THE ORIGIN OF DRUIDISM. 



By Julius Pokorny. 1 



Schrader, in his Reallexikon der indogermanischen Altertums- 

 kunde, says : " The Celtic Druid caste stands outside of all priestly 

 connections of ancient Europe. The impulses to its formation 

 remain shrouded in darkness." I hope to succeed in bringing some 

 light into this darkness. 



In the attempt to find the origin of Druidism the most curious 

 ideas have been resorted to. Some consider the Druids as disciples 

 of Pythagoras, others as Buddhists, and the origin of Druidism has 

 been variously traced to Phenicia, Chaldea, and India. Already the 

 ancients showed a keen interest in this priesthood, and the past two 

 centuries produced a large literature on the subject, which, how- 

 ever, is of little value, for it is too much given to symbolical and 

 occultistic fancies. Nevertheless, until now no one could shed 

 further light on the history of the Druids or explain -apparent con- 

 tradictions. When, therefore, in 190G, there appeared " Les Druids 

 et les Dieux Celtiques a Forme d'Animaux," by the noted French 

 Celtist d'Arbois de Jubainville, the scientific world hoped to at last 

 be enlightened concerning this enigmatic institution. But d'Arbois 

 offers scarcely more than a synopsis of the most important things 

 that we already know about the Druids ; he gives an historical survey 

 of the invasion of the Celts in Britain but says nothing which we 

 do not already know from other sources. 



In the first chapter of his book, speaking of the priests of the Gauls, 

 d'Arbois de Jubainville says: "They have two main classes of 

 priests, the Druids and the 'Gutuatri.' When Julius Csesar in the 

 first century B. C. subjected independent Gaul, the Druids held there 

 an important position ; but he was told that Druidism had its origin 

 in Britain and was thence introduced into Gaul." 



Prior to the arrival of the Druids on the Continent the Gauls had, 

 besides the vates, no other priests than the gutuatri. He derives 



1 Translated, by permission, from the German (with author's revision) : Der Ursprung 

 des Druidentums. Von Julius Tokorny in Wien. Lecture delivered in the monthly 

 meeting, November 13, 1907. Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gessellschaft in 

 Wien. Vol. 38, 1908, pp. 34^5. 



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