Encyclopedia of Norse and Germanic Folklore, Mythology, and Magic

With sources ranging from the 13th-century Poetic and Prose Eddas to the 20th-century works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Lecouteux's encyclopedia covers Norse and Germanic gods, including crowd-pleasers Odin, Thor, and Loki; folk mythology figures such as Loyal Eckart and the Cursed Huntsman; and other "elemental and supernatural beings, such as the didken and the angane. The book offers a significant amount of Germanic folkloric and legendary material that was not previously available in English. Entries vary from a single line placing the name of an object or minor figure in its context to multi-paragraph summaries of the legends in which an object or figure appears. The catalogue of entries is itself informative (noting every mythological name that is "featured in a complete text" or appears in a text that is "fragmentary but still intelligible"), and Lecouteux's analysis offers a deeper layer of interest, with tidbits on the "remarkable kinship" between ancient Indian mythology and Germanic traditions, Germanic countries naming diseases after demons, and various examples of god and spirit names preserved linguistically in titles and figures of speech. The encyclopedia is targeted to academics with knowledge of the subject matter, but general readers will also find gems here, considering Lecouteux's flair for the interesting and linguistically quirky. (July)