Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson (born Hilda Roderick Ellis; 1 October 1914 – 12 January 2006) was an English

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

. She was a scholar at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and

The Folklore Society The Folklore Society (FLS) is a registered charity under English law based in London, England for the study of folklore. Its office is at 50 Fitzroy Street, London home of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. It w ...

, and specialized in the study of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and Germanic religion and folklore. A graduate of

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

, Davidson was a Fellow at

Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge Lucy Cavendish College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1965 as a women's college and since 2021 has admitted both women and men. The college is na ...

, throughout much of her career. She specialized in the interdisciplinary study of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

and

Old Norse religion Old Norse religion, also known as Norse paganism, is a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into distinct branches. It was replaced by Christianity and forgotten ...

and folklore, on which she was the author of numerous influential works. Davidson was a prominent member of The Folklore Society, and played an active role in the growth of

folklore studies Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

as a scientific discipline. Throughout her career, Davidson tutored a significant number of aspiring scholars in her fields of study, and was particularly interested in encouraging gifted women to pursue scholarly careers.

Early life and education

Hilda Ellis Davidson was born in

Bebington Bebington () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Cheshire, it is south of Liverpool, close to the River Mersey on the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsula ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England, on 1 October 1914, the daughter of Henry Roderick (a stationer) and Millie Cheesman Ellis. Davidson received a

First Class Honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

degree in English, archaeology and anthropology from

. She gained both her

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(1939) and

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

(1940) at Newnham. Her PhD

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

was on

. Davidson would eventually become proficient in many languages, including

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

, Norwegian,

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, Danish, Icelandic,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Early career

Davidson began her academic career as an assistant lecturer in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

(1939–1944). Her first book ''The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature'' (1943), published under her maiden name Hilda Ellis, utilized archaeological evidence for the examination of

death in Norse paganism Death in Norse paganism was associated with diverse customs and beliefs that varied with time, location and social group, and did not form a structured, uniform system. After the funeral, the individual could go to a range of afterlives including ...

. This was a pioneering approach, as the study of

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

and

in British academia at the time was strictly concerned with literary and linguistic concerns. Davidson's utilization of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Old Norse religion was to become a strong characteristic of her research. From 1945 to 1955 she was a lecturer in the extramural department at

Birkbeck, University of London Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a Public university, public research university located in London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London. Establ ...

. Although encountering a significant amount of opposition to her attempt at combining archaeological and philological evidence for the study of Old Norse and wider

Germanic religion Germanic religion may refer to: * Germanic paganism Germanic paganism or Germanic religion refers to the traditional, culturally significant religion of the Germanic peoples. With a chronological dating, chronological range of at least one t ...

, Davidson continued with her research. In subsequent years, she published a number of influential works, including ''The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England'' (1962), ''Gods and Myths of Northern Europe'' (1964), ''Pagan Scandinavia'' (1967), and ''Scandinavian Mythology'' (1969). With Peter Gelling, she published ''The Chariot of the Sun'' (1969). During this time, Davidson contributed many papers to scholarly journals, where she often drew on her knowledge of myth, legend and folklore to interpret archaeological finds. She received a research award from the

Leverhulme Trust The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to cover ...

in 1964 for her work in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Return to Cambridge

From 1968 to 1971, Davidson was a Calouste Gulbenkian Research Fellow at

. After 1971 she was Lecturer, and after 1974 Fellow, in

, Norse and

at Lucy Cavendish. She was vice president at Lucy Cavendish from 1975 to 1980. She was deeply involved in the expansion and modernization of Lucy Cavendish. During this time she also published several influential works, including ''The Viking Road to Byzantium'' (1976) and ''The History of the Danes: Saxo Grammaticus'' (1979–1980). At Cambridge Davidson ran the Cambridge Folklore Group, and was known as an active and lively speaker.

