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Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson

Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions Paperback – June 1, 1988

by H Davidson (Author)

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Most people know of Valhalla, the World-Tree and the gods of Norse mythology, or the strange hunts and voyages of the ancient lrish tales. Yet few people realise the significance of the similarities and contrasts between the religions of the pre-Christian people of north-western Europe.

The Celts and Germans and Scandinavians had much in common in their religious practices and beliefs, and this is the first serious attempt that has been made to compare them. There are striking resemblances in their ideas about battle-goddesses and protective spirits, holy places, sacrificial rituals, divination and ideas about the Other World; and Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe poses questions like: do such parallels go back to early times or are they owing to late Viking contact?

Hilda Ellis Davidson has worked for many years on pre-Christian Scandinavian and Germanic religion and now compares them with the Celts from the background of previous studies, using evidence from archaeology, iconography, later literature and folklore, in a search for basic patterns which will add to our knowledge of the early peoples in Europe.

Aimed at teachers and libraries but also accessible to students of history, religion and Celtic, Norse and German languages and cultures.

Print length

268 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Syracuse University Press
Publication date

June 1, 1988
Dimensions

6 x 0.84 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0815624417
ISBN-13

978-0815624417
Lexile measure

1580L
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

In this book, questions are posed such as: do such parallels go back to early times or are they owing to late Viking contact? This issue gives us knowledge of the early peoples in Europe.

About the Author

H. R. Ellis Davidson was formerly Vice-President of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, and President of the Folklore Society.

Product details

Publisher : Syracuse University Press; First Edition (June 1, 1988)
Language : English
Paperback : 268 pages
ISBN-10 : 0815624417
ISBN-13 : 978-0815624417
Lexile measure : 1580L
Item Weight : 1 pounds
Dimensions : 6 x 0.84 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #59,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #103 in Comparative Religion (Books)
- #179 in Folklore & Mythology Studies

Customer Reviews:
134 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		85%
4 star		11%
3 star		1%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Siegbald

Great in-dept study on the topic

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2018

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Great in-dept study on the topic.
Some might find it a bit "dry", but if you want a new age "follow my own invented fairytale beliefs", you can find hundreds of it out there, this is a more objective, historical approach of the beliefs, traditions and symbolism of the old faiths.

12 people found this helpful

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Nottsdottir

Swift delivery, perfect product.

Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2020

Verified Purchase

A quality brand-new book and fast delivery.
10/10.
H R Ellis Davidson remains an authority in her field and I can't recommend her highly enough for those who seek to learn past the mundane stereotypes that are perpetuated when it comes to all things, "Viking." This book is a must-have if you are a serious student on that subject but also look to go beyond it as well. I really don't consider this a bad price at all for scholarly work. Especially when I'm looking at some that are in the hundreds mark and probably won't be buying because that's just highway robbery masquerading as "publishing."

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Worth every penny

Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2020

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I absolutely love this book. It's informative and fascinating. It's well-written and understandable. It is one of my favorite historical books. Absolutely recommend this.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

This book is very disappointing

Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2021

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This book is very disappointing, I am 181 pages in to this book and there are sections that I know that she knowingly left out from her early works in certain sections. She could have changed her view on the subject, but if that’s the case since they are decades older than this book, but if that’s the case she should have stated that in my preview book ___. And if she did she should have sites her earlier work where a reader who might have not read that work first could read that.

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Alex P.

Solid reference on pre Christian north European society

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2017

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Fantastic objective reference on the subject. Great effort must have been taken in the pre Internet era to bring together so many sources spanning Germanic, Viking, Icelandic and Irish lore in the attempt to provide insight into a people's culture that was largely without written word and entirely wiped out by Christian invaders.

4 people found this helpful

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Christopher R. Travers

Interesting comparative work

Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2009

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This work compares Celtic and Scandinavian mythic and iconographic themes. Professor Davidson does an excellent job of covering a limited set of themes and provides a great deal of food for thought.

The main areas which are covered are the core elements of religion-- themes relating to the otherworld, festivities, holy places and the like, This work does not attempt a full-scale comparison of myths and religious structures.

All and all, I think this book is an important one for students of related topics to have. I gave it 4 stars only because I thought readability could have been slightly improved.

8 people found this helpful

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Cwn_Annwn

Great book!

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2005

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Davidson has done a great job with this book in setting out to show the similarities in the religious/cultural practices and beliefs of the Germanic and Celtic heathens. My personal belief is that the Gods of the Norse and other Germanics are the same Gods as those that the Celts worshipped, even if the names, lore and rites differed in various ways. She draws heaviest from the Irish sources instead of Welsh, Brit and continental Celts for drawing comparisons to Germanic peoples but even those are far from being totally neglected. Personally I don't how anybody could deny, even coming from the academic egghead perspective , that Odin and the Irish/Welsh/Gaelic Lugh/Lleu are anything other than the same God after reading this book.

From an academic/historical perspective this is argueably the best book ever written on Odinsim.

13 people found this helpful

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Bryan Jones

heady reading

Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2013

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The book starts out a little dry but picks up a lot of steam after the first chapter or so. Davidson throws a ton of information at you at once, and I found myself at least once a page re-reading sections to ensure I soaked in the material properly. Very well cited, although necessarily she leans pretty heavily on Snorri for references. Good, clean read, very informational.

13 people found this helpful

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Shamalamastreetman

A must have for your mythology bookshelf

Reviewed in Canada on September 28, 2016

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Fantastic book with a great bird's eye view of Scandinavian, Celtic and Germanic myths. Davidson clearly knows the subject matter and presents it in a clear and entertaining way. On par with Dumezil and Jacob Grimm with respect to comparative mythology. Highly recommended.

Silvia Salas Hidalgo

Indispensable

Reviewed in Spain on January 25, 2019

Verified Purchase

Está muy bien, es un clásico en mitología. Encontrarás información referente a nórdicos, germanos, celtas... Aunque es en inglés no es extremadamente difícil de leer.

One person found this helpful

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grim ulfson

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 16, 2015

Verified Purchase

Great book came extremely fast. Thank you

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