THE HIES OPEN LIBRARY

The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia

William A. Craigie • 1914

Category: HISTORICAL SCHOLARSHIP

About This Work

The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia is an early twentieth-century scholarly study of pre-Christian Scandinavian religion by William A. Craigie. The work surveys surviving evidence for the Gods, religious practices, sacred places, sacrifice, beliefs concerning death, and the transition from the older religious tradition to Christianity.

Craigie also considers the limitations of the surviving evidence and draws upon literary and historical sources available to scholars of his period in attempting to reconstruct aspects of Scandinavian religious life.

About This Edition

This Open Library entry uses the 1914 edition of The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia, published in London by Constable & Company Ltd.

As a work of early twentieth-century scholarship, its terminology, comparative methods, assumptions, and interpretations reflect the academic context of its period. HIES therefore approaches the work critically and in conversation with primary sources, archaeological evidence, and later scholarship in Old Norse religion and related fields.

Areas of Study

Old Norse Religion

Gods & Divine Traditions

Religious Practice

Sacrifice & Sacred Places

Death & Afterlife

Religion & Society

Conversion & Religious Transition

Historical Interpretation

Use at HIES

The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia provides a historical scholarly perspective on Old Norse religion and the interpretation of surviving religious evidence at Hákonarætt Institute of Eddic Studies.

It is especially relevant to courses addressing Old Norse religion and worldview, mythology, ritual practice, religious sources and methods, historical interpretation, conversion, and the development of scholarship concerning pre-Christian Scandinavian religion.

Because this work was published in 1914, students should distinguish Craigie's interpretations from the primary evidence he discusses and from conclusions reached through later historical, archaeological, linguistic, and religious-studies scholarship.

Inclusion in the Open Library does not mean that every chapter or section is assigned in every HIES course. Specific required readings are identified within individual courses on the HIES Learning Platform.

Access the Text

This edition is available online through Project Gutenberg.

Bibliographic Information

Title: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia

Author: William A. Craigie

Publication Year: 1914

Publisher: Constable & Company Ltd.

Publication Place: London

Resource Type: Historical Scholarship

Language: English