Böcker av Ethan Doyle White

A clear, concise and detailed historical analysis of the eclectic and beautiful visual and material culture of Paganism. Who are Pagans and what do they believe? Which gods and goddesses do they revere? Do they worship nature? Do they practise divination and magic? From sacred plants imbued with supernatural powers to hand-carved amulets that repel evil, Pagans find divine value in the natural world and spiritual significance in the material universe. Presenting a spectacular collection of art and artefacts from the last 3,000 years, drawn from Hindu, Shinto, Native American, Ancient Norse, Roman, Greek and Celtic religions, Ethan Doyle White explores the rich visual and material culture of paganism. He begins by tracing the ancient origins of paganism and exploring how materials from the pre-Christian religions of Europe, North Africa, and West Asia are built into the practices of today's Pagans. Each of the book's subsequent nine chapters features illustrated text interspersed with double-page presentations of the key figures, stories and iconography relevant to each theme. As the book progresses, readers will not only come to understand the many symbols that define Pagan religions and practices, but will also discover the modern-day beliefs and philosophies of Pagans from around the world, including Wiccans, Druids, neo-Shamans and Heathens.

Essays on the post-modern reception and interpretation of the Middle Ages,This volume continues the theme of its predecessor, addressing how the Middle Ages have been invoked to score political points, particularly with reference to the rise of populism fueled by recent recessions and a pandemic. The nine essays in the first portion of the volume directly address political medievalism in Tariq Ali's 2005 novel on Mideast instability, A Sultan in Palermo; attempts by twentieth-century Czech politicians to anchor their causes in the fifteenth-century Czech hero Petr Chelcicky; far-right deployment of Robin Hood memes to slander Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama; the ways Rory Mullarkey's 2017 play Saint George and the Dragon comments onEnglish national identity relative to Brexit; how national stereotypes have come into play amid cross-channel reporting on Brexit; nationalism in the medievalizing German monument to their fallen at the 1942 Battle of El Alamein;the English-speaking world's reception of Anthony Munday's 1589 book on conduct, Palmendos; nationalism in the self-characterization of two contemporary British Pagan movements; and how various communities in the television series Game of Thrones comment on medieval and/or contemporary nations. Nor are politics entirely absent from the final four articles in the volume, as they examine attempts to promote such particular agendas as toxic masculinity in Game of Thrones; misogyno-feminism there and in the George R.R. Martin book series on which the television program is based, A Song of Ice and Fire; the potential for audience self-realization amid the tension between the individual and the collective in The Mere Wife, Maria Dahvana Headley's 2018 adaptation of Beowulf; and ideal individual and collective behavior as modeled in the Ringling Brothers' 1912-13 spectacles about Joan of Arc. Contributors: Leticia Alvarez-Recio, Susan Aronstein, Matthias D. Berger, Shiloh Carroll, Louise D'Arcens, Laurie Finke, John C. Ford, Alexander L, Kaufman, Stephen Lahey, Scott Manning, Galit Noga-Banai, S.C. Thomson, Ethan Doyle White, Karen A. Winstead,