Heathen Gods in Old English Literature

by Richard North

Overview

Richard North offers a complete revision of our view of Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian paganism and mythology in the pre-Viking and Viking age. He discusses the pre-Christian gods of Bede's history of the Anglo-Saxon conversion with reference to a god known as Ingui. Using expert knowledge of comparative literary material from Old Norse-Icelandic and other Old Germanic languages, North reconstructs the slender Old English evidence in an imaginative and original treatment of poems such as "Deor" and "The Dream of the Rood."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521551830
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/11/1997
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England , #22
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	6.26(w) x 9.29(h) x 0.98(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; List of abbreviations; 1. Nerthus and Terra Mater: Anglian religion in the first century; 2. Ingui of Bernicia; 3. Ingui's cult remembered: Ing and the ingefolc; 4. Woden's witchcraft; 5. 'Uoden de cuius stirpe': the role of Woden in royal genealogy; 6. Aspects of Ingui: -geot and Geat; 7. The cult of Ingui in Beowulf; 8. Ingui's marriage: natural phenomena; 9. Ingui's death: the world-tree sacrifice; 10. Paulinus and the stultus error: the Anglo-Saxon conversion; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Heathen Gods in Old English Literature is a clever book, packed full of interesting data and provocative speculations, bristling with erudition. For its part, Cambridge University Press has, as usual, produced a good-looking and well-proofread book....North has undisputed integrative talent, imagination, and intellecual courage. His book is filled with astute observations, inspired guesses and exciting analyses." Oren Falk, Envoi

From the Publisher