Stories of gods, heroes and monsters permeated discourses of national selfhood in the nineteenth century. During this tumultuous time, Europe's modern nations arose from the misty waters of long-forgotten national pasts - or so was the perception at the time. Each embedded in their particular national and political contexts, towering cultural figures - N.F.S. Grundtvig, Jacob Grimm, Jonas Halgrimsson, William Morris, Adam Oehlenschlager and many more - were catalysts for the formation of national discourses of belonging, built upon the mythological story-worlds of Europe's non-classical vernacular pasts.

This interdisciplinary book offers new perspectives on the uses of pre-Christian mythologies in the formation of national communities in nineteenth-century Northern and Western Europe. Through theoretical articles and case studies, it puts forth new understandings of how cultural thinkers across Europe utilized pre-Christian mythologies as symbolic resources in the forging of national communities. Perceptions of national identity were thus shaped, many of which are still at play today.

About the Author
Sophie Bonding is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the National Museum of Denmark. She holds a PhD in the Study of Religion and specialises in religious beliefs and behaviours among Viking Age Scandinavians, studied through written and material sources.


Book Information
ISBN 9788771846263
Author Sophie Bonding
Format Hardback
Page Count 384
Imprint Aarhus Universitetsforlag
Publisher Aarhus University Press