: the shadowy beginnings of Britain's supernatural beings Young, Francis 1981- creator author text bibliography enk Cambridge New York, NY Cambridge University Press 2023 2023 monographic eng

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xviii, 365 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 22 cm. Throughout the recorded history of Britain, belief in earthbound spirits presiding over nature, the home and human destiny has been a feature of successive cultures. From the localised deities of Britannia to the Anglo-Saxons' elves and the fairies of late medieval England, Britain's godlings have populated a shadowy, secretive realm of ritual and belief running parallel to authorised religion. Twilight of the Godlings delves deep into the elusive history of these supernatural beings, tracing their evolution from the pre-Roman Iron Age to the end of the Middle Ages. Arguing that accreted cultural assumptions must be cast aside in order to understand the godlings – including the cherished idea that these folkloric creatures are the decayed remnants of pagan gods and goddesses – this bold, revisionist book traces Britain's 'small gods' to a popular religiosity influenced by classical learning. It offers an exciting new way of grasping the island's most mysterious mythical inhabitants. needed the holistic history of Britain's small gods which arguably the field has long been looking for — consistently brings new and exciting interpretations to folkloric questions about origins which have been long contested — explores Britain's godlings in the longue durée of the millennium between the Claudian and Norman invasions, and into the High Middle Ages up to around 1400 — moves dexterously beyond the usual 'Celtic myth', pointing instead to Roman paganism as the most likely cultural background of the godlings — mandatory reading for scholars in folklore, history, mythology, religion and the history of ideas. Supernatural beings: The search for origins — Pt. 1. A world full of small gods: Understanding Godlings — Pt. 2. Menagerie of the divine: Godlings — Pt. 3. The nymph and the cross: Godlings and Christianisation — Pt. 4. Furies, elves and giants: Godlings in early medieval Britain — Pt. 5. The fairy synthesis: Godlings in later medieval Britain — The fairy legacy — The classicising legacy — Almost human, not quite divine. / Francis Young. Includes bibliographical references (pages 322-348) and index. e-uk--- Mythology, British Nature Religious aspects Great Britain Religion BL980.G7 Y68 2023 9781009330367 2022048879 DLC 221011 20250626104331.0 on1371817441 eng