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Over 1700 entries cover mythology and religion of heathen Germanic tribes: Scandinavians, Goths, Angles and Saxons, 1500 BC-1000 AD.
Res, artes et religio is a collection of thirty-nine essays in honour of Rudolf Simek, professor at the Department of German, Comparative Literature and Culture at the University of Bonn. The terms res, artes and religio describe the wide-ranging interests of Rudolf Simek, which centre around but are by no means limited to the area of Viking Age and medieval Scandinavia. The chapters gathered here, written by his friends, colleagues and students, match these interests and show the influence of his work in the fields of mythology, religious studies, runology, saga studies, archaeology and more.
Mythology is usually reserved for non-Christian religions. However, the adoption of Christianity in Northern and East-Central Europe between c. 1000 and 1300 can be adequately described as a myth-making process: local saints were added to the Christian pantheon in all regions entering Latin Europe. The present collection explores the links between local sanctity and the making of national myths in medieval historical writing. By bringing together specialists in history and literature of the European periphery in question, the case is made that the writing of history and saints lives from this pioneering period should been analysed together as mainly successful attempts at creating cultural foundation myths.
In this fascinating book Dr Simek shows that though nature was thought to be permeated by the will of God, there were numerous explanations for unknown phenomena, from the simple theories of the early middle ages to the more sophisticated ideas of the centres of learned scholasticism in Paris and Oxford. He presents a cross-section of the medieval knowledge of the physical world as deliberated and discussed by authors from the 9th to the 15th centuries.
The study of Old Norse Religion is a truly multidisciplinary and international field of research. The rituals, myths and narratives of pre-Christian Scandinavia are investigated and interpreted by archaeologists, historians, art historians, historians of religion as well as scholars of literature, onomastics and Scandinavian studies. For obvious reasons, these studies belong to the main curricula in Scandinavia but are also carried out at many other universities in Europe, the United States and Australia a fact that is evident to any reader of this book. In order to bring this broad and varied field of research together, an international conference on Old Norse religion was held in Lund in J...
Close examination of the significant theme of other-worldly encounters in Norse myth and legend, including giantesses, monsters and the Dead. A particular, recurring feature of Old Norse myths and legends is an encounter between creatures of This World [gods and human beings] and those of the Other [giants, giantesses, dwarves, prophetesses, monsters and the dead]. Concentrating on cross-gendered encounters, this book analyses these meetings, and the different motifs and situations they encompass, from the consultation of a prophetess by a king or god, to sexual liaisons and return from the dead. It considers the evidence for their pre-Christian origins, discusses how far individual poets and prose writers were free to modify them, and suggests that they survived in medieval Christian society because [like folk-tale] they provide a non-dogmatic way of resolving social and psychological problems connected with growing up, succession from one generation to the next, sexual relationships and bereavement.
In Myths, Legends, and Heroes, editor Daniel Anzelark has brought together scholars of Old Norse-Icelandic and Old English literature to explore the translation and transmission of Norse myth, the use of literature in society and authorial self-reflection, the place of myth in the expression of family relationships, and recurrent motifs in Northern literature. The essays in Myths, Legends, and Heroes include an examination of the theme of sibling rivalry, an analysis of Christ's unusual ride into hell as found in both Old Norse and Old English, a discussion of Beowulf's swimming prowess and an analysis of the poetry in Snorri Sturluson's Edda. A tribute to Durham University professor John McKinnell's distinguished contributions to the field, this volume offers new insights in light of linguistic and archaeological evidence and a broad range of study with regard to both chronology and methodology.
The boundaries between mental, social and physical order and various states of disorder – unexpected mood swings, fury, melancholy, stress, insomnia, and demonic influence – form the core of this compilation. For medieval men and women, religious rituals, magic, herbs, dietary requirements as well as to scholastic medicine were a way to cope with the vagaries of mental wellbeing; the focus of the articles is on the interaction and osmosis between lay and elite cultures as well as medical, theological and political theories and practical experiences of daily life. Time span of the volume is the later Middle Ages, c. 1300-1500. Geographically it covers Western Europe and the comparison between Mediterranean world and Northern Europe is an important constituent. Contributors are Jussi Hanska, Gerhard Jaritz, Timo Joutsivuo, Kirsi Kanerva, Sari Katajala-Peltomaa, Marko Lamberg, Iona McCleery, Susanna Niiranen, Sophie Oosterwijk, and Catherine Rider.
Based on a variety of extant written sources, this study offers a comprehensive reevaluation of Guðmundr Arason’s popularity in medieval Iceland. It presents a new perspective on the saintly fame and veneration of this controversial and interesting individual.