity by some early Roman and Greek writers, references given mainly regarding druid practices in Gaul before it was absorbed into the Roman Empire. The Roman poet M.A. Lucanus (Lucan) wrote fanciful descriptions of druid groves. Though, since Lucan's short life of some 25 years spanned the era of Emperor Nero, Lucan's knowledge of Gaulish druid groves and rituals was likely to have been second hand from at least a century before he existed, possibly even before then. However, what Lucan wrote gives us an idea of what the Roman concept of of druidic ritual and ceremony was like in Lucan's time.

There are various translations available of Lucan's surviving works but what follows is a gist of a part where he talks of Gaulish druid groves. 

"No bird nested in the nemeton, nor did any animal lurk nearby. The leaves constantly shivered though no breeze stirred. Altars stood in the midst of the images of the gods. Every tree as stained with sacrificial blood. The very earth groaned, dead yews revived. Unconsumed trees were surrounded with flame and huge serpents twined around the oaks. The people feared to approach the grove, and even the priest would not walk there at midday or midnight lest he should then meet its divine guardian."

Since the Romans rigorously and systematically destroyed the druid religion in Gaul, it's probable that what they intended in Britannia was similar. After the destruction of the druid base at Mona (Anglesey) mentioned by Cornelius Tacitus, any surviving druids would have need to be very circumspect to survive. 

When writing the scene where the druid Maran leads Lorcan of Garrigill into the Sacred Groves, I wanted to convey something that was spellbinding, yet not over gory nor bloody. I also wanted it to be believable and not into the realm of fantasy. In Before Beltane, Lorcan visits the Sacred Groves in the year 71, by which time actual human sacrifice was less likely, though was probably still feared. Perhaps only spoken of in fireside tales of long ago.

Elms are a fascinating tree species. When older and their branches become too heavy to be supported some grow gracefully down to the forest floor where new trees sprout from the horizontal limbs. This makes for a fabulous image of a druidic table, ready for sacrifice. Lorcan, you will appreciate, is happy to find he is there to have his future foretold and not to go under that wicked sacrificial knife before being sliced by the Chief Druid's double flat leaf-blades. Elms were symbolic of death and rebirth/resurrection. 

Happy Reading!

You can read the scene in Before Beltane HERE in paperback, or HERE by Pre-ordering the eBook. 

Slàinte!

There's interesting information to be found here: 

https://tomeoftrovius.com/2020/05/22/lucans-druid-grove/

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ancient_Yew_Tree_-_geograph.org.uk_-_978426.jpg