In late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century British literature, Scandinavia emerged as a setting for Gothic terror. This book explores the extensive use of Nordic superstition as it provided a vocabulary for Gothic texts, examining the cultural significance these references held for writers exploring Britain’s northern heritage. In Gothic publications, Nordic superstition sometimes parallels the representations of Catholicism, allowing writers to gloat at its phantasms and delusions. Thus, runic spells, incantations, and necromantic communications (of which Norse tradition afforded many examples) could replace practices usually assigned to Catholic superstition. Yet Nordic lore did more than merely supplant hackneyed Gothic formulas; it presented readers with an alternative conception of ‘Otherness’. Nordic texts—chiefly based on the Edda and the supernatural Scandinavian ballad tradition—were seen as pre-Christian beliefs of the Gothic (i.e., Germanic) peoples, including the Anglo-Saxons. The book traces the development of this Nordic Gothic, situating it within wider literary, historical, political, and cultural contexts.

A significant context explored in the book is the conflict between the respective supporters of Celtic and Germanic heritage in the British Isles. The critical interventions of the Hugh Blair, John Pinkerton, Thomas Percy and others are important for understanding the role Norse tradition came to play. Among supporters of the Gothic/Germanic past, the Norse ancestors’ undaunted confrontation with fear 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 favour 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 is the Danish ballad material included in Matthew Gregory Lewis’ The Monk and his Tales of Wonder. Other writers who are discussed include Thomas Gray, Thomas James Mathias, William Wordsworth, Anna Seward, Walter Scott, and Ann Radcliffe. The book will also introduce readers to lesser-known authors.

Robert W. Rix is Professor and Director of Research at the University of Copenhagen. He is widely known for his numerous publications on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature and culture.

Anthem Studies in Gothic Literature

Introduction ; Chapter 1: Discovering Britain’s “Gothic” Past; Chapter 2: Ballads across Borders: Terrors, Translations, Travesties; Chapter 3: Norse Pasts and British Presents; Conclusion