The Primeval Antiquities of Denmark

Abstract

The antiquarian William J. Thoms (1803–85) is probably best remembered today for founding the journal Notes and Queries and for having coined the term 'folk lore'. He undertook the translation of this work by the Danish archaeologist Jens Worsaae (1821–85) because he felt (as Worsaae says himself) that 'the primeval national antiquities of the British islands have never hitherto been brought into a scientific arrangement'. Believing that this had arisen partly because of the difficulty of distinguishing between some of the many different cultures in Britain's past, Thoms also felt that British interpretations of finds were too frequently beset by 'fanciful theories'. Cultural ties between Britain and Denmark during the Dark Ages meant that finds in Denmark could illuminate British discoveries, and vice versa: Worsaae's work could therefore guide future excavations in Britain. Highly influential and illustrated with woodcuts, this translation first appeared in 1849.

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