Event Category: Ronald Hutton

Robin Hood – Professor Ronald Hutton – Zoom Lecture

Robin Hood is the most famous outlaw in the whole of world fiction, and during the modern period his popularity has only increased. This is largely because he reflects both sides of the traditional social order, as a decent English gentleman, unjustly outlawed, who fights his way back to respectability with the help of ordinary people. In his original, medieval, form, he is actually even more remarkable, as a man of the common people himself, from the greenwood, who blatantly flouts the social and religious order while upholding a basic humanity and goodness. This talk is intended to show what was so different about him that made him so famous in world culture while other outlaws, fictional and real, have disappeared. It is also, however, a quest for his origins. Was he a forest god or spirit, or was there a real, remarkable, human being, who inspired the legend because he did something really outstanding? It will be concluded that there actually is good historical evidence that suggests an answer to this question.

Speaker: Professor Ronald Hutton is a Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He is a leading authority on history of the British Isles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, on ancient and medieval paganism and magic, and on the global context of witchcraft beliefs.

Here are some of his other talks you might be interested in https://thelasttuesdaysociety.org/digital-events/?cat=ronaldhutton

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

The History of Christmas – Professor Ronald Hutton – Zoom Lecture

Most people realise that the way in which they celebrate Christmas now was largely developed by the Victorians, but also that there are aspects of it which descend directly from very important and very ancient pagan festivals. This talk is designed to explain when and how our familiar midwinter customs developed, and why. It will look at the origins of the rituals, the decorations, the pastimes and the characters that have come to be associated with the modern Christmas, and also at those we have lost from the previous two millennia. In the process it will suggest that the most ancient associations of all are perhaps those which we take most for granted, or regard as the most commercialised, today.

Speaker: Professor Ronald Hutton is a Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He is a leading authority on history of the British Isles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, on ancient and medieval paganism and magic, and on the global context of witchcraft beliefs.

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Fairy Tales – Professor Ronald Hutton – Zoom Lecture

a recording of this lecture will be available to ticket holders for two weeks after the event

The classic fairy tale is a story about how a person or a group of people copes with a supernatural event or a supernatural being, usually under circumstances of extreme stress. Every known culture tells them, so they are probably intrinsic to the human race. This talk traces their development within Europe, from the earliest times to the present, and in the process shows how some of the best-known today, like Cinderella and Snow White, appeared. It also tells the life stories of the greatest modern collectors or composers of such stories, the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, which are as colourful as many of the narratives they published. It traces the continuation of the literary fairy story up to J. R. R. Tolkien, and asks which famous modern works of fantasy fiction are, and are not, fairy tales.

Speaker: Professor Ronald Hutton is a Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He is a leading authority on history of the British Isles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, on ancient and medieval paganism and magic, and on the global context of witchcraft beliefs.

Paganism and Folklore – Professor Ronald Hutton – Zoom Lecture

a recording of this lecture will be available to ticket holders for two weeks after the event

The period between 1890 and 1970 was the heroic and formative age for British folklore collecting, in which a huge trove of popular traditions and customs was assembled by middle-class scholars. A fundamental belief which drove those scholars was that rural people were essentially unchanging, and so preserved relics of very ancient religion and culture in their seasonal rites and their stories. It inspired promient academics, who made considerable use of the folklore concerned in major works of theory such as Sir James Frazer’s The Golden Bough. The purpose of this talk is to find out why the early folklorists had such an interest in ancient paganism and such a conviction that traces of it had survived in the British countryside. It is an investigation that takes us from the halls of academe and the villages of England to India, and the pages of Dr Jekyll nd Mr Hyde, and Dracula.

Speaker: Professor Ronald Hutton is a Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He is a leading authority on history of the British Isles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, on ancient and medieval paganism and magic, and on the global context of witchcraft beliefs.

Modern Druidry – Professor Ronald Hutton – Zoom Lecture

a recording of this lecture will be available to ticket holders for two weeks after the event

Since 1990, Druidry has emerged as one of the main components of contemporary spirituality, especially but not exclusively as part of the contemporary Pagan revival. This process is, however, but the latest aspect of a long series of interactions between the ancient figure of the Druid and modern culture, particularly in Britain. This talk is designed to consider those interactions, and the representations since 1700 of Druids as patriotic heroes, sages and scholars, exemplars of ecological self-awareness and mystics, and (alternatively) as bloodthirsty and bigoted priests who epitomised ignorance and oppression. It will show how Druid societies emerged in modern Britain, and spread across the Western world, and how eventually Druidry came to take its place as an important contemporary religious tradition, and why.

Speaker: Professor Ronald Hutton is a Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He is a leading authority on history of the British Isles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, on ancient and medieval paganism and magic, and on the global context of witchcraft beliefs.

The Historical King Arthur – Professor Ronald Hutton – Zoom Lecture

a recording of this lecture will be available to ticket holders for two weeks after the event

Arthur is probably the best-known legendary hero in Western tradition, to judge from the wide dispersal of the stories about him in modern culture, and especially their manifestations on the cinema and television screen and in novels. This draws in turn on his medieval popularity, which resulted in somebody who was originally a Welsh national figure becoming a subject for writers all over Western Europe. Was there, however, a genuine leader behind the later legend? This evening’s presentation looks at the evidence for one in historical texts and archaeological finds, and also at the way in which a general disposition among experts to believe in a historical Arthur in the years around 1970 turned into a general tendency not to believe in him during those around 2000. It will show that despite this, the issue is not closed down yet.

