The Pre-Christian Religions of the North
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.
The Pre-Christian Religions of the North: Research and Reception, Volume I: From the Middle Ages to c. 1850
Over more than a thousand years since pre-Christian religions were actively practised European - and later contemporary - society has developed a fascination with the beliefs of northern Europe before the arrival of Christianity which have been the subject of a huge range of popular and scholarly theories interpretations and uses. Indeed the pre-Christian religions of the North have exerted a phenomenal influence on modern culture appearing in everything from the names of days of the week to Hollywood blockbusters. Scholarly treatments have been hardly less varied. Theories - from the Middle Ages until today - have depicted these pre-Christian religious systems as dangerous illusions the works of Satan representatives of a lost proto-Indo-European religious culture a form of ‘natural’ religion and even as a system non-indigenous in origin derived from cultures outside Europe.
The Research and Reception strand of the Pre-Christian Religions of the North project establishes a definitive survey of the current and historical uses and interpretations of pre-Christian mythology and religious culture tracing the many ways in which people both within and outside Scandinavia have understood and been influenced by these religions from the Christian Middle Ages to contemporary media of all kinds. The present volume (I) traces the reception down to the early nineteenth century while Volume II takes up the story from c. 1830 down to the present day and the burgeoning of interest across a diversity of new as well as old media.
The Pre-Christian Religions of the North: Research and Reception, Volume II: From c. 1830 to the Present
Over more than a thousand years since pre-Christian religions were actively practised European – and later contemporary – society has developed a fascination with the beliefs of northern Europe before the arrival of Christianity which have been the subject of a huge range of popular and scholarly theories interpretations and uses. Indeed the pre-Christian religions of the North have exerted a phenomenal influence on modern culture appearing in everything from the names of days of the week to Hollywood blockbusters. Scholarly treatments have been hardly less varied. Theories – from the Middle Ages until today – have depicted these pre-Christian religious systems as dangerous illusions the works of Satan representatives of a lost proto-Indo-European religious culture a form of 'natural' religion and even as a system non-indigenous in origin derived from cultures outside Europe.
The Research and Reception strand of the Pre-Christian Religions of the North project establishes a definitive survey of the current and historical uses and interpretations of pre-Christian mythology and religious culture tracing the many ways in which people both within and outside Scandinavia have understood and been influenced by these religions from the Christian Middle Ages to contemporary media of all kinds. The previous volume (i) traced the reception down to the early nineteenth century while the present volume (ii) takes up the story from c. 1830 down to the present day and the burgeoning of interest across a diversity of new as well as old media.