Nourishment for the Soul – Nourishment for the Body: Animal Remains in Early Medieval Pomeranian Cemeteries
Late medieval sources clearly refer to souls, which in traditional folk beliefs were periodically returning to feed and warm themselves by the fires made by the living. This kind of conception can be merged with Slavic eschatology. There is multiple evidence to confirm that belief some form of spirit or soul was spreading amongst the people, who in the early medieval period, bordered directly with Pomerania.
Þur sarriþu þursa trutin: Monster-Fighting and Medicine in Early Medieval Scandinavia
This paper seeks evidence among our extensive Scandinavian mythological texts for an area which they seldom discuss explicitly: the conceptualisation and handling of illness and healing.
The Goddess Frig: Reassessing an Anglo-Saxon Deity
The world of the Anglo-Saxon gods will forever remain a mystery to us, existing just beyond the reach of written history.
Can you solve Odin’s Riddles?
Here are 14 riddles that the Norse god Odin says to King Heidrek. Can you solve them?
ARTICLES: The Deflation of the Medieval in Joyce’s Ulysses
For James Joyce, Irish nationalism, with its appeal to patriotic emotionality and promotion of interest in the archaic and medieval Irish past, was suspect.
Holy Islands and the Otherworld: Places Beyond Water
In this article I attempt to demonstrate that there is a connection between holy islands and notions of an Otherworld beyond water. I believe that the essence of holy islands is their location on the other side of water.
Yggdrasill and the divine ‘food chain’
One of the better-known images Old Norse mythology has passed down to us is, without a doubt, that of the ash Yggdrasill: the holy place of the gods. There, as High said to Gangleri, each day the Nordic deities held their courts.
Of Fire and Water: The Old Norse Mythical Worldview in an Eco-Mythological Perspective
How do the actions of the gods in these narratives express man’s mythical notions of his relationship with the land and sea in the Scandinavian and North Atlantic ecosystems?
The ‘Viking Apocalypse’ of 22nd February 2014: An Analysis of the Jorvik Viking Centre’s Ragnarǫk and Its Media Reception
If one signed on to a social media site, checked a news website or, in some cases, even watched one’s local evening news during mid- to late February 2014, one may have encountered some surprising news
Top 10 Medieval Places That Don’t Exist
Based on medieval legends, fictional stories, or somewhat less than useful geographic reports, here is our list of ten medieval places you won’t be able to visit!
Creation and Food in Old Norse Mythology
Not surprisingly, as we can ascertain by reading the Bible and many other religious and mythological texts of the past, also in Norse beliefs food and fecundity were central elements in the origin of all things
Which Norse God Are You?
Thor and his fellow Norse Gods are surrounded by a rich, ancient mythology. Which medieval Norse Deity are you most like?
Staging Medievalisms: Touching the Middle Ages through Contemporary Performance
Examining the Middle Ages through modern eyes: movies, TV, stage, tourism and books. How do we perform the Middle Ages?
Approaches to paganism and uses of the pre-Christian past in Geoffrey of Monmouth and Snorri Sturluson
The dissertation is a comparative analysis of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s and Snorri Sturlusson’s descriptions of paganism and uses of pre-Christian history. What was the function of these pre-Christian narratives, and what apporaches were used by the two authors to construct a complete image of the past, acceptable to their contemporary societies?
Slavic and Greek-Roman Mythology, Comparative Mythology
In this paper I will present a number of similarities between Greek and Roman deities and the Slavic ones, basing my research as much as possible on the information provided by an etymological analysis, a description of the deity as well as rituals, offerings, sacrifices and celebrations dedicated to the deities.
Some Considerations Regarding the Slavic God Triglav
This article presents a description Triglav, a god or complex of gods in Slavic mythology.
The Colors of the Rainbow in Snorri’s Edda
In the second part of his Edda, the Gylfaginning, Snorri Sturluson gives a systematic account of Norse mythology from the creation of the world to its end.
The Ship in the Field
An article exploring the possibility of a connection between the Vanir gods, specifically the goddess Freyja, with the Scandinavian stone ships and boat burials, and hypothesizing a field of the dead in early Germanic mythology.
Experience and Meaning in the Cathedral Labyrinth Pilgrimage
A medieval design based in Sacred Geometry principles, this unicursal path through concentric circles is a metaphorical container for spiritualjourneying.
Top Ten Monsters of the Middle Ages
People in the Middle Ages, just like today, could imagine a very strange monster!
Taming the Shrew: The Rise of Patriarchy and the Subordination of the Feminine in Old Norse Literature
Old Norse literature is a unique source in that it shows a connection between the oppression of women and Norse patriarchy during the phase of its establishment.
The Dragon of the North: The Supernatural Nature of Knowledge in Vǫluspá
This thesis is an exploration of the mythological poem Vǫluspá and the nature of knowledge within the world presented by the text. I will argue that knowledge is a supernatural force, and that the world will ultimately be destroyed as a result of its influence.
The hero on the edge: Constructions of heroism in Beowulf in the context of ancient and medieval epic
Whatever else he may be, though — and he may be any or all of these things — Beowulf is a hero.
Alexander and the Mongols
The association of Alexander the Great with the Mongols begins with the identification of the latter with the peoples of Gog and Magog.
The role of mythical and imaginary figures in the mental framework of medieval society
It is crucial to evaluate also whether or not medieval people distinguished the fiction from reality, and if they did, does this have an impact on the roles which certain figures performed?