Initiation Between Two Worlds: Structure and Symbolism in Pre-Christian Scandinavian Religion

Description

Translated by Victor Hansen. The purpose of this book is to apply theories and perspectives from the study of religion, or comparative religion, to the study of the pre-Christian culture in the North. The basic idea is that such an application will enlighten our understanding of some myths and other narratives which, from other points of view, may seem obscure and thus give us a glimpse into the world view of the pagan Scandinavians, which cannot be obtained otherwise. The book deals with problems within the study of religion as well as within Scandinavian studies, and hopefully it can inspire scholars from both fields. List of Tables 7 Preface 9 1. Introduction 11 2. Research History 22 2.1. Initiation in the History of the Study of Religion 22 2.2. Initiation within Research on Scandinavian Religion 49 3. Towards a Definition of the Category of Initiation and the Criteria for the Choice of material 58 3.1. The Classification of Rituals 58 3.2. Myth and Ritual 62 3.3. Criteria for a Definition 72 4. The Sources 85 4.1. The Corpus 86 4.2. Eddie Poetry 89 4.3 Snorri's 'Edda' 97 4.4. Other Sources 100 4.5. Some Methodological Considerations in the Use of Sources 104 5. Óðinn Myths 1: Mímir and Kvasir 108 5.1. Mímir 108 5.2. Kvasir 134 6. Óðinn Myths 2: Hanging, seiðr, and vǫlur 173 6.1. Óðinn’s Self-Hanging 173 6.2. Loki’s and Óðinn’s Mixing of Blood 206 6.3. 'Vǫluspá' and 'Baldrs Draumar' 217 7. Other Mythical Figures 225 7.1. Þórr 225 7.2. Óttarr 251 7.3. Svipdagr 261 8. The Human Heroes 271 8.1. Hadingus 271 8.2. Sigurðr 282 8.3. Sigmundr and Sinfjǫtli 299 8.4. Bǫðvarr and Hǫttr 312 8.5. Other Initiation Scenarios 326 9. Rituals 328 9.1. Rituals Associated with Birth, Puberty and Weddings 328 9.2. Rituals Associated with Death and Burials 335 j 9.3. Initiations of Warriors 352 9.4. The Formation of Blood-Brotherhood 355 9.5. Initiations of Kings 373 10. The Acquisition of the Numinous and The Other World: The Analysis of the Semantics of Liminality 379 10.1. The Other World in the Mythic 'Mise-en-scène' 379 10.2. Initiation and the Semantics of the Liminal 396 10.3. The Liminal Scenario: The Actors in The Other World 425 11. Perspectives and Conclusions 441 11.1. The Variable Status of the Myths - Myth and Ritual 441 11.2. Óðinn 450 11.3. Conclusions 455 Abbreviations 465 Primary Texts 467 Bibliography 469 Index 513