GBD10: The Mystery of Folklore (with Ronald Hutton)

Over Christmas I spent a few weeks in Wales and England, and during my time there, I visited the University of Bristol to have a conversation with the eminent historian and author Dr. Ronald Hutton, whose work I’ve long admired. I wanted to talk with him partly because I’m fascinated by obscure British holidays and how they add color, meaning, enchantment, and fun to the calendar, a topic on which Professor Hutton is the world’s leading authority. If you happen to share this interest, I highly recommend his 1996 book, The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. You’ll hear me mention this book during our conversation. Professor Hutton and I also discuss his newest book, Queens of the Wild: Pagan Goddesses in Christian Europe: An Investigation. We met in his university office on Plough Monday (January 9, 2023), which happens to be one of those obscure British holidays that I love.

—the scholarly debate about whether pagan survivals or surviving paganism has obtained in Christian Europe, and Hutton’s recent intervention in this conversation (1:08)

—the tension in some thinkers’ claim that pagan manifestations in Christian Europe result simultaneously from cultural continuity and from the workings of the collective unconscious (4:10)

—Hutton’s emphasis on human creativity, his spirited opposition to some scholars’ patronizing view of country people, and his sense that illiterate communities are often more dynamically creative than highly literate ones (7:51)

—how Rupert Sheldrake’s ideas about morphic resonance might shed light on debates among folklorists about where folklore comes from (10:48)

—whether familiar or unfamiliar religious material more effectively inspires artistic expression / a brief discussion of the diversity and syncretism of Christianity (15:00)

—speculation about the meaning behind ghosts and the European goddess-like figures that Hutton’s new book is about (16:59)

—Hutton’s outlook on the family of scholars of which he is a member (21:53)

—What is it that fuels Hutton’s work? (25:14)

—an important and moving moment in Hutton’s academic career when he received encouragement from an instructor (28:51)

—Hutton’s fascinating idea that practices which seem pagan to many scholars are actually Catholic practices brought into the home after the Reformation (32:50)

—Larkin’s poem "Church Going," pilgrimage, and the recent revival of folk celebrations in Britain (13:30)

—the magic of carols (37:44)

—Hutton’s take on W. B. Yeats, his splendid poetry, his sometimes-unsplendid personal behavior, and his dim view of English fairies as opposed to Irish ones (39:45)

—the secret meaning of the fall / winter festival calendar (45:00)

Queens of the Wild, by Ronald Hutton:
https://www.amazon.com/Queens-Wild-Go...

The Stations of the Sun, by Ronald Hutton:
https://www.amazon.com/Stations-Sun-R...

my website:
https://gregbrownderville.com

If you have questions for me about this episode or anything else, hit me up at [email protected]. If I get some good questions, I might do a Q&A episode.

logo design by Julie Savasky at 508 Creative: https://508creative.com

music by Beekeeper Spaceman

Greg Brownderville is the author of three books of poetry, the lead singer of Beekeeper Spaceman, the creator of Fire Bones, the editor-in-chief of Southwest Review, and a professor of English at SMU in Dallas.