Germanic paganism

This is an interesting adaptation of a pagan practice. Instead of taking revenge on his son he chooses to go to God and die. It’s a strange way to Christianize the tale. There was no forgiveness or atonement for sin. It was merely a choosing of God over the pagan practice of revenge killing. Honestly, this seems just an easy way to sneak in God into an otherwise completely pagan practice. The idea of a death-price has no place in Christianity and therefore the poet saw an opportunity to just…

In my art history courses at Southern Methodist University, the concept of spoliated artifacts has arisen in lectures and discussions many times. An idea I found intriguing, I have done quite a bit of reading on the topic, and have found the writings of ancient spolia expert Dale Kinney to be particularly impactful; specifically her chapter, “The Conccept of Spolia” in Conrad Rudolph’s A Companion to Medieval Art (2006). This article has an incredible meticulousness in documenting the…

The chapter three on The Twilight of Paganism: Magic in Norse and Irish Culture describes the mythology of Irish culture. One of the Irish literature involves a man named Conle that is tempted by a seductive female fairy. As the fairy invites Conle to partake in paradise with her at Fairy Hill where there are never ending feasts and no death. However, Conle uses a charm that was given to him by a Druid to fend off the fairy’s allurement. Although, this only lasts temporally and the fairy…

Different Views on the Same Time Period Both feast days Halloween and All Souls’ Day come from one Celtic habit when it was celebrated the beginning of second part of the year. Since the Celts knew only two seasons, namely the darker half of the year and the brighter half of the year. Under the name of Halloween is this feast recognised in English speaking countries, especially in the USA, Canada and the British Isles whereas All Souls’ Day is celebrated in Christian countries. However, the…

Tapestries are a source of continual fascination to contemporary audiences. Something about these gothic textiles is evocative of a magic of bygone eras. One of the most romantic and most iconic examples of this is The Unicorn in Captivity. The enormous hanging is over 8”x12” and is stunningly detailed throughout. The woven, not embroidered, scene illustrates fantastical beasts and animals whose nature has frustrated historians for generations. Some argue that the work is a product of the…

The interaction with the monstrous and the supernatural within Anglo-Saxon literature is certainly well documented, perhaps most famously in the Anglo-Saxon epic, Beowulf. Though the three creatures Beowulf faces are creations of the imagination, they are presented by the poet in very different ways. The man-eating beast known as Grendel is more of a monstrously misshapen reflection of bi-pedal humans that is spawned from ancient evil, whereas the dragon is a bit more conventional. This…

they are converted, absorbed, or exterminated”. The dichotomy between paganism and Christianity can be seen from the Anglo-Saxon era to the early 2000’s. The clashing of the two can be seen within the epic poem Beowulf. Within the epic, the elements of Norse paganism and medieval Christianity are present. However the medieval Christianity overshadows the underlying pagan tones in which the epic as originally spoken. Paganism is a polytheistic, pantheistic religion whose worships are…

has permeated much of common literature and culture often being seen as a word that detonates an evil spell or some sort of curse upon the recipient. Curse and hex are two words that are frequently misused or confused together within the context of Paganism. However, after researching the word hex, I have found that a hex spell isn't necessarily a spell designed with evil intent. What a hex essentially is revolves around manipulation of somebody else's will. This manipulation is not necessarily…

Abstract In the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, there are many different Christian symbols. Two of the main characters in this movie are related to the two main characters in the Bible. Alsan, “The great lion” symbolizes Jesus Christ, while the white witch symbolizes Satan. A young boy named Edmund, is portrayed as a traitor to his family and all the good characters of Narnia because he sided with the white witch. Keywords: Symbolism, Christianity, Jesus…

Snorri’s treatment of Odin can arguable be represented to the contemporary Christian audience as God, or seen as symbolizing a monotheistic deity similar to the Christian God, Loki is portrayed as demonic, as Satan, or even as the Antichrist. This divergence between Odin and Loki was fundamentally impacted by later Christian influences and attitudes which affected the myths transition from oral poetry to written word. By critically comparing the roles which Loki fulfilled in Snorri’s Edda and…