Nordic Terrors

In late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century British literature, Scandinavia emerged as a place where Gothic terror took place. This book explores the extensive use of Nordic superstition in providing a vocabulary for Gothic texts as well as the cultural significance it had for writers attempting to understand Britain’s northern roots. In Gothic publications, Nordic superstition sometimes parallels the representations of Catholicism, allowing writers to gloat at its phantasms and delusions. Thus, the casting of runes, runic spells and incantations, and necromantic communications (of which Norse tradition afforded many examples) could replace practices usually assigned to Catholic superstition. In terms of its cultural importance, however, Nordic lore did more than just fill in for hackneyed Gothic formulas. It is a key argument in the book that Nordic superstition presented less of an abject “Other.” Nordic texts (primarily excerpts from the Edda and supernatural Scandinavian ballads) were seen as examples of the pre-Christian beliefs of what was known as the “Gothic” (i.e., Germanic) peoples, which included the Anglo-Saxons. The book will trace the development of what can be called “Gothic Gothicism” and situate this mode of writing in its wider literary, historical, political, and cultural contexts.
A central context to be explored in the book is the prolonged conflict between Celtic and Germanic heritage in the British Isles. The interventions of critics like Hugh Blair, John Pinkerton, and Thomas Percy are important for understanding the role Norse tradition came to play in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Among supporters of the “Gothic”/Germanic past, the Norse ancestors’ proud confrontation with primeval fears was hailed as a testament to the bravery and boldness of the race. In turn, the terror discovered in Norse tradition was made to do cultural work as an ethno-political intervention in favor of Anglo-Saxon heritage in Britain.
Another context for the Nordic imaginary is the commercial book market. British writers often teetered between approaching Nordic superstition with genuine antiquarian interest and exploiting it for the shock effects it afforded. With respect to the dual investment in Nordic material, a central focus will be the Danish ballad material included in Matthew Gregory Lewis’s The Monk and his Tales of Wonder. Other writers to be discussed include Thomas Gray, Walter Scott, Thomas James Mathias, William Wordsworth, Anna Seward, and Ann Radcliffe. The book will also introduce readers to lesser-known authors as well as examples of other novels.

In late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century British literature, Scandinavia emerged as a place where Gothic terror took place. This book explores the extensive use of Nordic superstition in providing a vocabulary for Gothic texts as well as the cultural significance it had for writers attempting to understand Britain’s northern roots. In Gothic publications, Nordic superstition sometimes parallels the representations of Catholicism, allowing writers to gloat at its phantasms and delusions. Thus, the casting of runes, runic spells and incantations, and necromantic communications (of which Norse tradition afforded many examples) could replace practices usually assigned to Catholic superstition. On terms of its cultural importance, however, Nordic lore did more than just fill in for hackneyed Gothic formulas. It is a key argument in the book that Nordic superstition presented less of an abject “Other.” Nordic texts (primarily excerpts from the Edda and supernatural Scandinavian ballads) were seen as examples of the pre-Christian beliefs of what was known as the “Gothic” (i.e., Germanic) peoples, which included the Anglo-Saxons. The book will trace the development of what can be called “Gothic Gothicism” and situate this mode of writing in its wider literary, historical, political, and cultural contexts.

Robert W. Rix is Director of Research at the University of Copenhagen. He is widely known for his prolific publication profile in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century studies.