Lotte Hedeager

Hedeager tries to demonstrate a number of connected theses: that Norse mythology as written down after Christianization is a reasonable guide to pre-Christian belief; that this belief-system was formed during the (archaeologically attested) social changes of the Migration Period, primarily the fifth century; that the catalyst for these changes was the Hunnic invasion; and that distorted memories of the Huns themselves are perserved in the myths and sagas. That Atle of the Völsunga Saga is based on the historical Attila is hardly controversial - her suggestion that so is the legendary Swedish king Adils (a/k/a Eadgils in Beowulf), and his father Ottar (a/k/a Ohtere) on the earlier Hunnic leader Octar, is likely to meet more opposition.

It's a thought-provoking, but not necessarily convincing, book. A lot of more-or-less suggestive evidence is marshalled, but - and it could hardly be otherwise given the ambiguity of archaeological finds and the spatiotemporal distance of the written sources - little conclusive.… (altro)