Illustrations x
Foreword xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
Prologue: The Nazi Curse on Germanic Mythology 17

PART ONE: THE INDO-EUROPEAN AND NORDIC-GERMANIC PEOPLES

1. MIGRATIONS AND INVASIONS OF THE INDO-EUROPEANS 31
Origins of the Indo-Europeans 31
The Descendants of the Kurgan invaders in Europe 37
The Indo-European Legacy 43

2. THE RELIGION AND WORLDVIEW OF THE INDO-EUROPEAN 46
Animism, Shamanism, and Paganism 48
Changing Conceptions of Death and the Afterlife 51
The Destruction of the Old Religion 55

3. ANCIENT GERMANIC SOCIETY 61
Patriarchy 63
The Family, the Clan, and the Tribe 65
From Endogamy to Exogamy 68

4. WODAN'S WARRIORS AND THE HEROIC MYSTIQUE 73
Berserker Fury and the Rituals of Battle 75
Women in War and the Valkyrie Battle Maidens 79
The Transformed Berserkers 81

5. SACRED RUNES AND MYTHIC POETRY 85
Runes and Divination 85
The Edda: Songs and Visions of the Elder Mothers 91

CHRONOLOGY 98

PART TWO: NORDIC-GERMANIC MYTHS AND THEIR MEANING FOR OUR TIME

6. ODIN AND THE AESIR SKY GODS 111
Odin the Wandering Truth-Seeker 112
Other Aesir Gods: Tyr, Thor, Balder, and Loki 122

7. THE NEW BERSERKERS Norbert Mayer 133

8. FREYJA AND THE VANIR EARTH DEITIES 150
Freyja: Goddess of Earth, Sexuality, and Magic 152
Other Vanir Deities: Njörd and Freyr 161
Gullveig and the Origins of War 165

9. VISIONS OF THE FOURFOLD GODDESS Barbel Kreidt 173

10. ODIN'S SELF-SACRIFICE AND THE TREE OF WORLDS 191
Odin's Self-Sacrifice 192
The Tree of Nine Worlds 199
Dwarves, Elves, Giants, and Gods in the Twentieth Century 211

11. THE WELL OF REMEMBRANCE AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE ANCESTORS 215
The Three Norns 215
Mimir's Well and the One-Eyed God 219
The Revenge of the Vanir and Mimir's Head 224

12. RITUALS OF RECONCILIATION AND THE QUEST FOR THE MEAD OF INSPIRATION 229
The Reconciliation Ritual and Kvasir's Blood 230
Twentieth-Century Rituals of Reconciliation 234
Loss and Recovery of the Mead of Inspiration 238

13. THE TWILIGHT OF THE SKY GODS AND NEW DAWN OF THE EARTH GODDESS 244
The Völva's Vision of the Ragnarök 246
Cataclysmic Earth Changes 250
The Loosened Monsters and the Final Battle 255
Defeat and Return of the Pagan Deities 259

Epilogue 267
Appendix: The Mead of Inspiration and Magical Plants of the Ancient Germans Christian Rätsch 279
Notes 297
Index 325