I'm so grateful for you. I'm 38 and just now moving from being a lifelong chef to starting a degree in ancient history. It's people like you that are the reason why. Thank you
Last year when going to coach a robotics team in the school I saw that the resource books in the school library were being boxed up. Having once been a book dealer I had looked those books over before and was amazed at how pristine they all were, some never ever been taken off the shelf or cracked open. I asked the librarian what they were going to do with the books and she said throw them out and if I wanted to have any I could. There was a complete Harvard Classic. set in pristine condition as an example of what was there. I took eight cases home. The best of the lot, the Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore and Symbols, by Gertrude Jobes, Scarecrow Press. Along with two dozen other books on mythology. The Dictionary by Vobes is rare and was a book I've been trying to get for 25 years, but it was always too expensive.
I'm Hindu and ik most of indo aryan mythology. From vedic myths to medieval puranic myths. And it's amazing how indian mythology evolved. Indra in vedic period was supreme god but later he became Demi God and Trinity gods took place of him.
I have an hypothesis regarding that; I think that Sindh being originally a Matrilineal society, slowly reverted the Masculine Aryan Gods to a more feminine-like shape.
Yeah, Indra was also a very kind deity, along with being Omnipresent & Omnipotent. But, later on… well, let’s just say, that things got turned upside down. Poor Indra.
@@king_halcyon Matriarchal, just like a Russiand saying, "the man is the head of the family, but the woman is the neck, deciding to where the head will be looking"....
Translating ancient poetry is not an easy task. Be it litterally or not. I'm actually translating the Havamal into Protogermanic, and this etymological research makes the meaning of this text much MUCH more interesting. Love your work by the way!
Very helpfull video. I already read 'Wheel, horse and language' only because you keep mention it in your videos. Some of the 'action' in the book took place in Romania, wich is my home country, so reading it made some connections possible. Next I will try and get my hands on Csapo's 'Theories of mythology'. Thank you for your work!
Thrilled by this. Had already thought about asking this question in passing. Will definitely be making some purchases from this list. Some were already books I was considering also, which is a great sign.
Thank you so much! I'm not sure if this video is a direct response to my comment a couple of months ago but I'm very thankful that you made it either wt!
I read that Rg Veda! Great book, I read it all, took a year. 🤣 The Avesta is good too. I read almost all those books. Go to the sources of our ancestors. Great stuff.
How about doing a video based on mythology around green eyes I read that during the Middle Ages green eyed people were accused of being witches. Like the character Esmeralda in the hunchback of Notra dame who had green eyes
Even before that green, and sometimes blue were associated with magic and the supernatural. Usually in the Mediterranean areas. Still good idea, I would add in blue too, since some places used the same words for both.
Videos on source issues will always be appreciated, but an even more outstanding request would be the elucidation of the work and proposals of modern mythographers and folklorists.
I would love to talk about this, but I dear only a few hundred people may want to watch such a video. Saying that, maybe I will, when I have more time, I do try to explain certain aspects of these areas when I make videos on research and papers.
You can read Kalevala also on the internet for free, at least the late 19th century one. The language in Finnish is so old that I read the English version parallel to it so I can understand what some of those ye olde words mean, also some of the words are agrarian words which aren't that used anymore, at least in those instances.
I wish you were around when I was still in college. I had access to experts in nearly every area of anthropology except Indo-European. I might have considered self-study if I had a little more direction at the time.
It's only in the last 10 years or so we've really started to have confidence in our work, with the rise in the availability of DNA archaeology, and so I do think this will become more popular, as will other regions of world mythology.
