Encyclopedia of Norse and Germanic Folklore, Mythology, and Magic by Claude Lecouteux

Author:Claude Lecouteux
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, pdf
Tags: Folklore & Mythology
Publisher: Inner Traditions / Bear & Company
Published: 2016-06-01T16:00:00+00:00

Fig. 45. The theft of the mead. Illustration by Ólafur Brynjúlfsson, Snorra Edda, 1760.

L

LÆRAÐR: The tree that grows on the roof of Valhalla; the goat Heiðrún and the stag Eikþyrnir feed on its leaves. A miniature manuscript of the Snorra Edda, created by Ólafur Brynjúlfsson in the eighteenth century, depicts this scene. This tree is presumably identical to Yggdrasill.

LAND SPIRITS (Old Norse landvættir, sg. landvættr): According to ancient beliefs, the world belongs to the spirits. If someone wishes to colonize land and settle on it, the land spirits must be driven off it. This can be done, for example, by shooting a flaming arrow over the desired piece of land or by offering these spirits propitiatory sacrifices. The purpose of the grimacing figureheads on Viking ships was to disperse the spirits of the land being attacked so that victory would be won more easily. The laws of the time required that these detachable figures be removed from the prows of the ships when returning home. Land spirits gradually became conflated with elves and dwarves and were subsequently demonized by Christianity, but in folk traditions they continue to live in remote areas, cliffs, forests, and mountains. The Germanic view is hardly dissimilar from that of the ancient Romans, who said that the world was inhabited by beings called fauns, satyrs, woodland spirits, and so forth.

Hultkrantz, ed., The Supernatural Owners of Nature; Lecouteux, Demons and Spirits of the Land.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.