John Frederick Lindow (born July 23, 1946) is an American philologist who is Professor Emeritus of
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 ...
and
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 ...
at
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
. He is a well known authority on
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
literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
.
Biography
John Lindow was born in
Washington, D.C., on July 23, 1946, the son of Wesley Lindow and Eleanor Niemetta. His father was a banker and his mother was a teacher.
John Lindow received his undergraduate degree at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, where he gained an
A.B., ''
magna cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
'', in 1968, and a
PhD in 1972, both in
Germanic Languages
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Southern Africa. The most widely spoke ...
and
Literatures.
After gaining his Ph.D, Lindow joined the faculty at
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, serving as Acting Assistant Professor (1972–1974), Assistant Professor (1974–1977), Associate Professor (1977–1983), and Professor of Scandinavian (1983-?). He was since retired as
Professor Emeritus
''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus".
...
of
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 ...
and
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 ...
.
In 1977, Lindow was elected as a corresponding member of the
Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy. In 2018, he received the Knight's Cross of the
Order of the Falcon at the Icelandic president's residence for scholarly contributions in the area of Icelandic medieval literature. He is also a member of the
American Folklore Society, the
Medieval Academy of America and the
Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study.
Research
Lindow specializes in the study of
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
literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
. He is also an expert on
Scandinavian folklore,
Sami
Acronyms
* SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft
* Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company
* South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...
and
Finnish mythology, and
Inuit religion. Lindow's ''Handbook of Norse mythology'' was published in 2001. He is the co-editor of the forthcoming ''Pre-Christian Religions of the North: History and Structures'', which is to be published in four volumes by
Brepols
Brepols is a Belgian publishing house. Once, it was one of the largest printing companies in the world and one of the main employers in Turnhout (Belgium). Besides its printing business, Brepols is also active as a publisher. Formerly well known ...
, and the forthcoming ''Old Norse Mythology'', which is to be published by
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
.
Personal life
Lindow married Katharine Forbes, a teacher, on October 4, 1968, with whom he has two daughters.
Selected publications
* Lindow, John (1976) Comitatus, individual and honor: Studies in north Germanic institutional vocabulary, University of California Press
* Lindow, John (1978) Swedish legends and folktales, Berkeley: University of California Press
* ''Myths and Legends of the Vikings'', Bellerophon Books, 1980.
* ''Viking Ships'', Belerophon Books, 1982.
* ''Scandinavian Mythology: An Annotated Bibliography'', Garland Press, 1984.
* (Editor with Carol J. Clover) ''Old Norse-Icelandic Literature: A Critical Guide'', Cornell University Press (Ithaca, NY), 1985, University of Toronto Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2005.
* (Editor with Lars Lonnroth and Gerd Wolfgang Weber) ''Structure and Meaning in Old Norse Literature: New Approaches to Textual Analysis and Literary Criticism'', Odense University Press (Odense), 1986.
* Lindow, John (1997) Murder Vengeance among the Gods: Baldr in Scandinavian Mythology, Helsinki : Suomalainen tiedeakatemia, Academia Scientiarum Fennica
* (Editor with Carl Lindahl and John McNamara) ''Medieval Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Myths, Legends, Tales, Beliefs, and Customs'', ABC-CLIO, 2000.
* Lindow, John (2001) Handbook of Norse mythology, Santa Barbara, Calif. also published as Lindow, John (2001).
Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs'.
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
. .
[Lindow (2001:Rear flap).]
* Lindow, John (2014) ''Trolls: An Unnatural History''. London: Reaction Books
[
O’Donoghue, Heather (2014) From folk tales to internet pests - Review of John Lindow TROLLS An unnatural history, ''Times Literary Review'' 19 November 2014]
See also
*
Rudolf Simek
*
Gabriel Turville-Petre
*
Hilda Ellis Davidson
*
Georges Dumézil
*
Edgar C. Polomé
*
Andy Orchard
References
Sources
*
External links
University of California: Berkeley: John Lindow (Accessed Jan 2011)
1946 births
Living people
American folklorists
American philologists
Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America
Germanic studies scholars
Harvard University alumni
Knights of the Order of the Falcon
Old Norse studies scholars
People from Washington, D.C.
Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study
Writers on Germanic paganism
University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty
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