First of all, thank you for your very instructive video, wich gives a good background for startin the study of indo-european mythology. However, I must friendly but firmly disagree with what you say at 4:00. There is absolutely no academic consensus about the fact that the story of Loki is made up by Snorri Sturluson ! In fact, french academic Georges Dumézil even wrote a book simply named "Loki" to prove that Loki is no invention of Sturluson. He draws evidence from the connection between the story of Loki and the myths of the Ossetian people, which is of indo-iranian ascent. That being said, keep up the good work ! I absolutely love your channel.
i love that you are sharing books to read to gain an understanding of myths i wish i did have the ability to speak other languages. i can see it would be of great benefit. physical books are definitely my preference over eBooks although i have been slowly reading an eBook of Nicholas Culpepper the complete herbal definitely not within my price range to purchase a copy of that. it also uses names that have changed from the 1600's. that in itself is fascinating
it is such a shame that the prices of some of these books is so high, the bar for the acquisition of knowledge shouldn't be currency based. thanks for the list of materials, though. I will search for these around less copyright-protecting places amoungst the internet.
@@Crecganford I utilize resources such as the internet archive repository as well as certain swedish based services to obtain my resources. Many libraries have banned me due to my inability to remember due dates. Again, thank you, your videos are always a great watch. You explain the topic in a very in depth, yet accessible way for your audience.
Thank you so much! I'm looking forward to reading many of these. Do you (or anyone else reading this) have recommendations on Baltic or Slavic mythology and/or folklore?
There are any written forms of Pre-IE myths? or rituals involved? If not what is oldest? I read text about internal/eternal fire ritual before going into battle, basically performing something like berserk trance, but with staying sane. Involveing expanding this internal fire to gain strenght/wits. That would indicate that before personal representation of gods, in age of force of nature as gods. Ppl wasn't like more primitive that worship fire, but treat it like idea, concept that can be usefull. And betwean usefullness of personal god and force relation. Pure force relation is more advence cuz is more general, and harder to maintain. But idk if any evidance may suggest that
Writing wasn't invented until the PIE speaking peoples had started dispersing, and so there are no writings of the earliest myths. And so what we have to do is take the oldest texts we do have and try and see what myths are in there, and which could be attributed to PIE speakers by seeing if they are told else where. And so the earliest book with such stories is the Rig Veda.
Lincoln studied under him, which is why I like reading his work, and yes, I have many of his books, they're certainly worth adding to an mythology library.
Fantastic stuff, really useful. I've read "The Horse , the Wheel and Language" and West's "Indo-European Poetry and Myth" and they were both great. But I had a question about another book I've read, are you familiar with with Alexander Jacob's "'Indo-European Mythology and Religion Essays"? I read it but I'm not sure if he's academically accepted or not. Reason why I ask is because he uses the Old Testament groupings of peoples; Ham, Shem, Japheth, which seems out of step with modern anthropology...?
I haven’t read that book, but the Bible was written well after the Indo-European myths, and so it would be odd to group them. I would have to read his book though to make a definitive statement about it.
What do you think about Burton Raffel's translation of Beowulf? I read it in college - and probably also in high school - and he also worked at my university - his last position until retiring (didn't meet him though). It's good to see Jaan Puhvel's, Comparative Mythology, in your list. I bought a copy many years ago - still have it - but never read it through. I'll have to give it a go again
Too many open windows again. Sorry, draft deleted. Thanks for your Kalevala recommendation. Can you recommend a Gilgamesh? Is its omission from your list an oversight?
Not an oversight, I was concentrating on Indo-European mythology. I do love Pritchard's book "Ancient Near East Texts", although his book "The Ancient Near East" is probably more accessible, and either is worth reading if you want to start to understand the Mesopotamian mythology.
Really helpful. Thanks. I notice Joseph Campbell is not mentioned, though he is probably the best known (by lay people) folklorist and has many books. Is it that I should not bother with him for some reason, or did he just simply not make the list? I love your work. Thanks again.
Hi, a great question. And he is useful if archetypes and a "universalist" approach (in effect you think all myths stem from a single source) then he is worth a read, but it is a more specialist view, and I will talk about these more when I make more videos about learning mythology itself, as opposed to the myths.
@@Crecganford That makes perfect sense. Perhaps it was always Campbell's resonance with Jung that led to some of his more widespread appeal. His "universalism" is also why I had always been a little wary of him (i.e., hadn't read him in all these years, despite my strong love of mythology). I will follow your advice and read some of the other scholarly works you mentioned first. Thanks!
