Roles of the Northern Goddess (Paperback)

by Dr Hil Davidson (Author) "The inhabitants of north-western Europe were hunters for a vast period of time before they adopted a more settled way of life and took to..." (more)
Key Phrases: female supernatural beings, northern goddess, last sheaf, Virgin Mary, Ancient Greece, Bronze Age (more...)

Editorial Reviews

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.

Dr. Davidsons 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.

Product Description
Roles of the Northern Goddess presents a highly readable study of the worship of the pre-Christian, Northern goddesses. 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 the destiny of individuals.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (May 6, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415136113
• ISBN-13: 978-0415136112
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #803,263 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly Outstanding, January 16, 1999

By	Bryn Neacail ([e-mail]) (Calgary, Alberta/Canada) - See all my reviews

I'm a typically quite cynical of 'Religion' and 'Women's Studies' books that contain the word 'Goddess' in the title. I have seen far to many horrible goddess orientated books that are simply geared to make money off of a relatively gullible and uneducated few. Hilda Ellis Davidson has constructed a modern masterpiece within the pages of 'Roles of the Northern Goddess.' This work is a rare find for those who are interested in the goddesses and women of ancient Northern Europe. It is extremely well researched and cited. Her bibliography contains approximately three hundred entries. Though I have purchased the paperback, I should have bought the hardcover: it is a valuable edition to my library.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Comparative Study Yields Solid Information, June 21, 2001

By	Elderbear (Loma Linda, Aztlan) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Davidson has produced a useful book on Northern European Goddess history and tradition. She draws on early literature, legend, folk traditions (and records of now extinct folk traditions), and archaelogy to construct several categories of functioning for the Goddesses. She discovers Goddesses who are both nurturing and demanding, healing and destructive, revered and feared. Davidson includes Celtic, Norse, Finnish, and Latvian Goddesses, and frequently compares them to Mediterranean and Near Eastern Goddess roles.

She first considers the Goddess as Mistress of the animals, examining her roles as Hunting Goddess, Ruler of the Wild, Guardian of the diary [sic] herds, as Dog and Horse Goddess.

Next, she examines the Goddess as Mistress of the Grain, considering the most ancient roots associating Goddesses with fertility of the earth, the connection between Goddess and plough, the possibility of Goddess as Corn Spirit, and how the Grain Goddess of the North differed from Grain Goddesses of more temperate regions.

Davidson then takes up the Goddess as Mistress of the Distaff and Loom, looking both the context of Goddess and weaving in the ancient world as well as the differences in Northern Europe. She considers the Oseberg wall-hagnings, retrieved from a burial site, and illuminates Goddess figures found there. She also examines the interplay between weaving and destiny, the Goddess as Weaver of Fate.

In addition, she considers the domestic role of the Goddess as Mistress of the Household. She discusses Guardians of the home, the association between Goddess and fire and water, and the role of the Goddes in the birth and nurturing of children.

Finally, she examines the Goddess as Mistress of Life and Death, writing of her role as healer and in the realm of death. She also considers Northern European funeral rites and how they help us understand the roles of the Goddess.

Davidson points out that when we sentimentalize the Goddess, as so many white-light-bunny-fluff-goddess-of-the-week books do, we lose a great deal. She draws on Jung in her synthesis that the Goddess is both attractive and nurturing as well as repulsive and frightening. In her conclusion she points out that the Goddess was much more than simply the "Great Mother."

The book has a useful index and an excellent bibliography. It was poorly copy edited, however, with several typos. I also wish that Davidson had done a better job of separating out the layers of history through which she excavates. The meaning of stone-age evidence is poorly differentiated from the meanings of myths recorded in the middle ages or folk practices recorded in the 17th century. This is a significant problem which the book poorly addresses.

Five stars for depth and breadth, but knocked down to four stars for the failure to explicitly consider the impact of various historical contexts on the available evidence and on her interpetation of it.

(If you'd like to discuss this book or review, click on the "about me" link above and drop me an email. Thanks!)

12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Faulty premise leads to faulty conclusions, December 24, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Roles of the Northern Goddess (Hardcover)

This is quite likely the worst book HRED has written. That said, there is still much of value. To find it though, one must wade through the author's agenda- she was in her One Great Goddess phase- and incomplete as well as unconnected examples of, well, sometimes one can't be quite sure just what she is trying to say or prove.

If your starting point is the premise that there was One Great Goddess, fine, you will love this book. If you want a scholarly evalution of Germanic goddesses, you will need to go elsewhere.