Spirits of the Snow Myth and Mankind

Myth and Mankind

by Tony Allan, Michael Kerrigan, Charles Phillips

A dramatic series that captures, culture by culture, the information that never makes it into the history books: strange stories, mystic rites, angry gods, vision quests.

Genres: History, Mythology, Nonfiction, Reference

144 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1999

About the author

After studying History at Oxford, Tony Allan worked for the British Broadcasting Company and as a magazine editor before turning to book publishing, including the Myth and Mankind series.

Reviews

[Marilyn Fontane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Spirits of the Snow in the Time-Life Myth and Mankind series edited and partially written by Tony Allen is a disappointment. I have only read one other of the series, but I expected to find far more myth and religion, as well as wonderful illustrations than I did. Perhaps the Inuit don't have the imagination or philosophy of the Greek cultures, but even the volume itself seemed to grant this concept. The final chapter in each volume is "Legacy of..." The four pages of "The Legacy of Arctic Myth" talks about how the Inuit are trying to recover their heritage. Apparently it needs recovery. The book gives history of the lives of those within the Arctic circle: Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. It describes the harsh conditions and life therein. But one would think that during the months of night the people would spend more time on art and stories. While there is a strong Sea Goddess, most of the other spirits mentioned are animistic. There are spirits of wolves, and whales, and polar bear that need to be propitiated before a hunt, but little else. The book makes you feel sorry for the inhabitants, but there is not much else to take away from it.

[Jsrott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had some interesting stories, but on the whole disappointing. Much of what is known about the myths and stories of Arctic populations only come from the 19th century on, and only through accounts told to outsiders, which means there's a lot of unknowns regarding the authenticity or age of the stories. Further, the while the book does talk about how there are actually scores of different cultures that live in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions around the globe, it then proceeds to lump them all together into broad categories of mythos, generally treating them as if they are all the same. Finally, the artifacts and pictures shown in the book are either undated or date from the 19th century onward (again.) My impression was, it reads more as an indictment of the way indigenous Arctic tribes have historically been treated.

[Paul Groos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of stories, most very primitive, though evocative of bleak, white landscapes and a difficult way of life. Pictures (as always in this series) are often not very relevant to the story.

[Mehmet Baran · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book explains what shamanism is, and how it operates very successfuly..
Shamanism is not an isolated phenomenon in human history.. It arises and persists as a result of some economic and environmental factors. Shamanist societies are the pre-agricultural ones which survive mostly on hunting. The individuals living in such societies are highly dependent on animals, and, if the hunt goes wrong, starve..
Such economic circumstances generated a very unique mindset. Animals are imagined as ensouled beings, sort of equivalent to humans. When an animal is hunted, it is assumed that it willingly sacrificed itself for the benefit of humans. If the hunt goes wrong, this means that animals are offended by some human sin, or disrespectful behaviour. Therefore, every hunter society needed individuals who can soul-travel to the realms where animal souls are, learn the reasons for their reluctance to get hunted, and soothe them if they are offended..
Shaman's soul-travel is not limited to animals. Everything that have some power to affect human life is assumed to have a soul. Diseases, stars, sea etc.. In situations of distress, the shaman can contact with all these and can learn what is going wrong. Actually, as all these things have souls, the boundary between them is fluid.. Humans can become animals, stars etc, while animals can become humans..
I cannot claim that I can understand all the myths contained in this book.. For example, I couldn't penetrate into the symbolism of the story of pp123, or at the end of pp117. In both cases, it seems that a person is identified with a whale, but the exact details are obscure..
In short, this book is not a very easy read, but I can recommend it highly to anybody who wants to understand the mentality of pre-agricultural societies and do this without reading an 600+ page book.