Roles of the Northern Goddess - Softcover

Davidson, Dr Hilda Ellis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0415136113 ISBN 13: 9780415136112

Publisher: Routledge, 1998

Synopsis

While much work has been done on goddesses of the ancient world and the male gods of pre-Christian Scandinavia, the northern goddesses have been largely neglected. Roles of the Northern Goddess presents a highly readable study of the worship of these goddesses by men and women. With its use of evidence from early literature, popular tradition, legend and archaeology, this book investigates the role of the early hunting goddess and the local goddesses who were involved in all aspects of the household and the farm. What emerges is that the goddess was both benevolent and destructive, a powerful figure closely concerned with birth and death and with destiny of individuals.

About this title

About the Author:

Hilda Ellis Davidson was Vice President of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge and President of the London Folklore Society. She is author of Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (1964) and The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe (1991).

Review:

Dr. Davidson's welcome latest book is attracting a broader readership... This is a book whose marketing and potential use, because of its crossover potential between academia and postmodern neo-paganism, might possibly be of greatest interest from a social-anthropological point of view, since its content seems to have been carefully selected with that bifurcated potential audience in mind. Scandanavian Studies, Volume 71, Issue 3, Fall 1999.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0415136113
• ISBN 13: 9780415136112
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 220