Table of Contents

The conference and its context; Old Norse religion; Can archaeologists study prehistoric cosmology?; Narrative worlds, human environments, and poets; The case of Bragi; Centrality in Old Norse mental landscapes; A world of stone; Bound animal bodies; The imperative way; Homogeneity and heterogeneity in Old Norse cosmology; The gendering of death in eddic cosmology; The Askr and Embla myth in a comparative perspective; The edges of the Old Norse world-view; Hanging on the world tree; Rituals, witnesses, and sagas; Iron in the making - Technology and symbolism; The origins of Old Norse ritual and religion in European perspective; How to sort out ritual from context of practice; Escaping the allure of meaning; Myth and metallurgy; Humans and gods interacting at Augusta Treverorum in Late Antiquity; Performing death; The Roman Iron Age in perspectives and perceptions; Harnessing the hunger; Wolves, serpents, and birds; The horse and its role in Icelandic burial practices, mythology, and society; The heroised dead; Cemeteries and ritual meals; The universe container; Scandinavian burial rites on the southern Baltic coast; Grinding processes and reproductive metaphors; Spinning seiðr; The concept of shamanism in Old Norse religion from a sociological point of view; What's in a name?; Bridging mythology and belief; Ornaments, ornamentation, and female gender; Among trees, bones, and stones; My home is my castle; Ancient building cults; Odin and Mithras; Thor's hammer in Norway; The temple in Rhetra-Riedegost; Parchim-Löddigsee - late Slavonic temple and trading site; Pre-Christian cult at Arkona; Rituals and power; Ritual building and ritual space; The Uppåkra beaker; Guldgubber; Myth and the psychology of memory; Theories, explanatory models and terminology; Poetry and Practice; Where does Old Norse religion end?; Archaeology and sacrifice; Misconceptions concerning paganism and folklore in medieval art; Völuspá and the tree of life; On wind and waves; Potentialities of Loki; Love among gods and men; Past memories; Ancient mounds for new graves; What shall we do with Reinaert the Fox?; Heroes, kings, and gods; The advent of the esteemed horseman-sovereign; The use and abuse of Old Norse religion; Kings, cowpies, and creation; The "Allgermanische Heidnische Front" and Old Norse religion; The organism within; From queen to sorcerer; Drudgery dwarf; The measures of Old Norse religion in long-term perspective.

About the Author

Kristina Jennbert is a researcher and Professor of Archaeology in the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Lund University, Sweden. She lectures in archaeology and specialises in the Neolithic period, Bronze and Iron Ages, and archaeology of religion. She has previously written a number of articles and edited books for an international audience, predominantly on subjects of archaeology in combination with Old Norse religion. Catharina Raudvere is a professor of the History of Religions, at the University of Copenhagen

Reviews

archaeology; art history; historical archaeology; history; theological history; literary studies; philology; Scandinavian studies