I do have a copy of it, and so yes, a good more modern writing, but I would feel reading Puhvel and some of the essays in the other books would give some great grounding.
thanks for the video i dont know if you can answer this question but i'll ask anyway as far as i know the zoroastrian stuff that we have was compiled around 1000AD how much of what is represented in those text goes back to the iron age?
We believe Zoroastrianism to be over 3,000 years old, but the oldest evidence we have is around 2,500 years old, and so the later evidence can be regarded as Iron Age.
Hi, a question, from a totally other direction. Can there be a connection or relation between the Japanese Yuki Ona (female snow storm "spectre") and Baba Yaga? I find faint echoes from the one in the other (revenge, reckoning, motherhood, monstruous v approachable/attractive). I ask this because, IF (big if) there Is a connection... it sheds perhaps some light on the spreading patterns from neolithic hunter-gatherers.... where eurasian is.... both! And afterwards or european or asian! Okay, it's highly speculative reasoning (auf Deutsch vielleicht hineinredenierung) but.... what if I caught this right?
I have to admit, my knowledge of Japanese mythology os very limited, and so I would have to research this before I could give you an answer I feel comfortable with.
Some are not replicas, but the ones that are I primarily get from a colleague who works in a museum in Europe. But ask at your national museum, they will often have replicas, or if not, perhaps demand may persuade them to make them.
Do you know of any great resources for Slavic myths? I find that it's almost impossible to find anything partly because so much was lost, but also there seems not to be much scholarship on the topic
The best source is individual papers, as they can go into individual myths in far more detail, but most try and determine results statistically due to the lack of primary, or even trusted secondary sources.
@@Crecganford Hey Jon, do you think the distinct nature of the Germanic mythology in aspects like a new god called Odin being the chief god, and not Dyeus (now called Tiu or Tyr) happened in the long time between the settlement of Indo-Europeans in Scandinavia (2500-2000 BC) and the emergence of the proto-Germanic tongue (800-500 BC)? That's a lot of time to be fair and I think extra love for magic, mead, poetry and fear of possessions created an aspect of Dyeus, the "all" Father, that later became distinct as Odin when Dyeus was reduced to a war god. Of course, I am aware that I used Norse god names, not the proto-Germanic names.
I do have a copy of that, and so read it when it came out a long time ago. There are certainly some good points raised in it, and I have touched on some of them in my videos on dogs, although I've also published videos about where I believe the wild hunt and Odin originate, which doesn't necessarily align with this work. Still it is worth a read, although being a dissertation, it is not an easy read, and I would recommend having a knowledge of German for some of the references.
@@Crecganford it would be interesting if you made a video about that and why you disagree with the cases made and what you agree with. Haven’t fully read it yet (200 pages in). I’ve found it fascinating so far. I personally can see Odin being older then what you think just changed over time and having other aspects grafted to him as he gained prominence. Probably having a different name. Especially if he was a tribal god, with each tribe ascribing different names and attributes while sharing some core motifs. Sounds like one of the theories of Tautatis one of the theorized three parts of Lugus who does seem very Odin like.
Hey, i know it's not on your list but was curious if you had read and what you thought of "The One-eyed God: Odin and the (Indo-)Germanic Männerbünde" by Kris Kershaw?
I do have a copy of that, and so read it when it came out a long time ago. There are certainly some good points raised in it, and I have touched on some of them in my videos on dogs, although I've also published videos about where I believe the wild hunt and Odin originate, which doesn't necessarily align with this work. Still it is worth a read, although being a dissertation, it is not an easy read, and I would recommend having a knowledge of German for some of the references.
Nice collection m8, BTW sorry for gatekeeping but Vedas shouldn't be 'read' by the uninitiated esp. using 'translations', their knowledge is supposed to be bestowed upon by a proper learned Guru using Sanskrit
That does depend on whether you are treating them as "sacred texts" or mythology, if the later, then for reference purposes I feel they are ok to be read.
