Bear and Human
Facets of a Multi-Layered Relationship from Past to Recent Times, with Emphasis on Northern Europe
Edited by Oliver Grimm
A unique, interdisciplinary volume drawing together sixty-four contributions by experts from across a range of fields to shed light on the complex connections between bears and humans from the premodern into modern times, and from England to Russia.
Bears have, throughout human history, been admired and feared by humans in equal measure, with an interrelationship between the two species identifiable from pre-modern times through a wealth of material items, as well as from cult sites, sacral remains, images, and written sources. This unique interdisciplinary volume draws together sixty-four contributions by experts from across a range of fields in order to shed light on the complex connections between bears and humans in a period extending from the premodern into modern times, and across an area stretching from England into Russia. From bear biology (represented by work from the Scandinavian Brown Bear Research Project) and archaeo(zoo)logy to art history, and from history of religion to philology, the research gathered across this three-volume set explores a wide-range of subjects. Among them are the bear in biology, bears and animal agency, bear remains in graves and churches, the role of bears in religious beliefs (including berserker and bear ceremonialism), bears in literature, the philology underpinning why bear is a taboo word, and the image of the bear in rock art, as well as political iconography up to the present day. Together, these wide-ranging but closely thematic texts combine to produce a ground-breaking new work that will prove fundamental in understanding the human connection with this remarkable animal.
- Edited by Oliver Grimm
Other Titles in this Series
Between Bones and Beliefs
Human-Bird Relations in Central and Northern Europe in the First Millennium AD
Volume 4
Pre-Christian Religions, Rituals, and Beliefs in Central and Northern Europe
Interdisciplinary Investigations
Volume 5
Harvesting the Margins of the Viking World
Decentralizing Economies in Late Iron Age Fennoscandia
Volume 6
Bathing at the Edge of the Roman Empire
Baths and Bathing Habits in the North-Western Corner of Continental Europe
Volume 2
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