The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain

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Oxford University Press, 1996 - 542 Seiten
From the twelve days of Christmas to the spring traditions of Valentine, Shrovetide, and Easter eggs, through May Day revels and Midsummer fires, and on to the waning of the year, Harvest Home and Hallowe'en, Ronald Hutton takes us on a fascinating journey through the ritual year in Britain. His comprehensive study covers all the British Isles and the whole sweep of history from the earliest written records to the present day. Great and lesser, ancient and modern, Christian and pagan, all rituals are treated with the same attention. The result is a colourful and absorbing history in which Ronald Hutton challenges many common assumptions about the customs of the past and the festivals of the present, debunking many myths, and illuminates the history of the calendar we live by.

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The Origins of Christmas
1
The Twelve Days
9
The Trials of Christmas
25
Rites of Celebration and Reassurance
34
Rites of Purification and Blessing
42
Rites of Hospitality and Charity
54
Mummers Play and Sword Dance
70
HobbyHorse and Horn Dance
81
The May
226
May Games and Whitsun Ales
244
Morris and Marian
262
Rogationtide and Pentecost
277
Royal Oak
288
A Merrie May
295
Corpus Christi
304
The Midsummer Fires
311

Misrule
95
The Reinvention of Christmas
112
Speeding the Plough
124
Brigids Night
134
Candlemas
139
Valentines
146
Shrovetide
151
Lent
169
The Origins of Easter
179
Holy Week
182
An Egg at Easter
198
The Easter Holidays
204
England and St George
214
Beltane
218
Sheep Hay and Rushes
322
First Fruits
327
Harvest Home
332
Wakes Revels and Hoppings
348
Samhain
360
Saints and Souls
371
The Modern Halloween
379
Blood Month and Virgin Queen
386
Gunpowder Treason
393
Conclusions
408
Notes
428
Index
519
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Autoren-Profil (1996)

Ronald Hutton is Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He is the author of The Rise and Fall of Merry England (OUP 1994) and Charles II: King of England, Scotland, and Ireland (OUP, 1989; OPB,1991).

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