We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Find out more
Instructor inspection copy request

E-book purchase
Choose a subscription

Downloaded copy on your device does not expire. Includes 4 years of Bookshelf Online.

close

Where applicable, tax will be added to the above price prior to payment.

E-book purchasing help

E-book purchase

E-books are granted under the terms of a single-user, non-transferable license, and may be accessed online from any location.

Contact information
E: Contact Us

Cover

Old Norse Mythology

John Lindow

Publication Date - 21 December 2020

ISBN: 9780197554487

248 pages
Paperback
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches

In Stock

An innovative and accessible overview of how ancient Scandinavians understood and made use of their mythological stories.

Description

An innovative and accessible overview of how ancient Scandinavians understood and made use of their mythological stories.

Old Norse Mythology provides a unique survey of the mythology of Scandinavia: the gods Þórr (Thor) with his hammer, the wily and duplicitous Óðinn (Odin), the sly Loki, and other fascinating figures. They create the world, battle their enemies, and die at the end of the world, which arises anew with a new generation of gods. These stories were the mythology of the Vikings, but they were not written down until long after the conversion to Christianity, mostly in Iceland. In addition to a broad overview of Nordic myths, the book presents a case study of one myth, which tells of how Þórr (Thor) fished up the World Serpent, analyzing the myth as a sacred text of the Vikings. Old Norse Mythology also explores the debt we owe to medieval intellectuals, who were able to incorporate the old myths into new paradigms that helped the myths to survive when they were no longer part of a religious system. This superb introduction traces the use of the mythology in ideological contexts, from the Viking Age until the twenty-first century, as well as in entertainment.

Features

  • New perspective on Norse mythology
  • Emphasis on the use and users of the mythology, not on the myths themselves
  • Historical sweep: the mythology from its sacral contexts to modern contexts

About the Author(s)

John Lindow is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Scandinavian at the University of California, Berkeley.

Reviews

"...this is one of the best studies I have seen so far of Old Norse mythology because this subject tends to be treated as if it is a cartoon in the media and by scholars who echo these myths." -- Anna Faktorovich, editor-in-chief, Pennsylvania literary Journal

"Through judicious selection, Old Norse Mythology seeks to map out a diverse range of studies in which the mythology is central ... Old Norse Mythology is a study that it is good to see available in a series of 'accessible overviews of the world's mythological traditions'." -- John Hines, Folklore

"Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty." -- D. J. Shepherd, CHOICE

Table of Contents

    CONTENTS
    Chapter 1: Introduction
    Chapter 2: Old Norse mythology from cosmology to eschatology
    Chapter 3: ONM as oral sacred text
    Chapter 4: ONM and learned medieval speculation
    Chapter 5: ONM and modern national and racial ideology
    Chapter 6: Conclusion
    Suggestions for Further Reading
    Resources

Related Titles