@@Crecganford thanks for understanding, this philosophy of ours is tough for people to reason with but it also is the reason Vedas have stayed intact for millenias without much change
hi prof, big fan from Italy here, if you are interested I wish to offer my support to your channel by translating your subtitles in italian. I would love to help your channel grow and spread in my country. Please et me know, bye
Oh no! You've given away your secrets! Now all someone has to do to make videos like yours is thousands and thousands of hours of research and learning 🤣
CRECGANFORD! And disciples. I have written about this before and give you another chance here. A good way to UNDERSTAND the old myths is if we find an actual PLACE where they originated. Then it would be easier to translate and understand when you actually are looking at the mountains, waters and islands AS THEY DID! WE DID, NOT MANY MONTHS AGO, found the place where the Edda’s originated. Those who are interested are welcome to contact me. Info and guide tour available.
Sorry for my stuffy nose I had a cold... but please ask any questions about books below and I will do my best to answer them.
i hope you feel better soon. thanks for providing us with a list of great books to get
How do the resources at mythopedia compare to the physical versions? Is it accurate and suitable for study?
I hope you’re feeling better! Thank you so much for all your hard work put into your vids
I concurred with much of your analysis but I'm.not sure the Norse and viking myths are indo European proper
I'm so grateful for you. I'm 38 and just now moving from being a lifelong chef to starting a degree in ancient history. It's people like you that are the reason why. Thank you
Thank you for your kind words, and good luck with the degree.
It would be cool to have TH-cam where you combine both fields, history and recreate ancient culinary recipes.
@@RolandtheThompsonGunner that exists!! It's called Tasting History with Max Millier. Really really good channel.
@@cork.. I will check it out. Thanks.
Last year when going to coach a robotics team in the school I saw that the resource books in the school library were being boxed up. Having once been a book dealer I had looked those books over before and was amazed at how pristine they all were, some never ever been taken off the shelf or cracked open. I asked the librarian what they were going to do with the books and she said throw them out and if I wanted to have any I could. There was a complete Harvard Classic. set in pristine condition as an example of what was there. I took eight cases home. The best of the lot, the Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore and Symbols, by Gertrude Jobes, Scarecrow Press. Along with two dozen other books on mythology. The Dictionary by Vobes is rare and was a book I've been trying to get for 25 years, but it was always too expensive.
That was a great find by you, they would be at home in any mythology library.
I love a great book haul!!!
You might also look at Dover Publications in US. They have a lot of great prices on classics.
"throw them out"
D:
Libraries should hold auctions
I'm Hindu and ik most of indo aryan mythology. From vedic myths to medieval puranic myths. And it's amazing how indian mythology evolved. Indra in vedic period was supreme god but later he became Demi God and Trinity gods took place of him.
I have an hypothesis regarding that; I think that Sindh being originally a Matrilineal society, slowly reverted the Masculine Aryan Gods to a more feminine-like shape.
Yeah, Indra was also a very kind deity, along with being Omnipresent & Omnipotent. But, later on… well, let’s just say, that things got turned upside down.
Poor Indra.
@@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115 matrilineal or matriarchal?
Before that was Dyaus, who was later "forgotten" (I think?)
@@king_halcyon Matriarchal, just like a Russiand saying, "the man is the head of the family, but the woman is the neck, deciding to where the head will be looking"....
Translating ancient poetry is not an easy task. Be it litterally or not.
I'm actually translating the Havamal into Protogermanic, and this etymological research makes the meaning of this text much MUCH more interesting.
Love your work by the way!
Thank you, and good luck with the translation.
Cup of coffee after a nice walk in the woods with dog and now a new video ! Thank you, great afternoon. 🐕🐾🦉
Same here, played with the dogs, had some coffee, and then this new video, it is a beautiful morning here.
Thank you as always, I consider you the best teacher. Very interesting and pertinent. Greetings from the mountains of Colombia.
Thank you so much, your kind words are appreciated.
