Old Norse mythology / John Lindow.
| Author/creator | Lindow, John |
| Other author | Oxford University Press. |
| Format | Electronic |
| Publication Info | New York : Oxford University Press, [2021] |
| Description | xi, 231 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22 cm |
| Supplemental Content | Full text available from Oxford Scholarship Online |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Introduction -- From Cosmogony to Cosmic Eschatology -- The System of Old Norse Mythology -- Old Norse Mythology as Sacred Narrative Þórr's fishing expedition -- Old Norse Mythology and Learned Medieval Speculation -- Old Norse Mythology and Ideology (and Entertainment) -- Conclusion. |
| Abstract | "This book treats from the perspective of the series "World mythologies in theory and in everyday life" the body of texts from medieval Scandinavia, mostly Iceland, usually known as "Norse mythology" or "Scandinavian mythology." Specifically, it constitutes a case study of a "literary or textual mythology," that is, a mythology from the past that we know only through written texts that have been left to us, augmented in a few cases by artifacts and images. This case is particularly interesting because the texts (with a tiny handful of enigmatic exceptions) were recorded centuries after the Nordic peoples had abandoned the religion associated with the mythology and converted to Christianity. The mythology lived on without direct connection to ritual activity or religious conviction. Drawing both on sources from before the conversion and on comparative analysis, it is certainly possible to reach informed inferences about the mythology before the conversion to Christianity-that is, when it existed as part of the pre-Christian religion of the Nordic peoples and their successors. From the perspective of the mythologies of the world, what is perhaps most important about these inferences is that this pre-Christian mythology was not a canonical mythology, since it almost certainly lacked a canon of sacred texts such as one finds in the great world religions of today. The focus of the book is not the mythology in and of itself, as would be true of a handbook, but rather how particular historical and intellectual circumstances formed conceptions about it."-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-221) and index. |
| Access restriction | Available only to authorized users. |
| Technical details | Mode of access: World Wide Web |
| Genre/form | Electronic books. |
| LCCN | 2020024611 |
| ISBN | 9780190852252 (hardback) |
| ISBN | 9780197554487 (pbk.) |
| ISBN | (epub) |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic Resources | Access Content Online | ✔ Available |