Scandinavian Mythology: Introduction by H.R. Ellis Davidson (1969)

Source: Viking and Norse Mythology, pp. 6-15 We tend to think of Scandinavian mythology as the beliefs of the Vikings, those tough adventurers who were the scourge of Christian lands in the ninth and tenth centuries, whose ships sailed all the seas of the known world, and who left traces of their activities from Greenland to the …

After the Bronze Age: Conclusion by Hilda Ellis Davidson (1969)

Source: ‘Part II: After the Bronze Age,’ Chariot of the Sun and Other Rites and Symbols of the Northern Bronze Age, 1969, pp. 180-183.   It is now possible to attempt an answer to the question asked at the beginning of the second section of this book. The main symbols of the Bronze Age seen …

After the Bronze Age: Farm Animals by Hilda Ellis Davidson (1969)

Source: ‘Part II: After the Bronze Age,’ Chariot of the Sun and Other Rites and Symbols of the Northern Bronze Age, 1969, pp. 163-166. The Bull The bull loses his ancient importance in later heathen times in the north, and is replaced by the horse. The same seems to be true of Celtic paganism where …

After the Bronze Age: Snakes by Hilda Ellis Davidson (1969)

Source: ‘Part II: After the Bronze Age,’ Chariot of the Sun and Other Rites and Symbols of the Northern Bronze Age, 1969, pp. 153-155. Throughout the heathen period serpents remain powerful symbols in Scandinavian art. In Roman times the serpent crowned with horns, a Bronze Age symbol, is still found associated with the war-god in Celtic art …