Work for The Folklore Society

Davidson had joined

in 1949, and was a member of its council (later Committee) from 1956 to 1986, subsequently becoming an honorary member. As a leading member of the Society, she played an active role in restoring the field of

as a scientific discipline. Davidson was actively involved in encouraging the modernization and democratization of the Society. Notable friends whom she worked with in this regard include Katharine Briggs and Stewart Sanderson. These efforts culminated in the election of Katharine Briggs as president and Venetia Newall as Secretary of the Society in 1967. In the subsequent years, Davidson was publications officer of the society, supervised the newly formed Mistletoe Books series, organized conferences, and edited or co-edited the papers that were produced as a result. Davidson was herself President of the Society from 1974 to 1976, during which the Society prospered. Its constitution was rewritten, and the output of its journal, ''

Folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

'', significantly expanded in both volume and quality. Davidson's efforts to modernize the Society are memorized in her ''Changes in the Folklore Society, 1949–1986'' (1987), which were published originally in ''Folklore''. Apart from her membership in The Folklore Society, Davidson was also a Fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

Later career

In her later career, Davidson was particularly interested in exploring themes and beliefs common in both early Celtic and

Germanic culture Germanic culture is a term referring to the culture of Germanic peoples, and can be used to refer to a range of time periods and nationalities, but is most commonly used in either a historical or contemporary context to denote groups that derive fro ...

. Books produced as a result include ''Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe'' (1988), ''Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe'' (1993), and ''Roles of the Northern Goddesses'' (1998). She received the Coote Lake Medal for Folklore Research in 1984. Davidson helped endow the

Katharine Briggs Folklore Award The Folklore Society (FLS) is a registered charity under English law based in London, England for the study of folklore. Its office is at 50 Fitzroy Street, London home of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. It wa ...

in 1982, which she herself received in 1988 for her ''Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe'' (1988). Davidson also dedicated herself to examining the history of folklore studies itself. In this connection, together with

Carmen Blacker Carmen Blacker Order of the British Empire, OBE Fellow of the British Academy, FBA (13 July 1924 – 13 July 2009) was a British Japanologist. She was a lecturer in Japanese at the University of Cambridge. Life Blacker was born in Kensington in ...

, she edited ''Women and Tradition: A Neglected Group of Folklorists'' (2000). In 1987, Davidson helped found the Katharine Briggs Dining Club. She organized many of its conferences, and edited the papers that were produced as a result, often in cooperation with Blacker and Anna Chaudhri. In 1988 she published a biography of her friend Katharine Briggs. The last of her editorial projects, ''A Companion to the Fairy Tale'' (2003), was conducted in cooperation with Chaudhri.

Personal life

On 27 December 1943, Davidson married Richard Robertson Davidson, a research scientist, with whom she had two children. Davidson was a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

and the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. She was actively involved in church life as a

churchwarden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion, Lutheran Churches or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' mem ...

and

bell-ringer A bell-ringer is a person who rings a Bell (instrument), bell, usually a church bell, by means of a rope or other mechanism. Despite some automation of bells for random swinging, there are still many active bell-ringers in the world, particularl ...

Death and legacy

Davidson died on 12 January 2006. Her funeral was held in

St Bene't's Church St Bene't's Church is a Church of England parish church in central Cambridge, England. Parts of the church, most notably the tower, are Anglo-Saxon, and it is the oldest church in Cambridgeshire as well as the oldest building in Cambridge. Th ...

in Cambridge on 21 January 2006. She was survived by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. At the time of her death, Davidson had for many decades been a highly distinguished scholar in Old Norse religion and mythology. She helped extend both popular and scholarly interest in the fields of Norse, Germanic and

Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed ...

. She played an important role in the post-war revival of folklore studies, and in establishing the study of

British folklore British folklore includes topics such as the region's legends, recipes, and folk beliefs. British folklore includes English folklore, Scottish folklore and Welsh folklore.See discussion in, for example, Chainey 2018: 7-9. See also *Celtic myth ...

as a scientific discipline. Several of her works were translated into multiple languages, including Swedish, Norwegian, Danish,

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. Her efforts to encourage interdisciplinary research combining archaeology, literature, folklore and history was highly important. She was a tutor of a large number of scholars in mythology and folklore, and was particularly devoted to encouraging the scholarly careers of gifted women.. "For many a young scholar Hilda has been, if not quite a goddess, then at least a fairy godmother... Hilda Ellis Davidson is the living proof that for a woman to be successful as an academic she does not have to sacrifice other aspects of her identity."