Very helpfull video. I already read 'Wheel, horse and language' only because you keep mention it in your videos. Some of the 'action' in the book took place in Romania, wich is my home country, so reading it made some connections possible. Next I will try and get my hands on Csapo's 'Theories of mythology'. Thank you for your work!
I love and appreciate your content Jon, and am so pleased when I find new episodes. Thank you for all of your thoughtful work. Keep it up.
Thank you so much for your kind words, they are appreciated.
Thrilled by this. Had already thought about asking this question in passing. Will definitely be making some purchases from this list. Some were already books I was considering also, which is a great sign.
Thank you so much! I'm not sure if this video is a direct response to my comment a couple of months ago but I'm very thankful that you made it either wt!
This is a wonderful list. Thank you for taking the time.
I read that Rg Veda! Great book, I read it all, took a year. 🤣 The Avesta is good too. I read almost all those books. Go to the sources of our ancestors. Great stuff.
So good to see people who are so passionate.
Great!! I was just about to ask for a video about your books! Thanks a lot.
How about doing a video based on mythology around green eyes I read that during the Middle Ages green eyed people were accused of being witches. Like the character Esmeralda in the hunchback of Notra dame who had green eyes
Even before that green, and sometimes blue were associated with magic and the supernatural. Usually in the Mediterranean areas. Still good idea, I would add in blue too, since some places used the same words for both.
Yes, the mythology on eyes would be interesting, a great idea. Thank you.
Yes, I'll cover all eyes... as different cultures saw different colours meaning different things.
I always thought that it was very interesting that the eye of Horus is blue.
This was a great idea for a video and a huge help. Many thanks.
I was hoping you would make this vid
me too
I hope it helps and answers some questions.
Videos on source issues will always be appreciated, but an even more outstanding request would be the elucidation of the work and proposals of modern mythographers and folklorists.
I would love to talk about this, but I dear only a few hundred people may want to watch such a video. Saying that, maybe I will, when I have more time, I do try to explain certain aspects of these areas when I make videos on research and papers.
There are some interesting book suggestions. Thanks for advising them. :)
Your welcome.
You can read Kalevala also on the internet for free, at least the late 19th century one. The language in Finnish is so old that I read the English version parallel to it so I can understand what some of those ye olde words mean, also some of the words are agrarian words which aren't that used anymore, at least in those instances.
Absolutely love this one, thanks as always sir.
My pleasure!
I wish you were around when I was still in college. I had access to experts in nearly every area of anthropology except Indo-European. I might have considered self-study if I had a little more direction at the time.
It's only in the last 10 years or so we've really started to have confidence in our work, with the rise in the availability of DNA archaeology, and so I do think this will become more popular, as will other regions of world mythology.
@@Crecganford I suppose that's a fair point, I recall talks surrounding Indo-Europeans being more of a more theoretical type at the time.
For Greek myth you should also get theogony by Hesiod.
Yes, that would be my next recommendation.
I love your channel my man fascinating stuff
Thank you.
Thank you for covering our endangered peoples and our history
Will you make a video about the origin of Prometheus/trickster who stole fire from the gods myth?
Yes, I’ll add it to my list of videos to make :)
First of all, thank you for your very instructive video, wich gives a good background for startin the study of indo-european mythology.
However, I must friendly but firmly disagree with what you say at 4:00. There is absolutely no academic consensus about the fact that the story of Loki is made up by Snorri Sturluson ! In fact, french academic Georges Dumézil even wrote a book simply named "Loki" to prove that Loki is no invention of Sturluson. He draws evidence from the connection between the story of Loki and the myths of the Ossetian people, which is of indo-iranian ascent.
That being said, keep up the good work ! I absolutely love your channel.
Awesome been wanting to ask for book recommendations. Think I need to move on from Mancow and Anthony. I've only read them each about 10 times
Puhvel is definitely a worthwhile read, although I will make a very academic reading list in a few months, for when you're ready to move on again.
@@Crecganford awesome
just the video I needed!! thanks a lot!!!
