Gabriel Turville-Petre (1908–1978)

My takeaways were the rich and abundant mythologies of ancient Scandinavia and the rather persuasive speculations and evidence that those myths were informed by those of northern Germany, the Celts, the Near East, India and Ireland, with plausible connection also to myths of those peoples who took them into North America. The myths speculatively extend back even into the Proto-Indo-European times. So many mythologies have one brother killing the other and great floods that reset mankind. And it is interesting how many Scandinavian words are cognate with English.

Also that Odin, the god of war, was the chief god of northeasterly Scandinavia, but Thor, the protecting god, was the foremost god of southeast Scandinavia and Iceland, presumably because they needed more protection there, protection mostly from the kings of Norway.

It is fortunate that some historians of the 12th and 13th centuries, like Snorri Sturluson and Saxo Grammaticus, wrote out these myths.… (mais)