{"product_id":"the-norse-sorceress-leszek-gardela-9781789259537","title":"The Norse Sorceress: Mind and Materiality in the Viking World","description":"\u003cb\u003eThis study offers a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and contextualized investigation of the figure of the völva, situating her in the wider context of pre-Christian Nordic religion, culture, and ritual practices.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOld Norse literature abounds with descriptions of magic acts that allow ritual specialists of various kinds to manipulate the world around them, see into the future or the distant past, change weather conditions, influence the outcomes of battles, and more. While magic practitioners are known under myriad terms, the most iconic of them is the völva. As the central figure of the famous mythological poem Völuspá (The Prophecy of the Völva), the völva commands both respect and fear. In non-mythological texts similar women are portrayed as crucial albeit somewhat peculiar members of society. Always veiled in mystery, the völur and their kind have captured the academic and popular imagination for centuries.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBringing together scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds, this volume aims to provide new insights into the reality of magic and its agents in the Viking world, beyond the pages of medieval texts. It explores new trajectories for the study of past mentalities, beliefs, and rituals as well as the tools employed in these practices and the individuals who wielded them. In doing so, the volume engages with several topical issues of Viking Age research, including the complex entanglements of mind and materiality, the cultural attitudes to animals and the natural world, and the cultural constructions of gender and sexuality. By addressing these complex themes, it offers a nuanced image of the völva and related magic workers in their cultural context. The volume is intended for a broad, diverse, and international audience, including experts in the field of Viking and Old Norse studies but also various non-professional history enthusiasts.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Norse Sorceress: Mind and Materiality in the Viking World\u003c\/i\u003e is a key output of the project Tanken bag Tingene (Thoughts behind Things) conducted at the National Museum of Denmark from 2020 to 2023 and funded by the Krogager Foundation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Leszek Gardela\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1789259533\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781789259537\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxbow Books Limited\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/31\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 528\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 4.60lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 12.44h x 8.58w x 1.26d","brand":"Leszek Gardela","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44080164372735,"sku":"9781789259537","price":95.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_e66bb42f-fad4-4768-b9b5-5c84bc72d7f7.jpg?v=1685485291","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-norse-sorceress-leszek-gardela-9781789259537","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}