You're welcome.
i love that you are sharing books to read to gain an understanding of myths i wish i did have the ability to speak other languages. i can see it would be of great benefit. physical books are definitely my preference over eBooks although i have been slowly reading an eBook of Nicholas Culpepper the complete herbal
definitely not within my price range to purchase a copy of that. it also uses names that have changed from the 1600's. that in itself is fascinating
it is such a shame that the prices of some of these books is so high, the bar for the acquisition of knowledge shouldn't be currency based.
thanks for the list of materials, though. I will search for these around less copyright-protecting places amoungst the internet.
Papers can often be obtained for free, as can some of the books via libraries.
@@Crecganford I utilize resources such as the internet archive repository as well as certain swedish based services to obtain my resources. Many libraries have banned me due to my inability to remember due dates.
Again, thank you, your videos are always a great watch. You explain the topic in a very in depth, yet accessible way for your audience.
A tip for Second hand books for ppl in Germany Switzerland and Austria “rebuy”
Thank you so much! I'm looking forward to reading many of these. Do you (or anyone else reading this) have recommendations on Baltic or Slavic mythology and/or folklore?
Their is not much written in English, nothing I would say was outstanding. It is probably best to look at individual papers.
@@Crecganford Thank you.
Could you do an episode on kurgans? Scythian burial practices and how they spread into other cultures?
Yes, I actually have that on my to do list, although not sure when I will do it, but it is on the list :)
There are any written forms of Pre-IE myths? or rituals involved? If not what is oldest? I read text about internal/eternal fire ritual before going into battle, basically performing something like berserk trance, but with staying sane. Involveing expanding this internal fire to gain strenght/wits. That would indicate that before personal representation of gods, in age of force of nature as gods. Ppl wasn't like more primitive that worship fire, but treat it like idea, concept that can be usefull. And betwean usefullness of personal god and force relation. Pure force relation is more advence cuz is more general, and harder to maintain. But idk if any evidance may suggest that
Writing wasn't invented until the PIE speaking peoples had started dispersing, and so there are no writings of the earliest myths. And so what we have to do is take the oldest texts we do have and try and see what myths are in there, and which could be attributed to PIE speakers by seeing if they are told else where. And so the earliest book with such stories is the Rig Veda.
Thanks, this was really useful.
You're welcome!
ABEBOOKS GANG RISE!!!!!! But genuinely 🙏🏻🥺 thank you so much. I’ve been- trying to find good sources and have had ;; varied success
You're welcome.
read anything from Mircea Eliade, he's an amazing comparative mythologist and proze writer
Lincoln studied under him, which is why I like reading his work, and yes, I have many of his books, they're certainly worth adding to an mythology library.
Fantastic stuff, really useful. I've read "The Horse , the Wheel and Language" and West's "Indo-European Poetry and Myth" and they were both great. But I had a question about another book I've read, are you familiar with with Alexander Jacob's "'Indo-European Mythology and Religion Essays"? I read it but I'm not sure if he's academically accepted or not. Reason why I ask is because he uses the Old Testament groupings of peoples; Ham, Shem, Japheth, which seems out of step with modern anthropology...?
I haven’t read that book, but the Bible was written well after the Indo-European myths, and so it would be odd to group them. I would have to read his book though to make a definitive statement about it.
@@Crecganford Understandable, keep up the great work!
What do you think about Burton Raffel's translation of Beowulf? I read it in college - and probably also in high school - and he also worked at my university - his last position until retiring (didn't meet him though).
It's good to see Jaan Puhvel's, Comparative Mythology, in your list. I bought a copy many years ago - still have it - but never read it through. I'll have to give it a go again
I have to be honest and say I don't recall reading that translation, but I shall look out for it now.
I am not sure if Dover Publications ships internationally though.
Too many open windows again. Sorry, draft deleted. Thanks for your Kalevala recommendation. Can you recommend a Gilgamesh? Is its omission from your list an oversight?
Not an oversight, I was concentrating on Indo-European mythology. I do love Pritchard's book "Ancient Near East Texts", although his book "The Ancient Near East" is probably more accessible, and either is worth reading if you want to start to understand the Mesopotamian mythology.
