Encyclopedia of Norse and Germanic Folklore, Mythology, and Magic

June 13, 2016
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.

June 1, 2016

This volume by Lecouteux (formerly medieval literature & civilization, Sorbonne), the author of a dozen books on pagan and medieval spirits and spells, covers hundreds of years and ranges of myths from Russia, Silesia, Ireland, and Iceland. It omits Finnish legends and 19th-century fairy tales. Plot points, many stark, some moving, are far outnumbered by dictionarylike name entries (with occasional etymology). This is not the place to go for storytelling: the tale of Svanhildr, for instance, is rendered incomprehensible unless one already knows its variants. Translation is sometimes unreliable (a "kenning" is not an extended metaphor). Cross-referencing is inconsistent (e.g., "alf" and "didken" are not linked, and neither one points to "niss," "tomte," or "elves"). "Beatrick" and "Angane" are similar figures, but they are not cross-referenced. There is no way to locate the multiple wild men and adventurous women figures of these stories unless one is already familiar with their identities. A finding list of related characters and items would have been useful. Readers will encounter such terms (not in the glossary) as theriomorphic, capitulary, hypostasis, and chthonian. Impressively scholarly references follow entries, with 13 large-format pages of bibliography (from the age of Caesar to 2015) at the end--but, crucially, there is no index. The author is an expert talking to other insiders. More than 100 black-and-white illustrations, many clearly from old woodcuts (but without dates or sources), add interest but little information. VERDICT For libraries with specialized collections in anthropology, folklore, mythology.--Patricia D. Lothrop, formerly of St. George's Sch., Newport, RI

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