| Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Magic | |
| Author: | Bill Griffiths |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Subject: | Anglo-Saxon history Religious studies Pagan studies |
| Publisher: | Anglo-Saxon Books |
| Release Date: | 1996, 2003 (revised edition) |
| Media Type: | Print (Hardback and paperback) |
| Pages: | 257 |
| Isbn: | 978-1-898281-33-7 |
Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Magic is a study of Anglo-Saxon paganism and the role of magic in Anglo-Saxon England that was written by the English poet and independent scholar Bill Griffiths. It was first published in 1996 by Anglo-Saxon Books, and later republished in a revised edition in 2003.
Divided into two parts, the first section of the book is devoted to a discussion of Anglo-Saxon paganism and magical beliefs, in doing so drawing evidence from Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Classical sources. It looks at a wide range of different areas, including the Anglo-Saxons conception of gods, the beliefs regarding death and the ancestors, and the ideas about elves and dwarves.
The use of historical written sources to learn more about the pre-Christian religion of the Anglo-Saxons was something that had been going on for many decades prior to the publication of Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Magic.In 1948, Godfrid Storms published Anglo-Saxon Magic, a study of the subject which also contained a complete collection of Anglo-Saxon charms.[1]
In the first chapter, entitled "The Up World", Griffiths discusses the Anglo-Saxons' pre-Christian beliefs about their gods, looking at the veneration of idols and the manner in which the deities were understood by the Anglo-Saxons, in doing so contrasting them with those of the Classical world.[2] Moving on into the second chapter, "The Dead World", Griffiths deals with the role of the ancestors in Anglo-Saxon heathenism before proceeding on to discuss beliefs in an afterlife and the reasons for performing sacrifice,[3] Chapter three, "The Around World", looks into the beliefs regarding those species who were neither god nor humans, such as the elves and dwarves, as well as the Anglo-Saxon magical beliefs regarding medicine and agriculture.[4]
The fourth chapter, which is entitled "The Empty World", deals with those Anglo-Saxon texts which portray the supernatural world as "a bleak reality"”, looking at conceptions of predestination and fate,[5] whilst the fifth, entitled "The Rational World", dealt with the role of Anglo-Saxon Christianity and the wider effect that this had on English society, in particular discussing the significance of Bede,[6]
The second part of the book contains a series of Anglo-Saxon texts pertaining to Anglo-Saxon magical practices.
Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Magic has not been the subject of any scholarly book reviews.
The academic archaeologist Neil Price made reference to Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Magic in his study of Norse magical beliefs, The Viking Way: Religion and War in Late Iron Age Scandinavia (2002). Praising Griffiths' approach in describing the "fluid ambiguities" of Anglo-Saxon cosmological beliefs, he considered such an approach to be an improvement on British archaeologist David M. Wilson's book Anglo-Saxon Paganism (1992), which he believed had failed to even discuss Anglo-Saxon conceptions of cosmology. Price thought that it was pertinent to "bear [Griffiths'] flexible view of the cosmos in mind" when studying Norse cosmological beliefs.[7]
Apart from these mentions in Neil Price's out-of-print PhD thesis, Griffith's book has not made any impact within scholarship in the fields of northern paganism or Anglo-Saxon studies.
Writing on the Twisted Tree Bookshelf website, Contemporary Pagan D. James reviewed the book, praising it as a "comprehensive" study of the subject of Anglo-Saxon paganism and magic. Opining that it was a "ground breaking" study, James compared it to Brian Bates' The Way of Wyrd and recommended it to all practicing Pagans.[8]
. Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Magic (Revised edition) . Bill Griffiths (poet) . 2003 . Anglo-Saxon Books . Hockwold-cum-Wilton, Norfolk . 978-1-898281-33-7 . Grif03.
. Anglo-Saxon Magic . Godfrid Storms . 1948 . Martinus . The Hague . Sto48.