Thanks Psmiths. Your essays and discussion is even better than the bookshelf itself. I appreciate the final bit pointing out that what we see and admire most in Greek and Roman "golden ages" is the momentary splendor before it all starts to crash in on itself. Ditto Victorian England. And Pax Americana?
Keep it up; every post is a wonderful invitation to think more deeply.
I really enjoyed the book and the review. I want to know more about how Greek religion evolved and was codified. Is there a book or books you could recommend? Thank you!
>I'd also be interested to see an archeological perspective on his next section, about the sacred hearth.
Archaeologists Anders Kaliff has written on the Nordic Bronze Age use of sacred fires and funerary rites, paralleling them with other indo-european traditions. Alas his book "Källan på botten av tidens brunn : indoeuropeiska rötter till fornnordisk religion" is only available in Swedish. https://www.uu.se/kontakt-och-organisation/personal?query=N99-326
Fascinating! I really know very little about anything in Scandinavia before the Vikings, but I imagine this is another thing that vanished after the religious changes that followed the 6th c. volcanic winter?
My impression is that the extent of the changes in Norse cult has been overstated. I found this book by Kaliff (in english and accesaible online!) that adresses the use of sacred fires in the viking age.
>Before I proceed with the interpretation of the mounds as places/instruments for fire sacrifice, there is good reason to look at some ofthe written evidence for pre-Christian cultic implements preserved from pre-Christian and early medieval times. In the direct written sources, the Eddie and skaldic poems dealing with ancient Scandinavian cult, there are three different terms for cultic sites: Old Norse vé, hörgr, and hof (Swedish vi, harg, and hov). Vé seems to be an old Germanic word for a holy place or sanctuary; it occurs in the Eddie poems as a name of the dwelling of the gods and in skaldic poems as a term for true cult sites. The terms hörgr and hof often occur together but originally have different meanings. Hof probably refers to both a cult site and a chieftain’s farm in Late Iron Age tradition, while hörgr seems to be a rock but can also be a structure of stone or wood. It has been suggested that hörgr could be interpreted as a sacrificial altar of stone, located in the open air, and that it was initially a natural place in the form of a rock or an assemblage of stones, but was later developed into an altar structure (Hultgård 1996, pp. 29 ff.; cf. Vikstrand 2001, 2004). In the Eddie poem Hyndluljód (10) there is an account of how Ottar Innsteinsson worshipped the goddess Freyja. This took place at a hörgr of stone over which the blood of the sacrificed animal was poured. Hyndluljód is preserved in a manuscript from the fourteenth century and is often dated to the twelfth century. According to the historian of religion Anders Hultgård, however, this dating rests on an insecure foundation, and the content of the poem at least shows that the poet lived in an environment where ancient Scandinavian cult was remembered. It could thus be a realistic sacrificial scene that is described: “One can interpret the statement that the stones became as shining as glass (at gleri orbit) in such a way that they became glazed through repeated sacrificial fires. Hyndluljód evidently testifies to specific votive customs. At or on the sacred stone structure, people lit fires either to cook the meat from the sacrificial animal for a ritual meal or possibly in order to transfer part of the sacrificed matter to the divine sphere as a kind of burnt offering” (Hultgård 1996, p. 32).
My amateur reading is that the interpretation of Hyndluljód is strong, many older translations put "at gleri orbit" as "glaced by fire".
Thanks Psmiths. Your essays and discussion is even better than the bookshelf itself. I appreciate the final bit pointing out that what we see and admire most in Greek and Roman "golden ages" is the momentary splendor before it all starts to crash in on itself. Ditto Victorian England. And Pax Americana?
Keep it up; every post is a wonderful invitation to think more deeply.
This was a incredibly stimulating review and discussion, lots to chew on. Obviously need to check out the book. Thank you.
This is the most criminally underread blog on the internet
I really enjoyed the book and the review. I want to know more about how Greek religion evolved and was codified. Is there a book or books you could recommend? Thank you!
The classic last time I checked (some time ago) was Walter Burkert’s Greek Religion.
>I'd also be interested to see an archeological perspective on his next section, about the sacred hearth.
Archaeologists Anders Kaliff has written on the Nordic Bronze Age use of sacred fires and funerary rites, paralleling them with other indo-european traditions. Alas his book "Källan på botten av tidens brunn : indoeuropeiska rötter till fornnordisk religion" is only available in Swedish. https://www.uu.se/kontakt-och-organisation/personal?query=N99-326
Fascinating! I really know very little about anything in Scandinavia before the Vikings, but I imagine this is another thing that vanished after the religious changes that followed the 6th c. volcanic winter?
My impression is that the extent of the changes in Norse cult has been overstated. I found this book by Kaliff (in english and accesaible online!) that adresses the use of sacred fires in the viking age.
https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:210539
from page 112:
>Before I proceed with the interpretation of the mounds as places/instruments for fire sacrifice, there is good reason to look at some ofthe written evidence for pre-Christian cultic implements preserved from pre-Christian and early medieval times. In the direct written sources, the Eddie and skaldic poems dealing with ancient Scandinavian cult, there are three different terms for cultic sites: Old Norse vé, hörgr, and hof (Swedish vi, harg, and hov). Vé seems to be an old Germanic word for a holy place or sanctuary; it occurs in the Eddie poems as a name of the dwelling of the gods and in skaldic poems as a term for true cult sites. The terms hörgr and hof often occur together but originally have different meanings. Hof probably refers to both a cult site and a chieftain’s farm in Late Iron Age tradition, while hörgr seems to be a rock but can also be a structure of stone or wood. It has been suggested that hörgr could be interpreted as a sacrificial altar of stone, located in the open air, and that it was initially a natural place in the form of a rock or an assemblage of stones, but was later developed into an altar structure (Hultgård 1996, pp. 29 ff.; cf. Vikstrand 2001, 2004). In the Eddie poem Hyndluljód (10) there is an account of how Ottar Innsteinsson worshipped the goddess Freyja. This took place at a hörgr of stone over which the blood of the sacrificed animal was poured. Hyndluljód is preserved in a manuscript from the fourteenth century and is often dated to the twelfth century. According to the historian of religion Anders Hultgård, however, this dating rests on an insecure foundation, and the content of the poem at least shows that the poet lived in an environment where ancient Scandinavian cult was remembered. It could thus be a realistic sacrificial scene that is described: “One can interpret the statement that the stones became as shining as glass (at gleri orbit) in such a way that they became glazed through repeated sacrificial fires. Hyndluljód evidently testifies to specific votive customs. At or on the sacred stone structure, people lit fires either to cook the meat from the sacrificial animal for a ritual meal or possibly in order to transfer part of the sacrificed matter to the divine sphere as a kind of burnt offering” (Hultgård 1996, p. 32).
My amateur reading is that the interpretation of Hyndluljód is strong, many older translations put "at gleri orbit" as "glaced by fire".
Thank you! This is really interesting.
Purchased the book earlier today and by pure coincidence ended up coming across this review. Incredibly engaging discussion, so much fun to read.
Absolutely spectacular.