Fire, Water, Heaven and Earth: Ritual Practice and Cosmology in Ancient Scandinavia - An Indo-European Perspective

Kaliff, Anders

ISBN 10: 9172094508 / ISBN 13: 9789172094505

Published by Riksantikvarieämbetet, 2007

About this Item

216 pp., illustrations, bibliography. pencil underlining & pencil marginal notes on some pages. "Archaeological excavations of prehistoric Scandinavian graves and ritual sites often reveal seemingly enigmatic and contradictory features. Interpretation from a comparative Indo-European perspective allows a partly new approach to material which at first sight seems fragmentary and anonymous. The interpretations in this book proceed from cosmological beliefs occurring in various Indo-European traditions. The author discusses mortuary practices and votive customs in ancient Scandinavian tradition in a long-term perspective, with a comparative Indo-European approach.".

Seller Inventory # 9172094508AMA032226

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Fire, Water, Heaven and Earth: Ritual Practice and Cosmology in Ancient Scandinavia - An Indo-European Perspective
• Publisher: Riksantikvarieämbetet
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9172094508
• ISBN 13: 9789172094505
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Good
• Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Seller catalogs:
  • Sweden
  • Folklore & mythology
  • Finland

About this title

Synopsis

Archaeological excavations of prehistoric Scandinavian graves and ritual sites often reveal seemingly enigmatic and contradictory features. Interpretation from a comparative Indo-European perspective allows a partly new approach to material which at first sight seems fragmentary and anonymous. The interpretations in this book proceed from cosmological beliefs occurring in various Indo-European traditions. The author discusses mortuary practices and votive customs in ancient Scandinavian tradition in a long-term perspective, with a comparative Indo-European approach.

Table of Contents

Introduction; Religion as a force in the creation of culture - a revived research field; The significance of terminology for interpretation; Analogies and phenomenology; The Indo-European context - problems and possibilities; The Vedic analogy - an introduction; The source material and the ancient Scandinavian conceptual world; Cosmology and ritual practice; Grave monuments and sacrificial altars - kindred ritual implements; The cremation ritual and the ideas behind it; Traces of Scandinavian fire sacrifice; Fire sacrifice rituals and the elements; Death and grinding - the annihilation of the body; Ritual dismemberment and deposition; Everyday life and ritual - different expressions of the same cosmology; Rock and stone as a medium and a cultic implement; Aspects of the dead as mythical beings; References.

About the Author

Anders Kaliff is Associate Professor of Archaeology at Uppsala University and Deputy Head of the Department of Archaeological Excavations within the Swedish National Heritage Board.