To the Island of Tides

Оглавление

Alistair Moffat. To the Island of Tides

Отрывок из книги

TO THE

ISLANDOF TIDES

.....

There is persuasive evidence that belief in late prehistoric society attached great significance to the human head, perhaps as the repository of essence, of what might have been seen as the soul. Roman historians reported that European Celts were fond of collecting the heads of their enemies as grisly trophies, sometimes attaching them by the hair to their saddles, even preserving them in cedar oil. In Scotland, skulls have been found at several sites and their arrangement suggests that they were displayed in some way. As late as AD 70, the priests of Venutius, the native king of the Brigantes, a federation of Celtic kindreds on either side of the Pennines, set up a row of skulls to defend a rampart against the assault of Roman legions. This has been described as a ghost fence.

These ancient beliefs still sound a distant echo at Hallowe’en. When hollowed-out turnip or pumpkin lanterns have a candle placed inside and are set on a windowsill, it looks very much like a relic of paganism; a ghost fence still flickering in the early dark of winter.

.....