Queens of the Wild: Pagan Goddesses in Christian Europe, by Ronald Hutton

Queens of the Wild: Pagan Goddesses in Christian Europe; An Investigation by Ronald Hutton (review)

Renowned historian Ronald Hutton (Bristol University) offers an engaging contribution to the ongoing debate about the continuation of a full-fledged pagan cult throughout the Middle Ages in Christian Western Europe. He again challenges the widely held belief that the ancient pre-Christian religions of Europe have survived in some forms after the official introduction of Christianity. Instead, Hutton proposes a working distinction between “surviving paganism,” a persisting pagan religion, and “pagan survival,” which would rather be something introduced into Christian religion, culture, or society from ancient paganism and redeployed in the new religious context. With this distinction in mind, he analyzes four feminine figures: Mother Earth (found in the elite culture), Fairy Queen, Lady of the Night, and the Cailleach (the latter three operating in popular culture). All of them have been thought to be pre-Christian Goddesses, but Hutton shows that they are more a product of the Christian period, even if they operate somewhat outside of Christian cosmology. The book's epilogue features the Green Man, the only male figure, proving that the development of non-Christian superhuman beings in the Western context has continued into the twentieth century. Finally, Hutton raises the issue of the problematic labeling of “pagan” versus “Christian,” which no longer seems to fit the complex discourse surrounding such entities. Meticulously researched and brilliantly written, Queens of the Wild is a must-read for all interested in the history of religion in Europe, folk studies, witchcraft, and contemporary Paganism.