The Elder Gods
The Otherworld of Early England
Stephen Pollington
Inscriptions from the 1st century AD provide the earliest physical
evidence for a Germanic presence in Britain. From at least that time
until the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon kings in the late 600s Britain
had, to varying degrees, a heathen Germanic culture. After a presence
of six centuries a new group of heathens arrived. Scandinavians brought
with them beliefs, attitudes and a world view that were much like those
that survived in Anglo-Saxon England. The Scandinavian arrival extended
the Northern European heathen period to almost a thousand years.
The purpose of the work is to bring together a range of evidence for
pre-Christian beliefs and attitudes to the Otherworld drawn from archaeology,
linguistics, literary studies and comparative mythology. The rich and
varied English tradition influenced the worldview of the later mediaeval
and Norse societies. Aspects of this tradition are with us still in
the 21st century.
70 black & white illustrations
£35
528 pages
