Mythologis
The Anglo-Saxon Mythology Book: Woden, Thunor, Beowulf, and the Lost Gods of Pre-Christian England

Anglo-Saxon Mythology

The Anglo-Saxon Mythology Book: Woden, Thunor, Beowulf, and the Lost Gods of Pre-Christian England

The Sacred Stories Before Christianity Buried Them

The mythology of pre-Christian England: Woden's ravens, Thunor's thunder, Beowulf's monsters, and the Wyrd sisters who wove fate. Recovered from Beowulf, royal genealogies, and the grave goods.

150 pagesPDFEnglishMythologis Library

$14.99

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Inside this book

What you will read

  • 11 chapters, primary sources
  • Instant PDF download
  • Original ink illustrations
  • Inline citations to original texts
  • Designed for print quality
See all chapters  +
  1. 01The Migration and the Gods They Brought
  2. 02Woden All-Father: Raven, Spear, and Gallows
  3. 03Thunor, Tiw, and the Warrior Pantheon
  4. 04Frige and the Goddesses of Hearth and Fate
  5. 05The Wyrd Sisters: Fate, Doom, and Necessity
  6. 06Beowulf: The Hero, the Monsters, the Hoard
  7. 07Grendel, His Mother, and the Wyrm
  8. 08The Royal Genealogies and the Divine Ancestors
  9. 09Sutton Hoo: The Ship, the Treasure, the King
  10. 10Conversion: How Christianity Buried the Old Gods
  11. 11What Survived in Place-Names and Folklore

About this book

About this Anglo-Saxon mythology guide

The mythology England forgot: Woden's wolves, Beowulf's wyrm, and the gods buried under church floors.

Before Christianity reached England, the Anglo-Saxons worshipped Woden the All-Father, Thunor the thunder god, Tiw the war god, and Frige the queen of heaven. They feared the Wyrd sisters who spun fate, told stories of Beowulf fighting Grendel and the dragon, and buried their kings with ships and treasure. This mythology survives in fragments: the Beowulf manuscript, the Wessex royal genealogies tracing lineage to Woden, place-names like Wednesbury (Woden's fortress) and Thundersley (Thunor's grove), and the grave goods excavated from Sutton Hoo and the peat bogs.

This book reconstructs the lost cosmology of the English from those fragments. You will meet the gods in their English forms, not their Norse cousins. You will read the monsters and heroes of Beowulf in context with the pagan beliefs that shaped them. You will see how Christianity absorbed, buried, and transformed the old stories.

Delivered as a print-quality PDF within 24 hours of purchase.

What you will discover inside

  • How Woden became Odin: the English god before the Viking invasions
  • Why Beowulf fights three monsters: the pagan structure under the Christian manuscript
  • What the Sutton Hoo ship burial reveals about Anglo-Saxon kingship and the afterlife
  • The Wyrd sisters and the Anglo-Saxon concept of fate before 'weird' meant strange
  • How place-names preserve the lost sacred geography: Wednesbury, Thundersley, Tysoe
  • What survived in folklore after conversion: the Wild Hunt, barrow-wights, and dragon hoards

Anglo-Saxon mythology book at a glance

TraditionAnglo-Saxon mythology
Chapters11 chapters
Length150 pages
SourcesDrawn from the primary sources, cited inline
Reading levelBeginner-friendly. Every name and place is explained from scratch
FormatPrint-quality PDF
DeliveryPDF within 24 hours

Formats and editions

EditionWhat you getPrice
Instant PDFPrint-quality download, readable on any device. PDF within 24 hours.$7.99
PaperbackA paperback edition is on the way. Sign up on this page to hear when it lands on Amazon.Coming soon

About the author

Guillaume Henry, founder of Mythologis

Guillaume Henry

Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Mythologis

Guillaume Henry founded Mythologis to make the world's mythologies readable without losing what makes them strange. Every Mythologis book draws on the primary sources first, cross-references multiple translations, and avoids inventing details that aren't in the originals.

More about the author

Keep exploring Anglo-Saxon mythology

Prefer to read before you buy? These free, fully sourced guides cover the same gods, myths and sources you will meet in the book.

Read the complete Anglo-Saxon mythology guide

Questions about the Anglo-Saxon mythology book

When will I receive my PDF?

Within 24 hours of purchase. Your download link arrives in your inbox automatically.

Is this book based on primary sources?

Yes. The book cites the Beowulf manuscript (Cotton Vitellius A.xv), the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Wessex and Mercian royal genealogies, Bede's Ecclesiastical History, the Nine Herbs Charm and other Old English charms, and the archaeological reports from Sutton Hoo and other burial sites. References to the standard published translations (Heaney, Liuzza, Swanton) are provided so you can read further.

How long is the book?

Eleven chapters, around 150 pages depending on the final layout. Designed to be read in evenings or in one long sitting.

Is this book for beginners or specialists?

Beginners welcome. The book explains every name, place, and concept from scratch. Specialists will find the source citations and translation notes useful for further reading.

Will there be a paperback on Amazon?

The PDF is available immediately. A KDP paperback edition follows once the book has been validated by readers.

Why use the English god-names (Woden, Thunor) instead of the Norse names (Odin, Thor)?

Because this is the mythology of the English before the Viking Age. Woden and Thunor are the forms worshipped in 6th-century Kent and Wessex, not 9th-century Scandinavia. The Norse names came later and often overshadow the earlier English tradition. This book restores the English gods to their original context.

What formats is this book available in?

Every title is available as an instant PDF, downloaded the moment you buy it: the link appears on the confirmation page and lands in your inbox. Selected titles also have a paperback edition on Amazon. Where the paperback is not out yet, you can sign up to be notified the day it does.

What is the return policy?

The PDF is delivered instantly by Mythologis. If a download ever fails or a file looks wrong, get in touch and we will make it right. Paperbacks bought on Amazon are handled under Amazon's own returns and refund policy.

Can I order from outside the United States?

Yes. The PDF is a digital download, so it works instantly anywhere in the world, with nothing to ship. Where a paperback edition exists, it is sold across Amazon's international marketplaces, with shipping rates and delivery times depending on your country.

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