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The 'valkyrie fragment' from Uppåkra, Skåne. Photo: Historical Museum at Lund University (LUHM). Part of a bronze figurine found at Uppåkra by a metal detector in the topmost layer of the soil, and therefore without a specific context. It is from roughly the same time as the welcome scenes on the Gotlandic picture stones, executed in a different material but showing a very similar motif.
Source publication
In the Study of Old Norse religion, mythology and cosmology are two core concepts frequently used in inter-disciplinary discussions as to the content, changes and spread of the pre-Christian religion in Scandinavia. The article discusses the concept of cosmology in relation to religion and world-view, with examples from picture-stones and from myth...
Citations
This dissertation investigates themes of runic inscriptions pertaining to magic on objects throughout Scandinavia, dated within the parameters of the extended Viking Age, including Proto-Norse, Viking and Medieval periods (c. AD 500 to c. AD 1500). While engaging with transliterations and current scholarly interpretations, along with wider debates with regard to magic, this dissertation identifies perceptions and roles of magic in Old Norse society, with the intention of contributing to the current field of study.
For the past century, scholars across various historical disciplines have endeavoured to understand and interpret magic in Old Norse society. Scholarly focus in recent years has centred on the written texts of the Eddas and Icelandic Sagas, with far less consideration of runic inscriptions. Yet, runic inscriptions offer unique evidence of lived mentalities and experiences that are otherwise inaccessible and are therefore a valuable resource worthy of research. A consistent caveat when addressing Old Norse belief and custom is the lack of reliable, available evidence, and speculation and debate surrounding the available evidence, ultimately resulting in inconclusive outcomes. Further, controversy and hostility towards magic is at times a reflection of modern social attitudes and personal, cultural and religious beliefs. This can, and undoubtedly has impeded progress in understanding perceptions of magic in the Viking-Age. Such biases must be addressed, as must the terminology of magic itself and the extent to which modern perceptions of magic are applicable to Old Norse society.
Subsequently, this dissertation argues that the thematic evidence from runic inscriptions indicates that magic was a paradox within Old Norse society. A necessary paradox at that: a reflection of the good and the evil; of curse and prophecy; of happiness and sorrow; of health and suffering; of protection and destruction; of war and of peace. Seiðr was unequivocally a fundamental element of Old Norse belief and ritual, weaved extensively throughout societal spheres of wealth, politics, law and warfare. Ultimately, this dissertation argues that the perception of seiðr was real in Old Norse society. Intended to be feared and revered, runic inscriptions exemplify the complicated paradox that was seiðr.
Sumário: paleografia, Linguagem, oralidade e performance, Literatura, Arte, Religião e marcialidade, Funerais e crenças, Arqueologia, Cosmologia, Mitologia, Magia, Poesia escáldica,
O presente artigo realiza uma sistematização bibliográfica e teórica dos conceitos, metodologias e abordagens envolvendo as investigações acadêmicas sobre a Religião Nórdica Antiga (Pré-cristã). Em relação aos conceitos, foi realizada uma discussão especialmente em torno das publicações em língua inglesa efetuadas dos anos 1970 até nossos dias. Para o debate metodológico, utilizamos essencialmente os arqueólogos dinamarqueses envolvidos com o projeto Väger till Midgård (Estradas para Midgard). O principal objetivo do trabalho é fornecer aos pesquisadores alguns parâmetros para a fundamentação de suas pesquisas sobre religião e religiosidade na Escandinávia Medieval.
This article discusses the nexus of religion and nature by means of an investigation of the mountain wilderness space in ancient Mesopotamia. Drawing inspiration from theories of social space and the field of religion and nature, it pays special attention to the mediality of the sources embedding the wilderness space by analyzing the literary-narrative form of a set of Old Babylonian, Sumerian religious narratives related to the deities Inana and Ninurta and the heroes Lugalbanda and Gilgamesh. Contrary to previous research, which has seen the mountain wilderness as a dangerous and inimical chaos region, this article argues that the mountain wilderness is also ascribed benign connotations and functions. It is a wild and dangerous region, but it is also naturally abundant, primeval, and harbors forms of agency and force. It is an arena for magical transformation, heroic acts, and for direct communication with the deities. It is thus a more ambiguous space than has previously been recognized, and it should be understood in the context of the social space of the scribal milieu. Finally, the article suggests that cosmology studies and the relationships between natural domains and deities, in the general history of religions, are reconsidered in light of theories of social space and in light of the mediality of the sources.
