Review. RICHARD RUDGLEY. BARBARIANS (Arktos Media, 2014)

It tells us about peoples who lived in Europe from AD 300 to 1000. The very word Barbarian is so stereotypical. But this is only in conventional history which portrays the so called Dark Ages as an ominous period precipitated by the fall of Rome. Actually, if we read imperial Roman history between the lines, we see the Celts, Huns, Goths, Vandals, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Germanic and Italic tribes, which now rule the world. Their culture is so important and Rome fell.

The very term “Barbarians” (the same story goes about Orientalism, read Edward Said) was carved out by colonialists in the 19^th century, and still lots of people nowadays do not know how important is “Beowulf”, Scandinavian Sagas, Celtic culture and languages which are studied and revived again. Consider “DuoLingo”, a free program launched in 2011. It has more than 120 million subscribers after less than 5 years. 1,61 million people study Celtic Irish (Gaeilge), 84 600 – Welsh language. Considering that these languages are not so popular even among their native speakers, I am astonished.

“The barbarian societies of the Dark Ages were to provide the fertile soil from which the nation states of today were eventually to grow. And this very soil continues to yield up artefacts that testify to the great cultural achievements of the barbarians.” (p. 263).

I strongly recommend this book for those do not think that Europe is only Christian, and the very core (with all my respect) is in Latin or Greek books.

Richard Rudgley is a British author and television presenter. He specialises on the topics of the usage of hallucinogens and intoxicants in society. He has also written about the Stone Age and about Paganism: 1991, "Alchemy of Culture: Intoxicants in Society", 1998, "Lost Civilisations of the Stone Age", 1999, "Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Substances", 2000, "Secrets of the Stone Age", 2001, "Wildest Dreams: An Anthology of Drug-Related Literature", 2002, "Barbarians: Secrets of the Dark Ages", 2006, "Pagan Resurrection" etc.

So, let’s all read these wonderful books and, of course, “Beowulf”, Sæmundar Edda”, “Snorra Edda", “Llyfr Taliesin”, “The Prophecy of Ambrosius Merlin concerning the Seven Kings”, "Táin Bó Cúailnge” and many more masterpieces of Barbarians.