The Pre-Christian Religions of the North: History and Structures

The product of an international interdisciplinary team, the History and Structures strand of the Pre-Christian Religion of the North series aims to approach the subject by giving equal weight to archaeological and textual sources, taking into consideration recent theories on religion within all the disciplines that are needed in order to gain a comprehensive view of the religious history and world view of pre-Christian Scandinavia from the perspective of the beginning of the twenty-first century. Volume I presents the basic premises of the study and a consideration of the sources: memory and oral tradition, written sources, religious vocabulary, place names and personal names, archaeology, and images. Volume II treats the social, geographical, and historical contexts in which the religion was practiced and through which it can be understood. This volume also includes communication between worlds, primarily through various ritual structures. Volume III explores conceptual frameworks: the cosmos and collective supernatural beings (notions regarding the cosmos and regarding such collective supernatural beings as the norns, valkyries, giants, and dwarfs) and also gods and goddesses (including Þórr, Óðinn, Freyr, Freyja, and many others). Volume IV describes the process of Christianization in the Nordic region and also includes a bibliography and indices for the entire four-volume work.