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Book Cover
E-book
Author Taggart, Declan, author

Title How Thor Lost His Thunder : the Changing Faces of an Old Norse God
Edition First edition
Published London : Taylor and Francis, 2017

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Description 1 online resource : text file, PDF
Series Routledge Research in Medieval Studies
Contents Cover; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Figures; Tables; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; 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 *Ã#x9E;unraz; 3.2 Vagna verz: the wagon man; 3.3 A roaring rider
3.4 Onomastics3.5 In summary; 4 Eddic thunder; 4.1 Snorri Sturlusonâ#x80;#x99;s Edda; 4.2 â#x80;#x98;All the mountains shakeâ#x80;#x99;: Lokasenna; 4.3 Volcanic imagery: Ã#x9E;rymskviða 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 lausavÃƯsa by Ã#x9E;jóðólfr Arnórsson; 6 Mythological objects; 6.1 Closer attention to Ã#x9E;órsdrápa; 6.2 Assorted other poets
6.3 The intriguing case of Ã#x9E;orsteinn bÃŒjarmagn6.4 Snorri: its fullest expression; 6.5 Mythological fingerprints; 6.6 The motif of throwing; 7 Mundane objects; 7.1 Thunderstones 153; 7.1.1 A geographical split; 7.1.2 Thunderstones and MjDZllnir; 7.1.3 Beyond literature; 7.2 The hammer; 7.2.1 The roots of MjDZllnir; 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
Summary "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, such as images of him wreathed in lightning, and battling against monsters and giants. The origins of these images within Iron Age and early medieval evidence are then uncovered and investigated. In doing so, the common cultural history of Thor's cult and mythology is explored and some of his lesser known traits are revealed, including a possible connection to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in Iceland. This geographically and chronologically far-reaching study considers the earliest sources in which Thor appears, including in evidence from the Viking colonies of the British Isles and in Scandinavian folklore. Through tracing the changes and variety that has occurred in Old Norse mythology over time, this book provokes a questioning of the fundamental popular and scholarly beliefs about Thor for the first time since the Victorian era, including whether he really was a thunder god and whether worshippers truly believed they would encounter him in the afterlife. Considering evidence from across northern Europe, How Thor Lost his Thunder challenges modern scholarship's understanding of the god and of the northern pantheon as a whole and is ideal for scholars and students of mythology, and the history and religion of medieval Scandinavia."--Provided by publisher
Subject Thor (Norse deity)
SUBJECT Thor (Norse deity) fast (OCoLC)fst01150198
Subject Mythology, Norse -- History
Folklore -- Scandinavia.
HISTORY -- Europe -- Western.
Folklore.
Manners and customs.
Mythology, Norse.
Religion.
SUBJECT Scandinavia -- Social life and customs
Scandinavia -- Religion
Subject Scandinavia.
Genre/Form History.
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781315164465
1315164469