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The Discovery of Middle Earth: Mapping the Lost World of the Celts

Graham Robb

Start date: November 26, 2017

Finish date: November 26, 2017

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Nov 26, 2017 Ann Keller rated it it was amazing

Shelves: anthropology-archaeology, history

What an incredible book this is! I didn’t expect to read The Discovery of Middle Earth in a single sitting, but that is precisely what I did. I couldn’t put it down!

Graham Robb, an avid cyclist and historian, sets before the reader a bounty of scintillating facts, from which we can glean an astonishing view into the lives of the ancient Celtic people. Told with humor and in an engaging style, the reader will thrill to Mr. Robb’s amazing treasure hunt into the past.

The world of the Celts rolls ou What an incredible book this is! I didn’t expect to read The Discovery of Middle Earth in a single sitting, but that is precisely what I did. I couldn’t put it down!

Graham Robb, an avid cyclist and historian, sets before the reader a bounty of scintillating facts, from which we can glean an astonishing view into the lives of the ancient Celtic people. Told with humor and in an engaging style, the reader will thrill to Mr. Robb’s amazing treasure hunt into the past.

The world of the Celts rolls out like a vast, dusty scroll. It ranged from the cool, green hills of Ireland and craggy mountains of Scotland, across the fertile plains of what was to become Belgium and France, to sunny Italy and the Black Sea. Beneath many well laid out Roman cities lay the shocking evidence of over six hundred years of exquisite artistry and astonishing scientific accomplishments. Who were these ancient people? Where did they come from?

The Celts created a carefully orchestrated geometric pattern of holy sites, towns and cities aligned with the rising and setting of the sun, moon and other stars and constellations. From the tribal centers of Chateaumeillant, Alesia, Nimes, and Lausanne, the Celts branched out across Europe, establishing a dynasty based upon the Heraklean ratio. Countless mediolana or central sanctuaries were established across Gaul, England, Wales, Germany, and Switzerland, enabling a network of towns to spring up, one equidistant from the other. The perfect symmetry of this layout, approximately eight centuries before the birth of Christ, is truly remarkable.

The mysteries of the Druids and Celts weren’t written down on parchment. News travelled swiftly by human voice, as one man shouted the latest developments from one outpost to another. Perhaps the term “herald” might have had its origins in such a practice.

Unfortunately, Rome’s power soon spread northward from the white marble columns, arenas, and grand palaces in Italy into southern Gaul, Germany and Switzerland. In one bloody battle after another, the Celts fell before Caesar’s sword, retreating against a veritable tsunami of Roman legions bent on destruction. From the tip of Iberia’s Sacred Promontory, the desperate Celts sailed north to Ireland, Wales, England, and Scotland. It was here where the Celts would make their last stand at Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall.

I have stood among the stones at Stonehenge and walked in the churches at St. Albans and York. There is definitely something there, pulsing beneath the façade of gray stone and mortar. It is a heartbeat, a throbbing presence which defies explanation. One cannot help but feel a part of something much larger than oneself, a connection with other peoples, other places far beyond the rising of the yellow sun. Indeed, by following the pattern established by the Celts, one can even chart the location of the walls of Camelot standing at the edge of Martin Mere, the largest freshwater lake in England. Into these waters, so the legend proclaims, the great sword Excalibur was thrown. Standing here upon a misty morning, this may seem, as Mr. Robb says, “more plausible than ever”. ...more

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