Snorri and the Jews Richard Cole, University of Notre Dame Abstract: This essay considers the mythological writing of Snorri Sturluson (d. 1241) in its most temporally proximal comparative context: the intellectual culture of thirteenth century Christian Europe, specifically one particular area of the High Medieval imagination: Christian narratives about […]
9. Comparing Balto-Finnic and Nordic Mythologies John Lindow, University of California, Berkeley Abstract: This paper briefly considers several points of comparison between Balto-Finnic (“Kalevaic”) and Nordic mythology: time depth; form; content, including larger structures and specific comparisons; shamanism. Although these points are easy to locate, in the end they […]
The Mythic Sun: An Areal Perspective Thomas A. DuBois, University of Wisconsin-Madison Abstract: Old Norse materials regarding the sun present conflicting stories about its identity and nature. These contradictions are examined in light of folk song materials and other evidence from Balto-Finnic, Sámi, and Baltic cultures to investigate to […]
The Temple, the Tree, and the Well: A Topos or Cosmic Symbolism at Cultic Sites in Pre-Christian Northern Europe? Olof Sundqvist, Stockholm University Abstract: Revisiting the sanctuary in Uppsala described by Adam of Bremen in the Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum, this essay finds additional evidence from a comparison with […]
Volund Was Here: A Myth Archaeologically Anchored in Viking Age Scania Torun Zachrisson, Stockholm University Abstract: A recently discovered object from the Viking Age shows a winged human figure. It has been interpreted as a representation of Volund the smith, and, more specifically, the version of the legend found […]
Blótgyðjur, Goðar, Mimi, Incest, and Wagons: Oral Memories of the Religion(s) of the Vanir [1] Terry Gunnell, University of Iceland Abstract: This article focuses on the recurring motifs concerning the peculiarities of the religion of the gods referred to as the Vanir, drawing on a range of Old Norse […]
The Æsir and Their Idols Jonas Wellendorf, University of California, Berkeley Abstract: Accounts of the destruction of cult figures are conventional narratives that present a standardized sequence of events, although details may vary from one text to the other. The multitude and longevity of such accounts show that they […]
Framing the Hero: Medium and Metalepsis in Old Norse Heroic Narrative [1] Kate Heslop, University of California, Berkeley Abstract: This essay argues for a medial perspective on heroic legend. Traditional iconographic approaches to this material are methodologically problematic and their potential for generating new readings seems limited. The essay […]
Methodological Challenges to the Study of Old Norse Myths: The Orality and Literacy Debate Reframed Pernille Hermann, Aarhus University Abstract: In pointing to a theme of importance for source evaluation, this essay gives an overview of the study of Old Norse myths from the perspective of the orality/literacy debate. […]
Pre-Christian Religions of the North and the Need for Comparativism: Reflections on Why, How, and with What We Can Compare Jens Peter Schjødt, Aarhus University Abstract: This article is concerned with some of the problems we have in attempting to reconstruct the pre-Christian religion of the North from extant sources […]