Roles of the Northern Goddess

Author: Hilda Ellis Davidson

By investigating women's special skills related to goddess cults together with legends and popular traditions, the author explores the importance of the goddess as a subject for study today.

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Summary

By investigating women's special skills related to goddess cults together with legends and popular traditions, the author explores the importance of the goddess as a subject for study today.

Description

There is a growing interest in the concept of the goddess. This book presents much-needed information on the role of women in religious studies, folklore and mythology. By investigating women's special skills related to goddess cults together with legends and popular traditions, the author explores the importance of the goddess as a subject for study today. The chapters cover: Mistress of Animals Mistress of the Grain Mistress of Distaff and Loom Mistress of the Home Mistress of the Dead Mistress of Sovereignty Roles of the Northern Goddess will appeal to students and lecturers in comparative religion, mythology, folklore and anthropology.

Critic Reviews

'Highly recommended [it] illuminate[s] a profound understanding of the goddess, heretofore largely neglected by scholars or else romanticized by popular books.' - Annabel Lee, Runa

About the Author

Hilda Ellis Davidson has been a lecturer at Royal Holloway College and Birkbeck College, London, Vice-President of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, and President of the London Folklore Society. Her many publications include The Anglo-Saxon Sword (1962), Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (1964) and The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe (1991).

Back Cover

While much work has been done on goddesses of the ancient world and the male gods of pre-Christian Scandinavia, the northern goddesses have been largely neglected. Roles of the Northern Goddess presents a highly readable study of the worship of these goddesses by men and women. With its use of evidence from early literature, popular tradition, legend and archaeology, this book investigates the role of the early hunting goddess and the local goddesses who were involved in all aspects of the household and the farm. What emerges is that the goddess was both benevolent and destructive, a powerful figure closely concerned with birth and death and with destiny of individuals.