From Olympus to Camelot: The World of European Mythology

225 Pages·2003·0.79 MB·English

by  David Leeming

From Olympus to Camelot:
The World of European
Mythology
David Leeming
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
From Olympus to Camelot

From Olympus
to Camelot
the world of
european mythology
David Leeming
1
2003
3
Oxford New York
Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai
Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi
São Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto
Copyright © 2003by David Leeming
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Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Leeming,David Adams,1937–
From Olympus to Camelot:the world ofEuropean mythology / David Leeming.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN0-19-514361-2
1.Mythology,European.
I.Title.
BL689.L44 2003
291.1’3’094—dc21
2002011740
Book design and composition by Susan Day
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
on acid-free paper
Preface
This book will treat the great mythological traditions of the
European continent in a historical, cultural, and compara-
tive context. The subject has particular appeal not only because
of the tumultuous history of European tribal warfare which con-
tinues to this day, but because of the current attempt of many
Europeans to see themselves as a single—albeit multicultural—
entity. There are, of course, built-in limitations when a study is
restricted by borders that are the result of wars, arbitrary assign-
ment, or even geographical factors such as rivers or mountains.
Although there are sometimes clear geographic reasons for the
concept of nations and continents,myths do not necessarily rec-
ognize such reasons. When we speak of European, Asian,
African, or Middle Eastern mythology, we are to some extent
simply taking advantage of a convenient but,from the mytholog-
ical perspective,arbitrary arrangement provided for us.This is es-
pecially so when we consider the possible nature of the myths of
early Homo sapiens,for whom Ice Age life in what is now northern
Germany, for example, would in all likelihood not have differed
significantly from life at the same time in what is now Iraq. And
while it is possible to see certain patterns in Asian or Middle
v
vi Preface
Eastern mythology,for instance,it is just as easy to find connec-
tions between myths of the land we now call India and those we
now call Ireland or Germany or Greece.
Still,given the geopolitical existence of Europe,particularly as
a modern concept, it makes sense to study the myths that have
found their way to the continent over the centuries and have quite
obviously affected the lifestyles and actions of the peoples who
have settled there. To understand what it is to be European, it is
helpful to examine the cultural dreams of the people who have
settled in Europe.
My approach takes us first to a definition of terms,beginning
with “myth”itself,and to a historical overview of cultural devel-
opment on the continent from the time of so-called Neanderthal
man to the more recognizable, predominantly Indo-European
cultures, such as the various expressions of what we now call the
Germanic,Celtic,Baltic,Slavic,Greek,and Roman.
The first myths, those of the Paleolithic and early Neolithic
periods are,in the absence of written evidence,locked in mystery
and can only be approached in a suppositional manner by way of
archeology and comparison with later cultural expressions.
Turning to the high Neolithic era and the development of Indo-
European myth, we can be more specific. And as we move into
later periods,we are on still more familiar ground,even as we re-
member that myths are often, in part, the inventions of story-
tellers whose individual and cultural priorities color the great
sagas that are their storytelling vehicles.
Although this is not a comprehensive handbook of all the
myths of Europe, central to the book are specific European
myths—some familiar, some not so familiar—that I have
treated first in relation to particular cultures and then in a com-
parative context as examples of creation stories,deity types,and
heroes. The assumption here is that there are significant differ-
ences between the mythologies of various cultural groups, but
that something approximating a European mythology emerges
Preface vii
from the substructure of those different understandings, most
noticeably when the mythology associated with Christianity be-
comes prominent.
My assumption is that the reader who examines all of the
myths contained here will have experienced a significant element
of the European psyche and the mythological process by which it
has developed into its present form.
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Contents
introduction Myths and Mythologies xi
part 1 The Background
1 The Mythology of Prehistoric Europe 3
2 The Indo-Europeans:A Common Mythology? 25
part 2 The European Cultures and Their Pantheons
3 Greek Mythology 39
4 Roman Mythology 61
5 Celtic Mythology 73
6 Germanic Mythology 101
7 Baltic,Slavic,and Balkan Mythology 123
8 Finnic and Other Non-Indo-European Mythologies 133