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The Viking Road to Byzantium (1976) is a major study of the Vikings
who travelled east, based on the evidence of written sources and
archaeology. Clues to the movements of the eastern Vikings may be
found not only in Icelandic skaldic verse and runic inscriptions on
memorial stones, but in such unexpected places as a Romanian chalk
quarry near the Black Sea, among the carved stones of ancient
Thrace and in Constantinople itself, the Miklagard of northern
literature.
"Roles of the Northern Goddess" presents a highly readable study of
the worship of the pre-Christian, Northern goddesses. With its use
of evidence from early literature, popular tradition, legend and
archaeology, this book investigates the role of the early hunting
goddess and the local goddesses who were involved in all aspects of
the household and the farm. What emerges is that the goddess was
both benevolent and destructive, a powerful figure closely
concerned with birth and death and with the destiny of individuals.
While much work has been done on goddesses of the ancient world and the male gods of pre-Christian Scandinavia, the northern goddesses have been largely neglected. Roles of the Northern Goddess presents a highly readable study of the worship of these goddesses by men and women. With its use of evidence from early literature, popular tradition, legend and archaeology, this book investigates the role of the early hunting goddess and the local goddesses who were involved in all aspects of the household and the farm. What emerges is that the goddess was both benevolent and destructive, a powerful figure closely concerned with birth and death and with destiny of individuals.
Fragments of ancient belief mingle with folklore and Christian dogma until the original tenets are lost in the myths and psychologies of the intervening years. Hilda Ellis Davidson illustrates how pagan beliefs have been represented and misinterpreted by the Christian tradition, and throws light on the nature of pre-Christian beliefs and how they have been preserved. The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe stresses both the possibilities and the difficulties of investigating the lost religious beliefs of Northern Europe.
Fragments of ancient belief have been incorporated into folklore
and Christian dogma with the result that its original tenets have
merged with the myths and psychologies of the intervening years.
Hilda Ellis Davidson sifts through centuries of cultural and
religious influences to locate evidence of these "lost" pagan
beliefs.
Davidson illustrates how northern pagan religions have been
represented and misinterpreted by the Christian tradition and
throws light on the nature of such beliefs and how they have been
preserved. "The Lost Beliefs of" "Northern Europe" stresses both
the possibilities and the difficulties of investigating
pre-Christian faiths and emphasizes the need to separate
speculation from scientific proof.
This book will be a useful tool for students with a serious
interest in archaeology as it illustrates with examples how
objectivity is not necessarily the driving force in forming our
supposedly scientific view of the past. It will also appeal to the
general reader who wants to understand the true nature of Northern
European pagan belief as opposed to the oversimplified view
popularized by the media.
"The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe" argues for intellectual
rigorousness rather than romanticization of the past, and
challenges the reader to rethink accepted interpretations.
Offers an excellent introduction to the work currently and
historically being done on fairy tales by folk-lorists. MEDIEVAL
REVIEW Introduction by Derek Brewer. This book discusses the
characteristics of the traditional fairy tale in Europe and North
America, and various theories of its development and
interpretation. The book deals with the main collections - the
Grimm brothers, Hans Andersen, Perrault and Afanes'ev - and with
the development of tales in various regions of Europe, including
Ireland, Wales, Scandinavia, Germany and Russia, as well as India,
where it was once claimed that they originated. The subject of the
fairy tale is a controversial one: problems discussed here include
the relationship between tales recorded from story-tellers and
literary works, the importance of printed worksfor the spread of
the tales, the growth of recent examples with a feminine approach,
the spread of popular tales like Cinderella, special types like the
cumulative tales, possible effects of TV, and the nature of
traditional plots and characters. Above all, the collection is
concerned with the distribution and long survival of these tales,
and the nature of their appeal. SHORTLISTED FOR THE KATHARINE
BRIGGS FOLKLORE AWARD 2004. Contributors: GRAHAM ANDERSON, DAVID
BLAMIRES, RUTH BOTTIGHEIMER, DEREK BREWER, MARY BROCKINGTON, ANNA
CHAUDHRI, HILDA ELLIS DAVIDSON, ROBIN GWYNDAF, BENGT HOLBEK, DAVID
HUNT, REIMUND KVIDELAND, PATRICIA LYSAGHT, NEIL PHILIP, JAMES
RIORDAN, PAT SCHAEFER, TOM SHIPPEY, JOYCE THOMAS.
