The Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse and Stonehenge

I am reading a novel called Stonehenge: A Novel of 2000 B.C. by historical author Bernard Cornwell. I am only about halfway through reading Stonehenge. Now that there is a winter solstice lunar eclipse in the way next week, I started to wonder about how the builders of Stonehenge would have reacted to seeing a lunar eclipse occur on the winter solstice.

If any facets of the history behind Cornwell's Stonehenge novel are correct then the ancients that built the temple would have been very interested in the movements of the sun and moon across the sky and through the seasons. So, how would the ancient peoples have reacted if there was a lunar eclipse in the solstice at Stonehenge? Imagine the feeling they had in seeing the moon disappear and re-appear in just a few hours time amongst the rocks of the temple. Would would this be cause for celebration, or a time of worry. Would they be able to predict when the solstice was going to occur and be ready for it with a sacrifice?

Some recent research has uncovered that there is pattern found within the placement of the rocks at Stonehenge that would have allowed ancient dwellers of England to be able to predict when lunar eclipses would have occurred.

I have become a big Cornwell fan, having read his Saxon Tales series and his series on Arthur. Both series contain a set of really good books. These books cover the middle and dark ages of England's history, an area of expertice for Cornwell. Stonehenge was a step back in history for Cornwell. It also may have been a step back in his writing. It took me while to warm up to Stonehenge novel. I started reading Stonehenge once a couple of years ago, but put it down after 50 pages. The story started out a little slow, and the main character, Saban seems to have no purpose, other than to be abused by his older brother Lengar. It is a story that is plodding along, and I am hoping for something interesting to happen at the end. For this second attempt, I made it halfway through the book, and now will stick through it to the end. Perhaps, I will be done before the winter solstice lunar eclipse and will do a naked celebratory dance around a rock in my back yard at 3 AM next Tuesday morning, in a pale red glow from the lunar eclipse.

If you are an avid reader of historical fiction then I recommend any of Cornwell's novels, even Stonehenge. Next, I am going to start in on his Sharpe Series.

I would be interested in hearing what your thoughts are on how an ancient from Stonehenge would have viewed a lunar eclipse on the winter solstice. Feel free to leave a comment!