Selected works

*(1940) ''Eschatology and Manticism in Old Norse Literature''. (Doctoral dissertation). University of Cambridge. *(1941) "Fostering by Giants in Old Norse Sagas", Med. Aev. 10: 70–85. *(1942) "Sigurd in the Art of the Viking Age", Antiquity 16: 216–36. *(1943)
The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature
', Cambridge University Press, "originally part of a thesis accepted in 1940 for the degree of PhD in the University of Cambridge." *(1950) "The Hill of the Dragon" (Anglo-Saxon Burial Mounds), Folklore 61. *(1950) "Gods and Heroes in Stone" In C. Fox and B. Dickens (eds.), ''The Early Cultures of North-West Europe (H.M. Chadwick Memorial Studies)'', 123–9, London. *(1958) ''The Golden Age of Northumbria'', Longmans, volume in the "Then and There Series" *(1958) "Weland the Smith," Folklore 69: 145–59. *(1960) "The Sword at the Wedding" Folklore 71, 1–18. *(1962) ''The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England'', Boydell Press, Woodbridge. *(1963) "Folklore and Man's Past", Folklore, 74: 527–44, London. *(1964) Book Review: Myth and Religion of the North by E. O. G. Turville-Petre. London: Weidenfeld Nicolson (History of Religion), 1964. Antiquity 38: 309–310. *(1964) ''Gods and Myths of Northern Europe'', Penguin Books Ltd, Harmondsworth. (later re-published as ''Gods and Myths of the Viking Age'', Bell Publishing Company, 1980). *(1965) "The Finglesham Man", Sonia Chadwick Hawkes, H.R.E Davidson and C. Hawkes, Antiquity, 39: 17–32. *(1965) "Thor's Hammer", Folklore 76: 1–15. *(1965) "The Significance of the Man in the Horned Helmet", Antiquity 39: 23–7. *(1967) ''Pagan Scandinavia'', (Ancient Peoples and Places 58) London. *(1967) "The Anglo-Saxon Burial at Coombe oodnesborough Kent", Medieval Archeology 11: 1–41 (by H.E. Davidson and L. Webster). *(1969) ''Scandinavian Mythology'', Paul Hamlyn, London. *(1969) ''The Chariot of the Sun and Other Rites and Symbols of the Northern Bronze Age'', by Peter Gelling and H.E. Davidson, Frederick A. Praeger Publishers, New York. *(1969) "The Smith and the Goddess", Frühmittelalterliche Studiern (University of Münster) 3: 216–26. *(1971) ''Beowulf and its Analogues'', by George Norman Garmonsway, Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson, and Jacqueline Simpson; E. P. Dutton. *(1972) "The Battle God of the Vikings", (G.N. Garmonsway Memorial Lecture), University of York, Medieval Monographs I, York. *(1973) "Hostile Magic in the Icelandic Sagas", The Witch Figure, ed. V. Newall (London) 20–41. *(1974) "Folklore and History", Folklore 85. *(1975) "Scandinavian Cosmology" in C. Blacker and M. Loewe's Ancient Cosmologies, 172–97, London. *(1975) "Folklore and Literature", Folklore 86. *(1976) ''The Viking Road to Byzantium'', Allen and Unwin, London. *(1978) Patterns of Folklore, D.S. Brewer Ltd, Ipswich. ppears to reprint earlier articles such as "Thor's Hammer" and "The Sword at the Wedding" also includes an essay on "Lady Godiva" *(1978) "Shape-changing in the Old Norse Sagas" in J.R. Porter's and W.H.S. Russell's Animals in Folklore, 126-42 Folklore Society, Ipswich. *(1978) "Mithras and Wodan", Études Mithraïques 4: 99–110, Acta Iranica, Leiden. *(1979) "Loki and Saxo's Hamlet", The Fool and the Trickster; Studies in Honor of Enid Welsford, ed. P.V.A. Williams (Cambridge) 3–17. *(1979–80) Saxo Grammaticus, ''The History of the Danes, Books I-IX'' eter Fisher Translation Edited with Commentary by H.E. Davidson, Woodbridge: