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Eros and Death in Norse Myths

Norse myths are often thought of as entertaining stories about the old gods. This book demonstrates that they are much more than that. In Eros and Death in Norse Myths mythology is seen primarily as an expression of human experience. In Steinsland’s presentation of what she sees as the core of Norse culture - the profound experience of life forces at work - the reader encounters the people who lived in Norway a thousand years ago, their way of thinking and the horizon of their perceptions.

Eros and Death in Norse Myths presents mythology in a new and different way. By way of introduction the author writes: „This is not a scientific analysis of sources along the lines of critical principles, nor a display of advanced models of interpretation." Rather, she offers a personal interpretation of the Norse myths. She raises a series of fundamental perceptions within Norse culture about the human being’s strenuous journey between birth and death, about the mystical initiation necessary to the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom, and, above all, the deep erotic current that marks life as well as death.

The myths become surprisingly contemporary when read in this way, and the reader soon discovers that they touch on existential questions common to all human beings.

First published: 1997, Universitetsforlaget

Gro Steinsland: Biography and bibliography