Really helpful. Thanks. I notice Joseph Campbell is not mentioned, though he is probably the best known (by lay people) folklorist and has many books. Is it that I should not bother with him for some reason, or did he just simply not make the list? I love your work. Thanks again.
Hi, a great question. And he is useful if archetypes and a "universalist" approach (in effect you think all myths stem from a single source) then he is worth a read, but it is a more specialist view, and I will talk about these more when I make more videos about learning mythology itself, as opposed to the myths.
@@Crecganford That makes perfect sense. Perhaps it was always Campbell's resonance with Jung that led to some of his more widespread appeal. His "universalism" is also why I had always been a little wary of him (i.e., hadn't read him in all these years, despite my strong love of mythology). I will follow your advice and read some of the other scholarly works you mentioned first. Thanks!
What's your opinion on Robert Graves' The Greek Myths ?
I do have a copy of it, and so yes, a good more modern writing, but I would feel reading Puhvel and some of the essays in the other books would give some great grounding.
@@Crecganford Thanks for the answer and your videos. I was planing on the Metamorphoses, but it seems I can't escape Puhvel :)
Can you put your list on a downloadable doc or pdf?
It is in the description of the video, so just copy and paste it wherever you need it.
I see a series of books with gods on their spines in the bottom right corner. What books are they? Are they all part of the same series?
They are a book series called Empires by the Folio Society.
I have the I ching!
Thank you 😊
Hope your cold gets better. 🤧🫖🙂
Why is the Horse, Wheel and Language book "infamous"??
It’s pretty much de facto reading for anyone interested in Indo-European culture.
@@Crecganford Ah ok. I thought you were referring to some raging criticism against it which I hadn't heard about.
Thank you for this!
You're welcome.
thanks for the video i dont know if you can answer this question but i'll ask anyway as far as i know the zoroastrian stuff that we have was compiled around 1000AD how much of what is represented in those text goes back to the iron age?
We believe Zoroastrianism to be over 3,000 years old, but the oldest evidence we have is around 2,500 years old, and so the later evidence can be regarded as Iron Age.
Hi, a question, from a totally other direction. Can there be a connection or relation between the Japanese Yuki Ona (female snow storm "spectre") and Baba Yaga? I find faint echoes from the one in the other (revenge, reckoning, motherhood, monstruous v approachable/attractive). I ask this because, IF (big if) there Is a connection... it sheds perhaps some light on the spreading patterns from neolithic hunter-gatherers.... where eurasian is.... both! And afterwards or european or asian! Okay, it's highly speculative reasoning (auf Deutsch vielleicht hineinredenierung) but.... what if I caught this right?
I have to admit, my knowledge of Japanese mythology os very limited, and so I would have to research this before I could give you an answer I feel comfortable with.
On a whole other tangent… Where do you buy your replicas that are on your shelf?
Some are not replicas, but the ones that are I primarily get from a colleague who works in a museum in Europe. But ask at your national museum, they will often have replicas, or if not, perhaps demand may persuade them to make them.
Do you know of any great resources for Slavic myths? I find that it's almost impossible to find anything partly because so much was lost, but also there seems not to be much scholarship on the topic
The best source is individual papers, as they can go into individual myths in far more detail, but most try and determine results statistically due to the lack of primary, or even trusted secondary sources.
just wondering what is the oldest non-animism religion we know of? and thank you for your lovely vids
That's hard to say for sure, but it was probably forming around 16,000 years ago in or around the Near East.
My native language is Spanish, and I love studying in english, but I can't tell where your beautiful accent is from. 🧐
It is a Metropolitan London accent.
@@Crecganford It makes the lecture beautiful to listen to.
What would be your reasoning for preferring Ovid over Hesiod? Great video as always.
A fair questions, and to me , I think it covers more of the mythology as opposed the theogony.
