| Summary |
Stories of gods, heroes and monsters permeated discourses of national selfhood in the nineteenth century. During this tumultuous time, Europe?s modern nations arose from the misty waters of long-forgotten national pasts ? or so was the perception at the time. Each embedded in their particular national and political contexts, towering cultural figures ? N.F.S. Grundtvig, Jacob Grimm, Jon̐uas Halgr̐uimsson, William Morris, Adam Oehlenschl̐uager and many more ? were catalysts for the formation of national discourses of belonging, built upon the mythological story-worlds of Europe?s non-classical vernacular pasts.00This interdisciplinary book offers new perspectives on the uses of pre-Christian mythologies in the formation of national communities in nineteenth-century Northern and Western Europe. Through theoretical articles and case studies, it puts forth new understandings of how cultural thinkers across Europe utilized pre-Christian mythologies as symbolic resources in the forging of national communities. Perceptions of national identity were thus shaped, many of which are still at play today. |
