The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. E-book. Formato PDF William A. Craigie   -  Forgotten Books, 2017  - 

The native religion of the ancient Scandinavians was in its main features only a special form of that common to all the Germanic peoples, and this again was only a particular development of primitive beliefs and practices characteristic of the whole Aryan race. It is impossible to say how far back in time the special Germanic and Scandinavian developments of this religion may go, and of their earlier stages we have absolutely no knowledge beyond what may be doubtfully reached by the methods of comparison and in ference. Even of the later stages our informa tion is much more scanty than might be expected. Among the Goths, the southern Germans, and the anglo-saxons in Britain, paganism gave way to Christianity at so early a period, that very few details relating to it have been recorded by the civil or religious historians of these peoples; they were indeed more inclined to suppress than perpetuate any lingering knowledge of this kind.

Scandinavian Folk-Lore: Illustrations of the Traditional Beliefs of the Northern Peoples Selected and Translated. E-book. Formato PDF William A. Craigie   -  Forgotten Books, 2017  - 

From the oldest times down to the present day the Scandinavian countries have been rich in tradition and folk-lore. The memories of the Northern peoples were long, and their beliefs inclined to the mysterious and the marvellous. When saga-writing began in Iceland in the lath century, it rested Upon a mass of traditional lore, which comprised not merely genealogy and history, but also an element of the supernatural. This had often per meated the original fact to such an extent as to render its historic basis doubtful, but at the same time it made the legend more impressive, more picturesque, and less easily forgotten. The same spirit is manifest throughout all the centuries. Scandinavian folk-lore covers a period of fully a thousand years, changing to some extent with the rise of a new faith and the growth of new ideas, yet remaining the same in its inmost nature. For this reason it is one that must always be of great interest and value to the student of popular beliefs.

The Icelandic Sagas. E-book. Formato PDF William A. Craigie   -  Forgotten Books, 2017  - 

Out of all these materials there gradually grew up in Iceland a rich body of genuine historical tradition.