The Typochronology of Sword Pommels from the Staffordshire Hoard

"This paper consists of two parts. First, Svante Fischer will discuss the question of correlating typology and chronology into typochronology. Second, Jean Soulat will discuss the typology of the Staffordshire pommels and offer a preliminary date for the hoard. The authors are of the opinion that the sword pommels of the Staffordshire date from the early 6th century to the early 8th century.

The paper has been financed by the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities (KVHAA)."

The full text of this paper may be found at Portable Antiquities Scheme.

Veteran's Administration Now Accepts Hammer of Thor as Emblem of Faith

The US Veteran's Administration (VA) has released its latest list of  Available Emblems of Belief for Placement on Government Headstones and Markers. Included as number 55 on the list is Mjolnir, or the Hammer of Thor. Our understanding is that the decision comes at the request of the next of kin of  a service person recently killed in combat 

. 

Troth Blog and Twitter

The Troth now has its own blog for stating its position on emerging issues which impact the Heathen community. Interested parties may view the new blog at http://thetroth.blogspot.com. The Troth can also now be followed on Twitter,  @TheTroth.

”Beowulf” and the Influence of Old English on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings

Thanks to Medievalists.net for this:

"It is uncommon for a popular work of art to take roots in an academic context. Many popular novels and films, possibly the two most common mediums of art we encounter nowadays, are written by talented creative writers and aim to achieve a high level of realism to help the reader connect with the work. An exception to this came to popularity nearly sixty years ago. J.R.R. Tolkien, then an Anglo-Saxon professor in the University of Oxford, published his second novel, titled The Lord of the Rings, in 1954. It is while being a full-time professor that Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings, an uncommon fact for the third best-selling novel ever written at more than 150 million copies sold.

Reading The Lord of the Rings, however, it is clear that the academic context in which the novel was written contributed greatly to the complexity, depth and aesthetic prowess of the novel. Tolkien being an expert in Anglo-Saxon, nearly all of the names employed in the novel share Old English roots. Moreover, perhaps the greatest and best-known work written in Old English was the heroic epic poem Beowulf. Tolkien is often said to ‘‘have helped to rescue the poem for posterity’’1 by not only writing one of his most important essays on the subject, Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, but by basing a lot of The Lord of the Rings on the Anglo-Saxon poem."

The full text of this article by Joly Morin from the 30 April, 2012 edition of Academia may be read here.

Gud Yule, 2012

Inside the Viking Mind: Cosmology, the After-life, and the Self

“My research is essentially concerned with the human condition,” wrote Price from his home in Uppsala, Sweden, where he lives and holds a second appointment at the university, “the familiar age-old questions about life and its meaning that we all ask ourselves at some point – but placing this in a specific historical context and trying to recapture the Vikings’ own perspective on mortality. Every culture seeks its own answers to the eternal questions, including matters of morality, and I think we can always learn from reflecting on others’ attitudes to these same things that we still puzzle over today.”
The full text of this interview by Bill Chaisson of Prof. Neil Price of the department of archaeology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland can be read at Ithaca.com.

Blog Recommendation: Trolldom & Hoodoo

Thanks to Aluric for referring me to this blog. Trolldom and Hoodoo has many fascinating articles on the survival of Swedish folk magic and beliefs among immigrants to the U.S., including Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois, with emphasis on their parallels with and possible influence on the practice of Hoodoo or "root" in those areas. Many of these beliefs and practices date to pre-Christian times. Article topics include trolls, use of dreambooks (or "Drommebogs"), and use of magical herbs. Some articles are in English, while others are in Swedish. The blog's URL is http://trolldomhoodoo.blogspot.se/