Sir James George Frazer

The Golden Bough : a study of magic and religion

Preface
THE PRIMARY aim of this book is to explain the remarkable rule which
regulated the succession to the priesthood of iana at Aricia! "hen I first set
m#self to sol$e the problem more than thirt# #ears ago% I thought that the
solution could be propounded $er# briefl#% but I soon found that to render it
probable or e$en intelligible it was necessar# to discuss certain more general
&uestions% some of which had hardl# been broached before! In successi$e
editions the discussion of these and kindred topics has occupied more and
more space% the en&uir# has branched out in more and more directions% until
the two $olumes of the original work ha$e expanded into twel$e! Meantime a
wish has often been expressed that the book should be issued in a more
compendious form! This abridgment is an attempt to meet the wish and thereb#
to bring the work within the range of a wider circle of readers! "hile the bulk of
the book has been greatl# reduced% I ha$e endea$oured to retain its leading
principles% together with an amount of e$idence sufficient to illustrate them
clearl#! The language of the original has also for the most part been preser$ed%
though here and there the exposition has been somewhat condensed! In order
to keep as much of the text as possible I ha$e sacrificed all the notes% and with
them all exact references to m# authorities! Readers who desire to ascertain the
source of an# particular statement must therefore consult the larger work% which
is full# documented and pro$ided with a complete bibliograph#!
In the abridgment I ha$e neither added new matter nor altered the $iews
expressed in the last edition' for the e$idence which has come to m# knowledge
in the meantime has on the whole ser$ed either to confirm m# former
conclusions or to furnish fresh illustrations of old principles! Thus% for example%
on the crucial &uestion of the practice of putting kings to death either at the end
of a fixed period or whene$er their health and strength began to fail% the bod# of
e$idence which points to the wide pre$alence of such a custom has been
considerabl# augmented in the inter$al! A striking instance of a limited
monarch# of this sort is furnished b# the powerful mediae$al kingdom of the
(ha)ars in *outhern Russia% where the kings were liable to be put to death
either on the expir# of a set term or whene$er some public calamit#% such as
drought% dearth% or defeat in war% seemed to indicate a failure of their natural
powers! The e$idence for the s#stematic killing of the (ha)ar kings% drawn from
the accounts of old Arab tra$ellers% has been collected b# me elsewhere!+,-
Africa% again% has supplied se$eral fresh examples of a similar practice of
regicide! Among them the most notable perhaps is the custom formerl#
obser$ed in .un#oro of choosing e$er# #ear from a particular clan a mock king%
who was supposed to incarnate the late king% cohabited with his widows at his
temple/tomb% and after reigning for a week was strangled!+0- The custom
presents a close parallel to the ancient .ab#lonian festi$al of the *acaea% at
which a mock king was dressed in the ro#al robes% allowed to en1o# the real
king2s concubines% and after reigning for fi$e da#s was stripped% scourged% and
put to death! That festi$al in its turn has latel# recei$ed fresh light from certain
Ass#rian inscriptions%+3- which seem to confirm the interpretation which I
formerl# ga$e of the festi$al as a 4ew Year celebration and the parent of the
5ewish festi$al of Purim!+6- 7ther recentl# disco$ered parallels to the priestl#
kings of Aricia are African priests and kings who used to be put to death at the
end of se$en or of two #ears% after being liable in the inter$al to be attacked and
killed b# a strong man% who thereupon succeeded to the priesthood or the
kingdom!+8-
"ith these and other instances of like customs before us it is no longer possible
to regard the rule of succession to the priesthood of iana at Aricia as
exceptional' it clearl# exemplifies a widespread institution% of which the most
numerous and the most similar cases ha$e thus far been found in Africa! How
far the facts point to an earl# influence of Africa on Ital#% or e$en to the existence
of an African population in *outhern Europe% I do not presume to sa#! The pre/
historic historic relations between the two continents are still obscure and still
under in$estigation!
"hether the explanation which I ha$e offered of the institution is correct or not
must be left to the future to determine! I shall alwa#s be read# to abandon it if a
better can be suggested! Meantime in committing the book in its new form to
the 1udgment of the public I desire to guard against a misapprehension of its
scope which appears to be still rife% though I ha$e sought to correct it before
now! If in the present work I ha$e dwelt at some length on the worship of trees%
it is not% I trust% because I exaggerate its importance in the histor# of religion%
still less because I would deduce from it a whole s#stem of m#tholog#' it is
simpl# because I could not ignore the sub1ect in attempting to explain the
significance of a priest who bore the title of (ing of the "ood% and one of whose
titles to office was the plucking of a bough9the :olden .ough9from a tree in
the sacred gro$e! .ut I am so far from regarding the re$erence for trees as of
supreme importance for the e$olution of religion that I consider it to ha$e been
altogether subordinate to other factors% and in particular to the fear of the
human dead% which% on the whole% I belie$e to ha$e been probabl# the most
powerful force in the making of primiti$e religion! I hope that after this explicit
disclaimer I shall no longer be taxed with embracing a s#stem of m#tholog#
which I look upon not merel# as false but as preposterous and absurd! .ut I am
too familiar with the h#dra of error to expect that b# lopping off one of the
monster2s heads I can pre$ent another% or e$en the same% from sprouting again!
I can onl# trust to the candour and intelligence of m# readers to rectif# this
serious misconception of m# $iews b# a comparison with m# own express
declaration!
5! :! ;RA<ER!
, .RI=( =7>RT% TEMP?E% ?7474%
5une ,@00!
+,- 5! :! ;ra)er% AThe (illing of the (ha)ar (ings%B Folk-lore, xx$iii! C,@,DE% pp!
3F0G6HD!
+0- Re$! 5! Roscoe% The Soul of Central Africa C?ondon% ,@00E% p! 0HH! =ompare
5! :! ;ra)er% I,6D'The Mackie Ethnological Expedition to =entral Africa%B Man,
xx! C,@0HE% p! ,F,!
+3- H! <immern% Zum babylonischen Neujahrsfest C?eip)ig% ,@,FE! =ompare A!
H! *a#ce% in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 5ul# ,@0,% pp! 66HG660!
+6- The ol!en "ou#h, Part JI! The Sca$e#oat, pp! 386 s%%&, 6,0 s%%&
+8- P! Amaur# Talbot in Journal of the African Society, 5ul# ,@,K% pp! 3H@ s%&' i!&,
in Folk-lore, (()i& C,@,KE% pp! D@ s%&' H! R! Palmer% in Journal of the African
Society, 5ul# ,@,0% pp! 6H3% 6HD s%&