New Books Network Paul Robichaud, "Stories of the Stones: Imagining Prehistory in Britain, Ireland and Brittany" (Reaktion, 2026)
Apr 13, 2026
Paul Robichaud, Professor of English and author probing folklore and prehistoric monuments. He traces medieval tales, Renaissance antiquarianism, Romantic reinventions, and recurring folklore motifs around Stonehenge, Newgrange and lesser-known sites. Conversations wander from druids and petrified dancers to folk-horror and why storytelling endures despite archaeology.
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Childhood Visit Sparked Lifelong Megalith Obsession
- Paul Robichaud's childhood fascination with megaliths began with TV like Doctor Who and a book about Stonehenge his grandparents brought him.
- He visited Calanish in the 1990s and that first-hand experience seeded a lifelong project culminating in this book.
Surviving Myths Often Come From Later Observers
- The earliest surviving literary stories about stone sites may date to classical travellers and early medieval texts, not the builders themselves.
- Robichaud highlights Pythias/Deodorus and Irish myths (e.g., Newgrange's solar illumination) as surviving narrative traces tied to real astronomical effects.
Stonehenge Became Mythic In The High Middle Ages
- Stonehenge became iconic in written records from the 12th century onward, gaining mythic origin stories like Geoffrey of Monmouth's Merlin transporting stones from Ireland.
- Medieval drawings even show mortise-and-tenon joinery, indicating direct observation by scribes.
