Geeks logo

Outlander: A Sassenach’s Search for the Standing Stones

“Sing me a song of a lass that is gone… Say could that lass be I?”

By Christie HallPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
1

I listened for the distinctive buzzing of the stones, but the only sound was the wind as it rushed over the emerald hills. My husband, taking in the scenery, wandered outside the periphery of the stones, casually unconcerned with what I thought might be about to happen. Carefully stepping toward the largest of the stones, I reached my hand toward the rock and waited.

Nothing happened.

I took a deep breath and placed my palm directly and firmly on the standing stone’s mystical and mossy surface.

Still nothing.

I was oddly disappointed not to have time travelled.

After a day of driving through the countryside in search of stone circles, following hidden trails through the forest, walking uphill along the remnants of a Roman road, dodging sheep and ornery cows, I was ready to believe any tale, folklore, or legend about the stones. There was definitely something magical about standing alone in a field beside the massive circular formation, knowing that the stones had been there for thousands of years.

We wondered how they came to be there, in that particular location. And what about the people whose lives were connected through time to these standing stones by centuries of ritual and tradition? These megalithic monuments may date back as far as 3000 BC, and their uses, depending on who you ask, include religious ceremony, burial sites, early calendar functions, oral tradition, Druid sacrifice, or perhaps even time travel.

It wasn’t until I saw the rental car parked right where we’d left it along the side of R571, that I gave up my last insane hope that the stones had possibly worked some of their magic on us.

This particular adventure occurred on a trip to Ireland in 2017. While Outlander’s origins are in 1945 Scotland, the standing stones we discovered felt very similar to those of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander novels and the subsequent television series.

The basic premise of the first season (my favourite of the series and of the books) is that British protagonist Claire, while on vacation in the Scottish highlands with her husband Frank at the end of WWII, accidently time travels, through the standing stones of Craigh na Dun, and finds herself in 1743, making her a Sassenach, or Outlander. As if that weren’t enough, Claire lands in the middle of a battle between a group of British soldiers and the local Jacobite resistance. History and DNA collide when the nefarious Captain Black Jack Randall, a known ancestor of Claire’s husband, turns out to look exactly like Frank.

Before entering the world of Outlander, I had never given much thought to stone circles or standing stones, apart from a general awareness of Stonehenge’s existence. It turns out there are over 1300 stone circles in the UK alone, with various other circles on record in countries around the world. Most of these monuments don’t require an entrance fee or a bus tour. A sense of wonder and a good pair of hiking shoes are all that’s needed to climb your own Craigh na Dun and see what adventures await on the other side of the stones. Maybe your own ancestral Black Jack Randall?

I have always been fascinated with my own family history and ancestry, with a need to somehow find pieces of myself in the past. Near a small town in Lanarkshire, Scotland lie the remains of a 12th century ancestral castle, belonging to my Grandmother’s family. Like the stones’ magnetic pull on Claire, this village in Scotland halfway between Hadrian’s wall and the Highlands pulls me into my own origins and familial connections. It’s high on my list of travel destinations.

To know where we are going, we need to know where we are from. Claire finds this to be true as she works to stop the April 16, 1746 Battle of Culloden, the final and deadly end to the Jacobite uprising. But as all time travellers inevitably find out, using the future to change the past is not without its complications. Claire’s attempts to return to the stones of Craigh na Dun and her 1945 life only lead her further into 18th century adventure.

The intersection of history and drama is what makes Outlander not only believable, but also so compelling. Add in a healthy dose of romance and we may have the perfect story. Claire ends up in a forced marriage to Jamie Fraser, and viewers swoon as Sassenach Claire and Highlander Jamie soon fall in love after their hasty wedding. It’s the kind of love that has Claire questioning her marriage to 20th century Frank Randall, and leaves us pulling for Claire and Jamie to have their happily ever after.

Throughout Outlander’s progression, readers and viewers find themselves alternately in the 18th and 20th centuries, sometimes due to Claire’s flashbacks to her previous/future life, and sometimes due to subsequent time travel events. As their love story unfolds through time, space, and geography, Claire and Jamie always seem to find one another. The stones always bring them back together.

There are many more stone circles yet to be discovered on my travels. I can’t help but be fascinated by the possibility of “what if.” And while this Sassenach is generally a very practical and pragmatic person, the guilty pleasure of believing in magic stones and time travel makes Outlander completely irresistible and repeatedly bingeworthy. Compelling characters, plot twists, believably fictionalized history, and men in kilts will keep this series in my Netflix queue and on my bookshelf indefinitely.

tv
1

About the Creator

Christie Hall

I dream, write, hike, kayak, adventure, and live my best life on Vancouver Island Canada.

I'm inspired by nature, history, the stories people tell - and the ones they don't!

Thank you for reading!

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.