Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Yggdrasil And The Stave Church, G. Ronald Murphy

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

In this excerpt from his book, Tree of Salvation, Murphy explores how those who introduced Christianity to Scandinavia deliberately adapted and “translated” Norse religious motifs and practices in two parallel ways—through literary works, especially as seen in the Heliand, but also through church art and architecture. In this illustrated essay, we can see how beliefs about Yggdrasil and Ragnarok are incorporated and transformed in the design and ornamentation of the unusual stave churches of Norway. Scholar GOH speech, Mythcon 2012.