Roots Of The Past Episode 5

Dive into the fifth episode of Roots of the Past, where bard Dilwyn tackles the labyrinthine story of the Druids by digging through both written myths and the silent evidence of the landscape. What begins as a search for ancient sources quickly transforms into a true detective story, exposing how generations—from Greek poets to Roman generals—reimagined Druidic tradition at every retelling.

This episode peels back the layers of hearsay and invention, journeying from the foggy accounts of Caesar and Tacitus to the latest archaeological discoveries in places like Anglesey and Colchester. Listeners will explore enigmatic sacred groves, mysterious burial mounds, and shimmering hoards of broken torcs, discovering how ritual and memory were inscribed into the land when texts failed. Alongside the story of legendary sites like Bryn Celli Ddu and the so-called Druid of Colchester—where grave goods hint at priestly or magical roles—Dilwyn brings to light how hard evidence and folklore intersect, sometimes confirming, other times challenging, the stories handed down by conquerors and revivalists alike.

The result is a gripping, candid look at cultural survival and reinvention: how memory, ritual, and resilience kept Celtic traditions alive even after Rome’s conquest, and how the truth about the Druids is both harder to find and far more fascinating than any romantic legend. This episode invites audiences to reconsider not just what we know about the Druids, but how history itself gets rewritten—sometimes buried in books, sometimes hidden beneath our feet.