The Sword is closely associated with all that was most significant
in a man's life in the Anglo-Saxon world: family ties, loyalty to a
lord, the duties of a king, the excitement of battle, the
attainment of manhood, and the last funeral rites. Hilda Ellis
Davidson explores the revelations of archaeology, methods of
sword-making, and references in Anglo-Saxon poetry and Old Norse
sagas to reveal a past where the sword was of supreme importance,
as a weapon and as a symbol. She restores a vital dimension to Old
English literature, and endows those few surviving swords in
museums with a real glamour and magic. She shows that for a fuller
understanding of Anglo-Saxon poetry it is important to have due
regard to the warrior culture from which it sprang, and of the
potent part played by the sword within that culture. Much can be
learnt from surviving swords and from the context in which they are
discovered. Careful study of the disposition of swords found in
peat bogs in Denmark, and in graves, lakes and rivers in the
British Isles, yields information on religious and social
practices. The swords themselves, and their decoration, reveal the
technical skill and cultural achievements of the people who wielded
them. To read Beowolf is to be immediately aware of the aura of
magical power the poet vested in the sword, and Hilda Ellis
Davidson's other concern in this book is to look at literary
sources for what they reveal of the quality of a good sword and its
significance in Anglo-Saxon and Viking societies - for Viking
raiders played as important a part as Anglo-Saxon colonists in the
history of early medieval Britain. A survey of the sword in
Anglo-Saxon historical records and poetry isfollowed by an
exploration of descriptions of the sword, and of the parts of the
sword, in Old Norse literature. The real world of the Anglo-Saxons
is brought into dramatic close-focus through this thorough study of
the physical remains and literary memorials of a highly-charged
symbol.
In the early years of the thirteenth century the Danish writer Saxo
Grammaticus provided his people with a History of the Danes, an
account of their glorious past from the legendary kings and heroes
of Denmark to the historical present. It is one of the major
sources for the heroic and mythological traditions of northern
Europe, though the complex Latin style and the wide range of
material brought together from different sources have limited its
use. Here Hilda Ellis Davidson, a specialist in Scandinavian
mythology, together with the translator Peter Fisher, provides a
full English edition; each of the first nine books is preceded by
an introductory summary, and a detailed commentary follows on the
folklore and life and customs of twelfth-century Denmark -
including the sources of Hamlet, of which Saxo gives the earliest
known account. HILDA ELLIS DAVIDSON's other books include The Sword
in Anglo-Saxon England; PETER FISHER is also the translator of
Olaus Magnus: A Description of the Northern Peoples. Both are
available from Boydell & Brewer. In the early years of the 13th
century the Danish writer Saxo Grammaticus provided his people with
a dignified and ambitious Latin account of their glorious past from
the mythical past to the historical present -(He) collected the
legends of Scandinavian gods and heroes, and arranged their
exploits in a series of biographies' which ostensibly formed an
unbroken sequence. He took his tales from a variety of sources, and
readers will find his collection of myths, folklore and fabulous
history fascinating - An accurate and readable translation of the
nine mythological books based on the best scholarly edition'. RUTH
MORSE, BRITISH BOOK NEWS.
Most people know of Valhalla, the World-Tree and the gods of Norse
mythology, or the strange hunts and voyages of the ancient lrish
tales. Yet few people realise the significance of the similarities
and contrasts between the religions of the pre-Christian people of
north-western Europe. The Celts and Germans and Scandinavians had
much in common in their religious practices and beliefs, and this
is the first serious attempt that has been made to compare them.
There are striking resemblances in their ideas about
battle-goddesses and protective spirits, holy places, sacrificial
rituals, divination and ideas about the Other World; and Myths and
Symbols in Pagan Europe poses questions like: do such parallels go
back to early times or are they owing to late Viking contact? Hilda
Ellis Davidson has worked for many years on pre-Christian
Scandinavian and Germanic religion and now compares them with the
Celts from the background of previous studies, using evidence from
archaeology, iconography, later literature and folklore, in a
search for basic patterns which will add to our knowledge of the
early peoples in Europe. Aimed at teachers and libraries but also
accessible to students of history, religion and Celtic, Norse and
German languages and cultures.
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