Boydell. * (Date unknown, pre-1980) Author of the article "Hero" in Encyclopædia Britannica. *(1980) "Wit and Eloquence in the Courts of Saxo's Early Kings", "To be published as part of the Saxo Symposium, University of Copenhagen 1979." *(1980) "Insults and Riddles in the Edda Poems", Published in Edda, A Collection of Essays, 25–46, University of Manitoba Icelandic Series 4, 1983. *(1981) "The Restless Dead: An Icelandic Story", in H.E. Davidson and W.M.S. Russell's (eds.) The Folklore of Ghosts, Mistletoe Series 15, London Folklore Society. *(1981) "The Germanic World" in M. Loewe and C. Blacker's Divination and Oracles,115-41, London. *(1984) "The Hero in Tradition and Folklore: Papers Read at a Conference of the Folklore Society Held at Dyffryn House, Cardiff, July 1982" (World Bibliographical Series), Folklore Society Library. *(1984) "The Hero as a Fool: The Northern Hamlet", The Hero in Tradition and Folklore, (ed. H.R.E. Davidson) 30–4, (Mistletoe Books, 19, Folklore Soc.) London, *(1988) ''Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: early Scandinavian and Celtic religions'', Manchester University Press, Manchester. *(1989) ''The Seer in Celtic and Other Traditions'', ed. by Hilda Ellis Davidson, John Donald Publishers, Ltd., Edinburgh, 1989. *(1989) "Hooded men in Celtic and Germanic Tradition" in G. Davies, Polytheistic Systems, Cosmos 5, 105–124. *(1989) "The Training of Warriors" in S. C. Hawkes, Weapons and Warfare in Anglo-Saxon England. *(1990) "Religious Practices of the Northern Peoples in Scandinavian Tradition", Temonos 26:23–24 *(1992) "Human Sacrifice in the Late Pagan Period of North-Western Europe" in M.O.H. Carver's The Age of Sutton Hoo: The Seventh Century in North-Western Europe, 331–40, Woodbridge. *(1992) "Royal Graves as Religious Symbols" in W. Filmer-Sankey's Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archeology and History 5, 23–31, Oxford. * (1993) ''Boundaries and Thresholds: papers from a colloquium of the Katharine Briggs Club'' (editor). *(1993)
The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe
', Routledge, London. *(1993) "The Hair and the Dog", Folklore 104: 151–63 by H. E. Davidson and A. Chaudhri. *(1993) ''The Seer in Celtic and other traditions'' *(1996) ''Katharine Briggs: Story-teller'', Lutterworth Press. *(1996) "Milk and the Northern Goddess" in S. Billington's and M. Green's The Concept of the Goddess, Routledge, New York. his work is a tribute to Davidson *(1998)
Roles of the Northern Goddess
', Routledge, London. *(2001) "The Wild Hunt" in Supernatural Enemies, Edited by H.E. Davidson and Anna Chaudhri. Carolina Academic Press, Durham, N.C. *(2001) ''Women and Tradition'', Hilda Ellis Davidson and Carmen Blacker, Carolina Academic Press, Durham, N.C. *(2003) ''A Companion to the Fairy Tale'', Hilda Ellis Davidson and Anna Chaudhri, Boydell & Brewer Ltd.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Hilda Ellis 1914 births 2006 deaths Academics of Birkbeck, University of London Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Anglo-Saxon studies scholars Celtic studies scholars Germanic studies scholars English Anglicans English editors English women editors English folklorists British women folklorists English non-fiction writers Old Norse studies scholars Fellows of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London People from Bebington People educated at Birkenhead Park School Writers on Germanic paganism Presidents of the Folklore Society