Teutonic Mythology, 4 VolumeSet

by Jacob Grimm

This four-volume set is the most exhaustive compendium of German and Norse mythology and a milestone in the study of comparative mythology and religion. Indispensable for students and scholars of folklore, cultural history, and literature, this work remains the definitive basis for further research into the field.

Genres: Mythology, Folklore, Nonfiction, Classics, Religion, Reference, Germany

1887 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1835

About the author

German philologist and folklorist Jakob Ludwig Karl Grimm in 1822 formulated Grimm's Law, the basis for much of modern comparative linguistics. With his brother Wilhelm Karl Grimm (1786-1859), he collected Germanic folk tales and published them as Grimm's Fairy Tales (1812-1815).

Indo-European stop consonants, represented in Germanic, underwent the regular changes that Grimm's Law describes; this law essentially states that Indo-European p shifted to Germanic f, t shifted to th, and k shifted to h. Indo-European b shifted to Germanic p, d shifted to t, and g shifted to k. Indo-European bh shifted to Germanic b, dh shifted to d, and gh shifted to g.

This jurist and mythologist also authored the monumental German Dictionary and his Deutsche Mythologie .

Adapted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Cwn_annwn_13 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, a few years ago I plunked down the over a $100 cost for this recently put back in print four volume set. I don't regret spending the money. Criticisms I have you have to wade through a lot of linguistics/philology stuff and for whatever reason, even though this is supposed to be the English translation, there is still a fair amount of material in German and Latin. But there is all kinds of great stuff in this. Not for the beginner or someone with just a casual interest in the subject matter but this is a must have for any serious student of northern European culture, folklore or Odinsim. What is it about so many books written in the 1800's being superior to 99% of whats been published in the past 50 years?

[Ian Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teutonic mythology is a bit of a misnomer as it's really about the spread of German mythology. Grimm (yes, the same one that collected all those folk tales with his brother that we now know as "Grimm's Fairy tales") painstakingly reconstructs the spread of pre-Christian religion throughout Europe via linguistic analysis and comparative study of folklore and religious writing throughout Scandinavia, the UK, Eastern Europe, the Low countries, and Germany. He makes an effective argument that what most people think of as "Norse myths" were basically the pre-Christian religion in Germany, but that in more outlying regions of Europe that converted later the old Gods survived long enough to make it into writing. Be forewarned, this is not a quaint collection of tales of giants versus heroes and whatnot, it is the comparison of every_single_item of this religion in every language he can find it in. Vast passages are entirely in Old German, Latin, Middle Dutch, etc. It is not a light read, and unless you are a professional linguist specializing in Germanic languages with a good handle on Latin, a lot of it will be meaningless to you. Still, a fascinating read overall. You will learn all about how Christmas trees are tokens of what used to be blood sacrifice altars. You will find out how it came to be that all of the English days of the week are named after the old Gods, while this is not the case in German. How many superstitions like knocking on wood or hanging horseshoes for luck are remnants of the old religions.It's worth it, but not to be undertaken lightly.

[Kitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only read volume 3...but it was amazing. Will review all 4 when done.

[Andrew Hennessey · Rating 5 out of 5]

this work written in 1887AD would bring the world of exopolitics - the farce - to a total halt .. in fact it should ... its one of the inconvenient pins that would burst their horrid little fantasy bubble that the aliens just got here.

Someone needs to do that ... to let the truth be known .. and this is the tiger tank that will interrupt the battle of the bulge in those newage restaurants. Written and collected in Germany by classic old school Germans - heavily armoured research with lots of firepower even in the 21st Century

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful linguistical analysis of European myth and folklore. Explores common themes between the Greeks/Romans, Germans, and Scandanavians and serves as an excellent insight into the roots of modern storytelling

[Jermain Foutre le Camp · Rating 5 out of 5]

natürlich nur auf deutsch ist es das was es ist

[Clara Mazzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Splendido. Unico. Un libro scritto magnificamente (da uno che di professione non faceva lo scrittore) perché passa tra diversi generi letterari con grande maestria e competenza (dall’avventura al trattato scientifico, dal diario di viaggio meramente descrittivo a una serie di considerazioni personali che toccano l’ambito dell’antropologia) e non annoia mai. Tutt’altro! Avvince. Sempre. Magnifiche poi le incisioni tutte eseguite dallo stesso Whymper, ad hoc per questo libro, che voleva intenzionalmente redigere per un grande pubblico, un utenza recentemente scolarizzata nell’Inghilterra del secondo Ottocento e che aveva fame di conoscere meglio tutte le avventure e le scoperte del periodo eccezionale che stavano vivendo (da Darwin a Linvingstone, tanto per citarne un paio) ma che non era in grado di “leggere e basta”: chiedeva immagini per accendere ancora di più la loro fantasia. Un libro scritto da un uomo particolare d’eccezione: un solitario (per scelta, perché non Whymper ha sempre posto avanti a sé i suoi obiettivi piuttosto che amicizie) ma non un misantropo (piuttosto un uomo giusto, che ha sempre saputo pesare bene le persone con cui aveva a che fare, implacabile coi fanfaroni e gli imbroglioni, ma di buon cuore con tutti quelli che hanno dato il meglio di sé in rapporto alle loro possibilità – toccante il ritratto del portatore Meynet, per esempio), un implacabile perseverante ma non per vanagloria ma per il piacere personale di arrivare in fondo alle cose, capirle meglio e tramite questo processo definire meglio la sua posizione all’interno di questo mondo. Un gran libro scritto da una grande persona.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It helped using the Internet to get additional information about some areas in the book. It's a great, in depth study/discussion about stories of the gods and godesses of the Teutons and showing in some instances similarities with gods of other cultures. I look forward getting thr next book to this series.