Description
A concise history of the goddesslike figures who evade both Christian and pagan traditions from the medieval period to the present day
In this riveting account renowned scholar Ronald Hutton explores the history of deitylike figures in Christian Europe Drawing on anthropology archaeology literature and history Hutton shows how hags witches the fairy queen and the Green Man all came to be and how they changed over the centuries
Looking closely at four main figuresMother Earth the Fairy Queen the Mistress of the Night and the Old Woman of Gaelic traditionHutton challenges decades of debate around the female figures who have long been thought versions of preChristian goddesses He makes the compelling case that these goddess figures found in the European imagination did not descend from the preChristian ancient world yet have nothing Christian about them It was in fact nineteenthcentury scholars who attempted to establish the narrative of pagan survival that persists today
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