Tree of Salvation Author to Speak at Georgetown in December

For those of you in the Washington D.C. area on Friday, December 6, here's a possible chance to hear Professor G. Ronald Murphy present highlights of his recent book Tree of Salvation: Yggdrasil and the Cross in the North.  This is part of Georgetown's German Department Holiday Party, so I don't know if it's open to the public– but hey, why not email Conor Sinclair at the address provided and ask?  For more info, click here.

Murphy's book Tree of Salvation "shows how the image of Yggdrasil persisted in the Christianity of the Anglo-Scandinavian-Germanic North" and "explores the origins of the uniquely shaped churches of the North, the oldest English poem, Viking grave crosses with pagan mythology, the mystery of the runes' alphabet, the Yule wreath and the Christmas tree."

Runestone of Harald Bluetooth, Jelling, Denmark

Jelling Runestone (replica). Erected by King Harald Bluethooth at Jelling in
Jutland, Denmark, 960-980 AD. This honors his parents who made the Danes Christian.

This deserves an extensive post, which I'll try to get to eventually.  In the meantime, feast your eyes on this colorized replica of the Jelling Runestone erected by King Harald Bluethooth at Jelling in Jutland, Denmark, 960-980 AD.  The crucifixion image is extraordinary!  This is a monument mentioned in the book I'm currently reading, Tree of Salvation: Yggdrasil and the Cross in the North by G. Ronald Murphy.   I can't wait to finish devouring it and start blogging about it!

More to come eventually...

Tree of Salvation: Yggdrasil and the Cross in the North

Tree of Salvation: Yggdrasil and the Cross in the North is a new book written by Father G. Ronald Murphy, Professor of German at Georgetown University.  It sounds fascinating and I can't wait to get my hands on my own personal copy (soon, my friend!).  I'm interested to read the author's angle on the subject since I've never read much about it, but I'm sure that there will be much to learn from it about contextualization (and/or syncretism?) of the Gospel.  The book is available in both a hardcover and Kindle edition.  You can read a short article about the book's content here.