CA. 116 0 CE
CA. 115 0 CE CA. 1220 CE
The Saga of the
Völsungs, written
in Iceland, details
the history of the
Völsung clan.The Renaissance
marks the end of the
Middle Ages.The Book of the Taking
of Ireland collects
prose and poems about
the mythological
history of Ireland.Elias Lönnrot
publishes the
Finnish national
epic, the Kalevala.In Ireland, the
scribe Áed Ua
Crimthainn and his
pupils write the
Book of Leinster.Snorri Sturluson writes
the Prose Edda—stories
about the Norse gods,
based on the earlier
Poetic Edda.Historical origins
Some of the best-known myths and
legends from northern Europe are
set, and probably originated, in the
years after the fall of the Roman
Empire in the 5th century CE. The
earliest legends of King Arthur, for
example, presented him as a heroic
warlord defending the Celtic Britons
against the Germanic Anglo-
Saxons, who invaded Britain after
the withdrawal of Roman forces in
410 CE. After the Norman conquest
in 1066, Arthur was appropriated
by French and English writers who
depicted him as an idealized and
chivalric king of all England.
The Norse legend of the dragon-
slaying hero Sigurd includes real
historical figures, testifying to its
origins in the 5th or 6th century CE.
While the Irish myths and legends
have much more ancient origins,many of these, too, can be placed
in a historical context. The Ulster
Cycle of myths, which features the
hero Cúchulainn, centers on Emain
Macha, a hill fort near Armagh,
which was a major power center in
the Iron Age (500 BCE–400 CE).
The appeal of the Norse and
Celtic legends, with their tales of
heroes and dragon-slayers, remains
strong in the modern world. They
have inspired many works of art,
music, and literature, from pre-
Raphaelite paintings of Arthurian
tales to Richard Wagner’s The Ring
of the Nibelung operas and J. R. R.
Tol kein’s The Lord of the Rings.Nationalist purpose
While what we know of the Celtic
and Norse myths and legends was
written down during the Middle
Ages, Finland’s mythology was notrecorded until the 19th century.
For most of their recorded history,
the Finnish people were ruled by
outsiders—first the Swedes, then
the Russians—and literacy in the
Finnish language was very limited
until the early 19th century.
Compiling Finnish mythology
and folklore began in the 1820s and
was closely linked to the growth of
Finnish nationalism. Under Russian
rule starting in 1815, the Finns
found their national identity
increasingly threatened by policies
of “Russification” and reacted by
developing distinctively Finnish
schools of art, music, and literature.
One of the greatest achievements
of this cultural movement was Elias
Lönnrot’s Kalevala, which wove
together Finnish myths and
legends to create a defining
national epic for his people. ■NORTHERN EUROPE
CA. 1260 CE
1835 CE
129
Sir Thomas
Malory’s
Le Morte d’Arthur is
published by printer
William Caxton.1485 CE
14 TH CENTURY CE
Revolutions in
Europe fuel nationalism
and revive interest
in Celtic, Norse, and
other myths.1848 CE
US_128-129_Europe_Chapter_3_Intro.indd 129 05/12/17 4:16 pm