Overview

Written by distinguished scholars from multiple perspectives, this account widens the interpretative scope on religious life among the pre-Christian Scandinavian people. The religion of the Viking Age is conventionally identified through its mythology: the ambiguous character Odin, the forceful Thor, and the end of the world approaching in Ragnarök. However, pre-Christian religion consisted of so much more than mythic imagery and legends and has long lingered in folk tradition. Exploring the religion of the North through an interdisciplinary approach, the book sheds new light on a number of topics, including rituals, gender relations, social hierarchies, and interregional contacts between the Nordic tradition and the Sami and Finnish regions.

Full Product Details

Author:   Catharina Raudvere ,  Jens Peter Schjødt
Publisher:   Nordic Academic Press
Imprint:   Nordic Academic Press
Dimensions:   Width: 14.70cm , Height: 2.80cm , Length: 22.10cm
Weight:   0.588kg
ISBN:  

9789185509713

ISBN 10:   918550971
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   30 July 2012
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately.

Table of Contents

1. The Study of Pre-Christian Scandinavian Religions 7Trends and Perspectives Catharina Raudvere & Jens Peter Schjødt2. Mythic Acts 13Material Narratives of the Dead in Viking Age ScandinaviaNeil Price3. The Merits and Limits of Comparative Philology 47Old Norse Religious Vocabulary in a Long-Term PerspectivePeter Jackson4. Diet and Deities 65Contrastive Livelihoods and Animal Symbolism in Nordic Pre-Christian ReligionsThomas A. DuBois5. Fictive Rituals in Völuspá 97Mythological Narration between Agency and Structure in the Representation of RealityCatharina Raudvere6. Continuity, Change and Regional Variation in Old Norse Religion 119Andreas Nordberg7. Gender, Sexuality and the Supranormal 153Finnish Oral-Traditional SourcesLaura Stark 8. Literary Representation of Oral Religion 185Organizing Principles in Mikael Agricolas List of Mythological Agents in Late Medieval FinlandVeikko Anttonen9. Religious Ruler Ideology in Pre-Christian Scandinavia 225A Contextual ApproachOlof Sundqvist10. Reflections on Aims and Methods in the Study of OldNorse Religion 263Jens Peter Schjødt

Reviews

This is one of the finest collections of essays I have read in our field: that the editors have included material and authors that normally might not be in such an anthology by reasons of cultural tradition or discipline is to the book's credit and truly enhances the experience of reading the essays. --Stephen Mitchell, professor of Scandinavian and Folklore, Harvard University

Author Information

Catharina Raudvere is a professor of the history of religions at the University of Copenhagen and the author of The Book of the Roses. Jens Peter Schjødt is a professor of the history of religions at the University of Aarhus and the author of Initiation Between Worlds.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Countries Available

All regions