@@Crecganford Hey Jon, do you think the distinct nature of the Germanic mythology in aspects like a new god called Odin being the chief god, and not Dyeus (now called Tiu or Tyr) happened in the long time between the settlement of Indo-Europeans in Scandinavia (2500-2000 BC) and the emergence of the proto-Germanic tongue (800-500 BC)?
That's a lot of time to be fair and I think extra love for magic, mead, poetry and fear of possessions created an aspect of Dyeus, the "all" Father, that later became distinct as Odin when Dyeus was reduced to a war god. Of course, I am aware that I used Norse god names, not the proto-Germanic names.
What’s your opinion of the one eyed god by Kershaw. Seems like the Mannerbunde would be a crucial topic for IE study.
I do have a copy of that, and so read it when it came out a long time ago. There are certainly some good points raised in it, and I have touched on some of them in my videos on dogs, although I've also published videos about where I believe the wild hunt and Odin originate, which doesn't necessarily align with this work. Still it is worth a read, although being a dissertation, it is not an easy read, and I would recommend having a knowledge of German for some of the references.
@@Crecganford it would be interesting if you made a video about that and why you disagree with the cases made and what you agree with.
Haven’t fully read it yet (200 pages in). I’ve found it fascinating so far. I personally can see Odin being older then what you think just changed over time and having other aspects grafted to him as he gained prominence. Probably having a different name. Especially if he was a tribal god, with each tribe ascribing different names and attributes while sharing some core motifs. Sounds like one of the theories of Tautatis one of the theorized three parts of Lugus who does seem very Odin like.
Hey, i know it's not on your list but was curious if you had read and what you thought of "The One-eyed God: Odin and the (Indo-)Germanic Männerbünde" by Kris Kershaw?
I do have a copy of that, and so read it when it came out a long time ago. There are certainly some good points raised in it, and I have touched on some of them in my videos on dogs, although I've also published videos about where I believe the wild hunt and Odin originate, which doesn't necessarily align with this work. Still it is worth a read, although being a dissertation, it is not an easy read, and I would recommend having a knowledge of German for some of the references.
@@Crecganford thank youuuu!!! 😍
Great video! Any luck with Ben Stanhope? Or have you now finally given up?
Thank you. I'm still awaiting a response...
JSTOR rocks!
It does and even without an academic account you can sometimes get access for free from your public library system.
Hooray..just found this.
Nice collection m8, BTW sorry for gatekeeping but Vedas shouldn't be 'read' by the uninitiated esp. using 'translations', their knowledge is supposed to be bestowed upon by a proper learned Guru using Sanskrit
That does depend on whether you are treating them as "sacred texts" or mythology, if the later, then for reference purposes I feel they are ok to be read.
@@Crecganford thanks for understanding, this philosophy of ours is tough for people to reason with but it also is the reason Vedas have stayed intact for millenias without much change
@@topg2820 would they share knowledge with foreigner
Many Muslims make a somewhat similar argument about the Quran, that it can only truly be understood in Arabic.
@@danf7411 the thing is Vedas require lot of study to be understood, it's like needing phd to understand quantum physics
What about indigenous Roman mythology? Pre- and post- hellenism.
I'm a fan of Grant's Roman Myths as an entry into Roman Mythology, although learning the Greek myths will also help.
did you read west slavic mitology? I wonder if there is something good
or South Slavic
and Baltic
hi prof, big fan from Italy here, if you are interested I wish to offer my support to your channel by translating your subtitles in italian. I would love to help your channel grow and spread in my country. Please et me know, bye
Oh no! You've given away your secrets! Now all someone has to do to make videos like yours is thousands and thousands of hours of research and learning 🤣
Sacrilege! No one reads anymore but everyone should read these books lol
I guess it's why many people watch TH-cam.
CRECGANFORD! And disciples.
I have written about this before and give you another chance here.
A good way to UNDERSTAND the old myths is if we find an actual PLACE where they originated. Then it would be easier to translate and understand when you actually are looking at the mountains, waters and islands AS THEY DID!
WE DID, NOT MANY MONTHS AGO, found the place where the Edda’s originated.
Those who are interested are welcome to contact me. Info and guide tour available.