Description:
2 vols. Folklore Fellows' Communications p.296, p.297. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 2009.A thorough investigation of motifs occurring in Old Norse literature and related sources, which could be interpreted as "shamanic". The study focuses on sources relating to myth and magic. The general conclusion is that, while there were almost certainly deep-seated magical practices and beliefs in pre-Christian Scandinavia, which do in some respects resemble classic Siberian shamanism, it is questionable whether these should with any justification be labelled "shamanic".
In this study, Clive Tolley presents the main features of Siberian shamanism, as they are relevant for comparison with Norse sources, and examines the Norse texts in detail to determine how far it is reasonable to assign a label of? shamanism? to the human and divine magical practices of pre-Christian Scandinavia, whose existence, it is argued, in many cases resides mainly in the imaginative tradition of the poets.
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