Rudolf Simek is an Austrian Germanist and philologist whose work delves into the rich tapestry of medieval literature and mythology. He meticulously examines ancient Germanic texts, legends, and religious beliefs, seeking to uncover the hidden meanings and cultural contexts that shaped early medieval societies. Simek's approach is characterized by rigorous philological analysis and comparative study. This allows him to offer readers fresh perspectives on these fascinating and often underexplored aspects of cultural history.
For two-and-a-half thousand years, from 1500BC to 1000AD, a culture as significant as the classical civilization of the Mediterranean world settled an immense area in northern Europe that stretched from Iceland to the Black Sea. But whereas the stuff of classical mythology has been fully absorbed into the cultural history of the west, the mythology of northern Europe - Scandinavians, Goths, Angles and Saxons - is often enigmatic.
In this fascinating book Dr Simek shows that though nature was thought to be permeated by the will of God, there were numerous explanations for unknown phenomena, from the simple theories of the early middle ages to the more sophisticated ideas of the centres of learned scholasticism in Paris and Oxford. He presents a cross-section of the medieval knowledge of the physical world as deliberated and discussed by authors from the 9th to the 15th centuries.
This volume compiles papers from a conference held at the University of Bonn from October 7-9, 2010, organized by the Department for German and Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, Scandinavian Section. It includes two additional papers presented at an earlier conference in March 2009 at the University of Cambridge, which inspired the Bonn event. The Cambridge conference focused on the trilateral relations between Ireland, the British Isles, and Scandinavia, highlighting cultural exchanges in the Early Middle Ages. In contrast, the Bonn conference shifted its focus to the interactions between Ireland, the Western European mainland, and Scandinavia, emphasizing cultural contacts facilitated by the Hiberno-Scottish missionary movement. Many papers explored themes of hagiography and the evolution of religious writings. The discussions primarily centered on the relationships among these regions in literature and learning, while also examining the social and political dynamics of elite interactions from various perspectives.