Nordic folk legends, folk traditions and grave mounds: The value of folkloristics for the study of Old Nordic religions

This article examines the potential value of folkloristic research approaches and nineteenth-century folkloristic material for the study of Old Nordic religions and pre-Christian beliefs and rituals in the Nordic area. Starting with a short introduction to the nature of folklore, and the important role played by folklore and the oral tradition in the pre-literate (and early literate) Nordic world, it simultaneously stresses the folkloric nature of Old Nordic religions and the extant sources regarding them. The article concludes with a short case-study of Norwegian traditions involving offerings made to farm grave mounds in the nineteenth century, demonstrating that both the practice and the beliefs and legends attached to it not only underline the continuing sacral value of the grave mound for local people, but also potentially reflect early beliefs in ancestral spirits which the Church failed to eradicate.