1. Introduction: Realization
I: In Wood and Stone
2. The Norwegian Stave Churches
3. Bornholm's Round Churches and Baptismal Font
4. The Viking Crosses at Middleton
II : In Poetry and Runes
5. The Dream of the Rood and the Ruthwell Cross
6. Yggdrasil and the Runes of the Elder Futhark
III : In Yuletide Carol and Evergreens
7. Yggdrasil and the Christmas Tree
Select Bibliography
G. Ronald Murphy is George M. Roth Distinguished Professor of German at Georgetown University.
"There is much to recommend in ree of Salvation...it is full of
interesting and nuanced reflections on the relationship between the
Cross and the central sacred tree of the pagan Norse cosmos, and
Murphy has a keen eye for the exegetical potential of literature,
architecture and artefacts. He demonstrates a sensitivity to the
nature of belief which transcends mundane and reductive approaches
to the subject, and offers a reflective reconstruction of
the manner in which the tree served as a central symbol for
mediation and meditation in the medieval North. It is on these
grounds that Murphy makes his case, and on these grounds that this
book is
successful."--Saga-Book
"A brilliant book that liturgists ought to know...The book is
clearly written, easy to follow, excellently illustrated, and
wonderfully engaging in its argumentation...I do not know of a
better account of specific cases in the history of liturgical
inculturaltion than this book."--Worship
"Murphy's scholarship is superb... Tree of Salvation is a labor of
love: a love which is palpable and apparent throughout its pages."
--Mythlore
"Tree of Salavation: Yggdrasil and the Cross in the North is a
highly original, insightful, and sophisticated study. The book will
be much cited." --Church History
[A] clearly written book...Recommended. --CHOICE
"A most inspiring and insightful book, and it was so wonderful to
read a scholarly work spanning centuries and disciplines and
written in beautiful prose....an unforgettable book."-- Kirsten
Wolf, University of Wisconsin-Madison
"Amazing book...one of the finest examples I know of a history of
liturgical inculturation."--Gordon Lathrop, Professor of Liturgy
Emeritus, Lutheran Theological Seminary
"At the center of this book stands a tree-but is it the evergreen
Yggdrasil connecting the three worlds of Asgard, Middlegard, and
Hel, or the Cross upon which the Maker sacrificed himself to bring
salvation to his creation? This brilliant book shows us how both
images can be true. Fr. Murphy transports us into a world where the
myths of the North become once again potent and filled with
mystery. Especially wonderful is Murphy's refusal to pit one
religion
against the other: this is a story internal to a culture, the new
dispensation reflecting itself through the old, much as within
Christianity, the New Testament is seen as a realization of the
Old. Murphy
makes both Yggdrasil and the Rood of the Dream come alive for us.
This exciting, readable, persuasive, and beautifully argued book
will enthrall specialists in early medieval history, art history,
and literature, and everyone who has ever decorated a Christmas
tree." --Rachel Fulton Brown, University of Chicago
"While Boniface wielded his ax to destroy paganism in
eighth-century Germany, Christian conversion in the North operated
in a much more culture-sensitive manner, as G. Ronald Murphy
beautifully illustrates in his new study focused on the visual and
literary material from the Old-Norse world. Through his careful
study of the Nordic architecture and the use of the tree in lieu of
the cross, combined with a meticulous reading of the Eddic texts
and the Old-Saxon
Heliand, Murphy uncovers a breathtaking story of how Christianity
was merged with the old Scandinavian belief system in order to
achieve conversion." --Albrecht Classen, editor of The Handbook
of
Medieval Studies (2010)
"G. Ronald Murphy, S.J. leads us on a fascinating pilgrimage,
investigating the pre-Christian to Christian transition from one
worldview to the new concept of God and the universe. Central to
his groundbreaking thesis is church architecture of the transition
period and new insights regarding pre-Christian burial customs and
the Tree of Salvation-Yggdrasil, the World Tree-and its
mythological story of Odin on the tree, of Lif and Lifthrasir for
whom the tree
opened to safety, and Germanic myth foreshadowing Christianity."
--James E. Cathey, Professor Emeritus of German and Scandinavian
Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst
"In this clearly written book, Murphy presents a fanciful
exploration of the Nordic world tree [...] Murphy provides novel
interpretations[, ... his] reading of the bracteates and the runes
inscribed on them is interesting." --T.R. Tangherlini, University
of California, Los Angeles, CHOICE
"The story told in this book is a beautiful one. Just as
Christianity sought to see prefigurations in the Old Testament of
events described in the New Testament, so it was that when
Christianity was spread among the heathen Germanic peoples of
northern and northwestern Europe, similar connections were
established between the old religion of the converts and
Christianity."--The Journal of Religion
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