TY  - BOOK
AU  - Frazer,James George
TI  - Balder the Beautiful, Volume I.: A Study in Magic and Religion: the Golden Bough, Part VII., The Fire-Festivals of Europe and the Doctrine of the External Soul
AV  - BL 
PY  - 2004///
CY  - Salt Lake City, UT
PB  - Project Gutenberg
KW  - Religion
KW  - Magic
KW  - Superstition
KW  - Mythology
N1  - Release date is 2004-05-01; Produced by Million Book Project, David King, and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team; Original publication data not identified
N2  - "Balder the Beautiful, Volume I" by James George Frazer is a scholarly study on mythology and anthropology written in the early 20th century. The work examines the myth of Balder, the Norse god, and its associations with fire-festivals and the concept of the external soul in various cultures. Frazer provides an extensive inquiry into ancient rituals, drawing parallels between different mythological traditions and their symbolic meanings.  The opening of the volume serves as a preface to the broader inquiry that follows. Frazer presents a foundational question regarding the priest of Aricia and his connection to the Golden Bough, linking it to the Norse god Balder, who famously meets his demise by mistletoe. He elaborates on the significance of sacred kingship and taboo, detailing various cultural practices, such as restrictions placed on divine beings and the symbolic importance of fire in rituals aimed at purification or renewal. The text sets the stage for a detailed exploration of ancient customs and beliefs that reflect humanity's evolving thought processes. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
UR  - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12261
ER  -