I know it is forbidden of me as a sanctified scribe of the church, but through my secret allegiances to the gods and spirits of the old order, I compose this chronicle of how the remarkable Floin came to be naked and bent over, to be skewered by the lingum of another man for the first time in the presence of many of the high Druid priests and priestesses of Britain in the annual Samhain harvest festival of the Celtic New Year. This was only a great transitional moment in a life blessed to revel in many adventures of the pleasures of the flesh. If the old ways of the Celtic tribes ever come to revive, it is for this posterity that these tales must survive.
If it is the Christian era that survives into remote ages, then I plead my case to the good people of how different a view of who we were as people and the blessings mixed with sufferings to live in the world. People were not, as is now, considered corrupt and sinful from inception and in need of some faith in one who could provide reformation. All the same, we were not naΓ―ive and knew that people are capable of great wickedness. Investigations and punishments were sorted out by the village elders and Druids for injustices done to others, on a case-by-case basis. Otherwise our flesh was considered a great gift of the gods, who like them, we could use our reason to devise ways to shield from the extremes of winter cold and summer heat, find remedies among the herbs of the garden and plants of the forest to assuage our sicknesses. There was not the need to cover up for any sanctity of decency and so in may ways, we were more practical then. Why add to the expense of the fruit of the loom, the frequent scarcity of large game, and the burden of laundering, unnecessarily? In the warmth of huts in the evening, families would routinely disrobe and enjoy their dinners in the nude. Sleeping nude in all seasons of the year under the warmth of unshaped animal skins was mandatory. In the warmest weeks of the summer, sometimes into the beginning of the harvests, everyone worked in the communal fields naked. Late in the day, people relaxed by bathing in the nearby ponds and lakes together before supping. Small children liked this time of the year the best because it was then that their elders were the most playful, especially the men. The Druids were always covered in their white robes in common presence, but as Floin would learn, most of the rituals among themselves were in the nude or very scantily clad.
This was the time that gifted and lusty Floin lived. It was in my grandfather's youth, when the Romans returned to our Britannic isle and, this time, meant to secure it. The Celtic tribes throughout the isle were beginning to coalesce and would be in need of a great many soldiers. Floin was one of those alert and skilled boys that any village may have in their midst once every 5 generations or so. He had all the characteristics that suggested a special blessing by spirits and gods. He was a quick learner for many of the crafts including the forge. In his 12th year he was sent to Winchester to be instructed in Greek mathematics and mastered its essentials ahead of all in the class. But most of all, he developed physically, precociously into the flower of manhood long before most boys do: tall, muscular, broad-shouldered and a broad chest, large hands and feet, and a full thick red beard.