Dear Ingegerd,
>It is partially the ease with which, for instance, Mary, and, I assume, >the
saints, incorporate such old ideas and beliefs that makes me wonder >how
different Christianity really felt for ordinary people.
Here, as elsewhere on this string, I've felt my memory nudged re the
historical novels of Sigrid Undset. It's been a few decades, but I
believe that she treats such questions in a manner which, though not
"scholarly" and didactic (being woven integrally into her narrative and
characters), is nonetheless profound. Nothing that you could "cite" in a
scholarly article perhaps, but perhaps there are insights to be had from this
unlikely source.
More a matter of images than of "facts", but the memory of the scene wherein
one of the "nobles" on his farmstead is engaged in the carving of a doorway
for his house (in "Master of Hestviken"?) is quite vivid.
For the record, I believe that her father was an archeologist; and, in
any case, her knowledge of the period of which she writes (13-14th c?)
was not at all superficial. Plus, her psychological insights made her a
favorite of Carl Jung, if I'm not mistaken.
Best from here,
Christopher
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