In a world where the veil between the living and the divine was perilously thin, the Druids stood as the keepers of secrets whispered by gods and shaped by prophecy.
There are places still where the air thins enough to feel the threshold between this world and the next. For me, it's a particular cliff above the sea, where waves crash against the rocky coastline below. If I stand on that edge and hold myself still enough, I can sense my soul reaching out across the waves, toward the unseen doorway beyond. There, letting the sea pull me into its rhythm, I can almost hear Druid prophecies whispering through the crash of the waves.
Druids were much more than cosmologists, though their knowledge of the stars, sky and nature must have surpassed the average lay understanding. They were revered as scholars, who worked with and for the Celtic gods. They were the mouthpieces from the otherworld, directing and advising on the ways of men. Formidable decisions were once shaped by the words of these ancient seers. Stories, knowledge and insight were carried orally through them, preserved by them, held in memory and passed from one generation to the next. These keepers of the ancient ways spoke as the voice of the gods, interpreting ritual and the signs woven into natural phenomena. They drew on the ancient wisdom of the world as they understood it.
I could not write a story set in Iron Age history without acknowledging the authority and place of these ancient magi. As I researched, I discovered that they were not only the spiritual keepers of the land but were also believed to wield powers of healing, foresight and even shape-shifting. That realisation opened an entirely new realm of possibility, allowing my imagination to craft characters who, if not superhuman, were at least something more than the other mortals who lived in my mind.
A prophetic thread runs through the Cartimandua Trilogy, beginning in Wild Brigantia with The Druid Tale. I wanted to give shape to how and why the Druids mattered. From the opening of Wild Brigantia to the final pages of Blood of Brigantia, I wanted to show how deeply the Druids shaped every aspect of Iron Age life. They were not a footnote or a side issue, but the lifeblood of the people of their time. I also wanted them to be human, with abilities grounded in magic rather than the fanciful, so I intentionally exposed the secret behind some of the supernatural tricks they used. But through the three books of the Cartimandua Trilogy, I hoped to show proper respect for the depth and significance of the Druid's role in those days.
