The Nine Maidens

Whether as the mothers of the Norse God Heimdall, Morgan and her sisters on Avalon, the nine sisters at the heart of the founding myth of the Gikuyu of Kenya, or witches battling with the Irish St Patrick, stories of nine women, often attending a goddess or linked to a heroic or divine male, exist across much of our world. Triggered by a local story still told in his native Dundee, Stuart McHardy has traced what seems to be memories of groups of nine women, most likely some kind of priestesses, across much of Europe and as far as Siberia, Korea, India and Africa. Whether as Pictish saints, Muses, Valkyries, Druidesses or witches, the tales of these groups of nine women transcend a vast range of cultural and linguistic boundaries. The painting of nine women dancing round a priapic male in a Catalonian cave painting over fifteen thousand years old suggests these groups may well have been one of the oldest cultural institutions humanity has known.

Stuart McHardy is a writer, historical scholar, poet, musician, folklorist and renowned lecturer about Scottish history and culture, at home as well as abroad. His unique understanding of tradition comes from a thorough immersion in the storytelling arts and history alike. Former President of the Pictish Arts Society and the Director of the Scots Language Resource Centre, McHardy has occupied leadership positions with organisations working towards the aim of rediscovering Scottish national identity.