Handbuch der Germanischen Mythologie

"Handbuch der Germanischen Mythologie" by Wolfgang Golther is a scholarly handbook written in the late 19th century. It offers a rigorous, source‑critical overview of Germanic pagan belief, covering lesser spirits and major gods, cosmogony and eschatology, and cult and ritual. Framed as both narrative and reference, it prioritizes reliable testimony, careful citation, and clear separation of tradition from conjecture. The opening of the handbook presents transcription and pronunciation notes, then a preface stating the program: recount only what trustworthy sources attest, exclude bold hypotheses, focus on developments within the first millennium, and provide ample references and translations (especially of the Edda) for accessibility. A list of linguistic and bibliographic abbreviations follows, then a detailed contents outline that spans “lower” mythology (ghosts, elves, dwarfs, giants), the gods (with individual dossiers), creation and the world’s end, and forms of worship (sacrifices, temples, priesthood). The introduction begins with a history of research before Jacob Grimm, moving from early classical compilations through Scandinavian sources (Saxo, Olaus Magnus, Snorri) and the 17th–18th‑century rediscovery and popularization of the Eddas. It then surveys debates over the authenticity and origins of Norse myth (Rühs versus Grimm and P. E. Müller), competing interpretive schools such as euhemerism and symbolic/nature readings (Creuzer, Görres), and substantial but often misguided systematizations (Mone, Finn Magnusen). Next come the scientific treatments by Uhland and especially Grimm—praised for exhaustive collection yet critiqued for overreliance on later folk material—followed by post‑Grimm trends: stricter source criticism, cautious use of folk and hero sagas, and the rise of comparative and anthropological approaches (Schwartz, Kuhn, Max Müller). The text breaks off while outlining Max Müller’s view that personified natural phenomena underlie many early myths. (This is an automatically generated summary.)