Reading

Back in January 2008 I posted a suggested reading list. I thought it was time to give it its own page and an update. So here it is, hopefully an antidote to the ongoing and misguided and misleading stupidity of Llewellyn and the pablum it typically puts out – Hrafnkell

For Paganism and the idea of polytheism generally I recommend:

Jan Assmann, Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism (Harvard University Press, 1998).

Jonathan Kirsch, God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism (Viking Compass, 2004).

Assmann’s work I cannot recommend too highly; it is simply essential reading for any Pagan. Kirsch’s book is a more introductory level work by a journalist who draws very favorable conclusions about Paganism’s efficacy in relation to the disadvantages of monotheism.

For Classical Paganism I recommend the following:

Mary Beard, John North and Simon Price, Religions of Rome, Vol I: A History (Cambridge University Press, 1998).

Joan Breton Connelly, Portrait of a Priestess: Women and Ritual in Ancient Greece (Princeton University Press, 2007).

Pierre Chuvin, A Chronicle of the Last Pagans trans. B.A. Archer (Harvard University Press, 1990).

Robin Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians (Penguin, 2006).

Sarah Iles Johnston, ed. Ancient Religions (Belknap Press, 2007).

Ramsay MacMullen, Paganism in the Roman Empire (Yale University Press, 1983).

Ramsay MacMullen and Eugene N. Lane, Paganism and Christianity 100-425 C.E.: A Sourcebook (Fortress Press, 1992).

Ramsay MacMullen, Christianity & Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries (Yale University Press, 1997).

Arnaldo Momigliano, On Pagans, Jews, and Christians (Wesleyan University Press, 1987).

I recommend the following books as they provide an invaluable insight into late intellectual Paganism:

Celsus, On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians trans. R. Joseph Hoffman (Oxford University Press, 1987).

R. Joseph Hoffman, Porphyry’s Against the Christians: The Literary Remains (Prometheus Books, 1994).

R. Joseph Hoffman Julian’s Against the Galileans (Prometheus Books, 2004).

On Ancient Magic:

George Luck (trans.), Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds (John Hopkins University Press, 2006 [1985]).

Bengt Ankarloo, Stuart Clark, Witchcraft and Magic in Europe (The Contributors, 1999).

On Celtic/Norse Religion:

The following books are essential introductory works for those interested in Celtic and Norse religion, including the similarities between them:

H.R. Ellis Davidson, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (Penguin, 1965).

H.R. Ellis Davidson, Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic religions (Syracuse University Press, 1988).

On Norse/Germanic Heathenism:

It is notoriously difficult to obtain good scholarly information on Norse Heathenism but I would recommend, in addition to the above cited works, the following. I would recommend avoiding Bauschatz and Motz (staples of many Heathens), neither of whom accurately translates the Old Norse:

Nancy Marie Brown, The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman (Harcourt, 2007).

Thomas A. DuBois, Nordic Religions in the Viking Age (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999).

Robert Ferguson, The Vikings: A History (Viking Penguin, 2009).

John Lindow, Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs (Oxford University Press, 2001).

Rudolf Simek, Dictionary of Northern Mythology, trans. Angela Hall (D.S. Brewer, 1993 [1984]).

E.O.G. Turville-Petre, Myth and Religion of the North: The Religions of Ancient Scandinavia (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964).

H.R. Ellis Davidson, The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature (Greenwood Press, 1968).

Jenny Jochens, Old Norse Images of Women (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996).

Jenny Jochens, Women in Old Norse Society (Cornell University, 1998).

Brown’s book is not specifically about Heathenism but she touches on the subject in a very forthright and tolerant manner and her’s is one of the best books I’ve read about the Viking Age. Between the two, I prefer Simek to Lindow but the former can be expensive and difficult to obtain (my copy came to me via Iceland) and Lindow is quite serviceable as a replacement.

The Poetic Edda:

It is almost impossible for a modern day Heathen to find a reliable translation of the Poetic Edda, which has been elevated to almost biblical status in some circles. The Old Norse (Old Icelandic) of Larrington, much lauded for some reason in Heathen circles, is awful,[1] and Lee M. Hollander’s translation is almost unreadable. There is hope, however, in the form of Edward Pettit’s Elder Edda project (http://www.yggdrasill.plus.com/html/elder_edda.html) which will hopefully produce at last a readable and accurate translation of Snorri’s priceless work.