Where the Middle Ages Begin
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?
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.
This article presents a description Triglav, a god or complex of gods in Slavic mythology.
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.
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.
A medieval design based in Sacred Geometry principles, this unicursal path through concentric circles is a metaphorical container for spiritualjourneying.
People in the Middle Ages, just like today, could imagine a very strange monster!
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.
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 late sagas Gundarsson goes on to mention are written after conversion to Christianity, so we see a shift in the way alfs are viewed by the Norse during pre and post conversion periods.
Whatever else he may be, though — and he may be any or all of these things — Beowulf is a hero.
The association of Alexander the Great with the Mongols begins with the identification of the latter with the peoples of Gog and Magog.
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?
This paper examines the capacity for love and friendship attributed to demons in the thirteenth century. It shows how love could be seen as the motivating emotion in their original fall from Heaven, and explores the role love is subsequently thought to have played in both their relationships with each other and their amatory and sexual relationships with humans.
Trows are fascinating creatures found only in the folklore of the Orkney and Shetland islands. Yet, describing them accurately is difficult because sources are not always clear.
While the modern image of the dragons often depicts a beast that has four legs, leathery wings and breathes fire, the medieval image of the creature could be very different. In the article, ‘Dragons in the Eddas and in Early Nordic Art,’ Paul Ackey shows that the Vikings and Norse society had their own ideas of what dragons looked like.
The Orkney Islands possess a folkloric tradition that is both unique and fascinating.
The majority of medieval scholars, including Roger Sherman Loomis, argue that the popularity of the Arthurian legend in England was therefore on the wane in the latter half of the fourteenth century; as a result, the major writers of the period, such as John Gower and Geoffrey Chaucer, refrained from penning anything beyond the occasional reference to King Arthur and his court.
This article will only examine one of these legends, namely the ‘Hildr legend’ in the context of two of these stones, lärbro stora hammars and stenkyrka smiss . An attempt will be made to place the images in a larger context than has been done before, and by doing so to strenghten the probability that they were indeed intended to refer to the original Hildr legend.
Old Norse religion is in itself an interdisciplinary subject. If we are to survey the whole subject, it will presuppose special knowledge of a great many fields.
Others, however, began to wonder whether the possession of roots might not bring them success in other areas as well—wealth, popularity, or the power to control their own and other people’s destinies, and took to wearing them as good luck charms.
Werewolves, Lycanthropes or Man-Wolves appear in many German, French and Scandinavian stories. Nowadays there exists an image of these creatures, which combines almost all the aspects of the werewolf-myths around the world, that was brought to us by Hollywood.
Defining the term ‘faerie’ is not easy; some definitions include only specific, pre-Christian types of mythological creatures while other definitions include all of the spirits, angels and supernatural animals as well as the souls of the dead. I will take a middle road and include the spirits and the souls of the dead, since the dead and the faeries have an intimate connection in the folklore of the British Isles.
In this paper I will first outline the history of teratology (the study of monsters) from antiquity to the late Middle Ages in order to lay the foundation and to help the reader grasp the larger cultural-historical context.
Historians in Nordic countries since the turn of the twentieth century have become increasingly aware of the problem using these primary sources from earlier times, especially the sagas from the late twelfth- and thirteenth centuries, about three hundred years after Harald assumedly lived. It was Halvdan Koht(1873-1965)who introduced this point of view into Norwegian historiography, although some researchers, including Yngvar Nielsen, had cast doubt on the accuracy of the account before him.
How you can Follow Us!