How Thor Lost His Thunder: The Changing Faces of an Old Norse God

ISBN-13: 9781138058194 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 214 str.

Declan Taggart

Opis

How Thor Lost his Thunder is the first major English-language study of early medieval evidence for the Old Norse god, Thor. In this book, the most common modern representations of Thor are examined and the cultural history of Thor’s cult and mythology is explored. It is ideal for scholars and students of mythology, history and medieval Scandinavia.

Spis treści

1. Introduction; 1.1 Justifications and the Limits of the Study; 1.2 Vikings, Religion and Other Controversies; 1.3 Orthography; 2. Sources; 2.1 Categories of Sources; 2.1.1 Eddic and Skaldic Poetry; 2.1.2 Eddic Prose; 2.1.3 Iconography and Runic Inscriptions; 2.1.4 Contemporary Historiography and Ethnography; 2.1.5 Conclusions; 2.2 Variety and Change; 2.2.1 Why Is It Important?; 2.2.2 Why Did It Happen?; 3. Naming Thunder; 3.1 Ancient *Þunraz; 3.2 Vagna verz: The Wagon Man; 3.3 A Roaring Rider; 3.4 Onomastics; 3.5 In Summary; 4. Eddic Thunder; 4.1 Snorri Sturluson’s Edda; 4.2 ‘All the mountains shake’: Lokasenna; 4.3 Volcanic Imagery: Þrymskviða and Hallmundarkviða; 4.4 Making an Impression; 4.5 The Strongman of Old Norse Myth; 4.5.1 Guardian of the Gods; 4.5.2 Enduring Strength; 4.5.3 Inversions; 5 Non-Eddic Voices; 5.1 An Icelandic Jove; 5.2 Adam of Bremen; 5.3 Saxo Grammaticus; 5.4 An Isolated Parallel in a Lausavísa by Þjóðólfr Arnórsson; 6. Mythological Objects; 6.1 Closer Attention to Þórsdrápa; 6.2 Assorted Other Poets; 6.3 The Intriguing Case of Þorsteinn bæjarmagn; 6.4 Snorri: Its Fullest Expression; 6.5 Mythological Fingerprints; 6.6 The Motif of Throwing; 7. Mundane Objects; 7.1 Thunderstones; 7.1.1 A Geographical Split; 7.1.2 Thunderstones and Mjǫllnir; 7.1.3 Beyond Literature; 7.2 The Hammer; 7.2.1 The Roots of Mjǫllnir; 7.2.2 Blessing with a Word or a Weapon; 7.2.2.1 The Word; 7.2.2.2 The Weapon; 7.3 Summing Up; 8. Conclusions; 8.1 A Thunder God?; 8.1.1 Climate; 8.1.2 Genre; 8.2 Changing Faces

O autorze

Declan Taggart is a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of English at University College Cork. His research interests include Old Norse mythology, religion and literature, together with the role of human cognition in shaping religious concepts.