Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2023 -

Historian and British Isles expert Ronald Hutton (Bristol Univ., UK) has written an illuminating and thought-provoking book on four goddess-like figures: Mother Earth, the Fairy Queen, Lady of the Night, and the Cailleach (old woman or hag). Drawing on a mixture of history, anthropology, and literature, Hutton challenges past scholarship regarding "pagan survival" after the conversion of Europe to Christianity, making the case that none of these popular female figures was a pre-Christian pagan deity. He traces their individual changing stories and interwoven imageries to show how these figures developed, thrived, and adapted throughout the centuries and existed within a Christian world view. In an epilogue, the author provides a similar look at a male figure, the Green Man, who is associated with May Day rituals. Drawing heavily on past scholarship, Queens of the Wild is thoroughly researched and includes snippets of poems, folklore, and images. Those familiar with the history of the British Isles and/or paganism will find the book an easy read, but nonspecialists may struggle with the frequent references to other scholars and theories. However, all readers will likely find Hutton's theories fascinating.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; graduate students; general readers.