Speaker: Professor Ronald Hutton is a Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He is a leading authority on history of the British Isles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, on ancient and medieval paganism and magic, and on the global context of witchcraft beliefs.

The Festival of Lammas – Professor Ronald Hutton – Zoom Lecture

a recording of this lecture will be available to ticket holders for two weeks after the event

The major British and Irish festival that brought in the opening of the autumn season, with the grain harvest, was known in Ireland as Lughnasadh, in Wales as Gwyl Aust, and in England as Lammas, the Loaf-mass. The talk this evening looks at its history, in those three nations and in Scotland, and at its wider context, as a possible ancient pan-Celtic festival. It considers the feast’s associations with deities, and its customs in different places, and at the way in which it has developed and altered over time. It then goes on to look at the customs surrounding the grain harvest itself, with its ceremonies of reaping the fields and of the cutting of the last sheaf, and at the celebrations that followed the conclusion of it.

Speaker: Professor Ronald Hutton is a Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He is a leading authority on history of the British Isles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, on ancient and medieval paganism and magic, and on the global context of witchcraft beliefs.

The Hero Finn – Professor Ronald Hutton – Zoom Lecture

a recording of this lecture will be available to ticket holders for two weeks after the event

Fionn mac Cumhail (Finn mac Cool in English) is one of the great traditional heroes, the Irish and Scottish Gaelic equivalent to King Arthur. With his picked band of warriors, the Fianna, he defended Ireland against all foes, and as such they continue to feature as role models and inspirations for nationalist politics to this very day, giving their name to current political parties. They have also supplied world legend with some of its best stories and motifs, including the catching of the Salmon of Wisdom, the doomed love of Diarmid and Grainne and the return of Oisin from the Undying Lands. Even more than most heroic epics, the Finn cycle abounds with magic and enchantment, and encounters with other worlds. This talk is designed to ask when it originated, how it developed, and whether there was a real man behind it.

Speaker: Professor Ronald Hutton is a Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He is a leading authority on history of the British Isles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, on ancient and medieval paganism and magic, and on the global context of witchcraft beliefs

The talk will be followed by:

The Rise of Finn MacCoull- performed by Daniel Allison

Daniel Allison, storyteller and author of Finn & The Fianna, tells the story of how Finn tasted the Salmon of Wisdom and claimed his place as leader of the Fianna. Come along to hear one of the greatest Celtic tales brought to life by a master storyteller.

Brief Bio:

Daniel Allison is a USA Today bestselling author, oral storyteller and podcaster from Scotland. He is the author of Scottish Myths & Legends, Finn & The Fianna and The Shattering Sea. Daniel’s podcast House of Legends features tales told by himself and leading storytellers from around the world, while his Roundhouse Storytelling School provides a unique online training platform for emerging storytellers.

Daniel’s live performances are an intoxicating blend of Celtic legends and indigenous tribal tales. Darkness and beauty, heartbreak and wonder; these are stories with golden feathers and sharp teeth. Daniel has performed throughout the world, from the jungles of Peru to Thai villages, Hebridean hilltops and festivals in Singapore and Dubai, and is currently based in Thailand

Summer Festivals – Professor Ronald Hutton – Zoom Lecture

a recording of this lecture will be available to ticket holders for two weeks after the event

The traditional festivals which mark the coming and the height of the summer season in Britain – especially Beltane, the May Games and Midsummer – have left an especially deep impact on British memory and folk custom. This evening’s presentation maps out their history, and that of the rituals associated with them, including the Beltane fires, the may-pole, the Morris dance, the Robin Hood games, and the Midsummer bonfires, It also poses and answers the questions of what the coming of summer and of a solstice actually meant to pre-modern British people, and which was the sexiest of all old British festivals.

Speaker: Professor Ronald Hutton is a Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He is a leading authority on history of the British Isles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, on ancient and medieval paganism and magic, and on the global context of witchcraft beliefs.

Merlin – Professor Ronald Hutton – Zoom Lecture

a recording of this lecture will be available to ticket holders for two weeks after the event

King’s Arthur’s great counsellor and magician, Merlin, is the most famous of all wizards in traditional European literature. From medieval romances and histories through Pre-Raphaelite paintings to the modern television and cinema screen, he is a towering figure, at once omnipotent and vulnerable, triumphant and tragic. To medieval writers, he epitomised the allure and the danger of magic, while to modern counterparts he is alternately a Druid, a Christian holy man, or a figure straddling the pagan and Christian worlds. Those who have studied his origins know him as a tantalisingly complex character, founded at once in native Welsh legend and in Anglo-Norman historical romance. His ultimate starting-point, however, seems solidly historic: or does it? You are invited this evening to explore the original sources of his legend, and see if we can understand where it began and how it developed.

Speaker: Professor Ronald Hutton is a Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He is a leading authority on history of the British Isles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, on ancient and medieval paganism and magic, and on the global context of witchcraft beliefs.