Pilgrimage, Landscape, and Identity

Reviews / Votes

Pilgrimage, Landscape, and Identity provides a welcome international perspective on pilgrimage in Norway, one of the few monographs on this topic published in English. Grau's circumambulation, combined with attention to international geopolitical and social issues, is commendable in its perspective on economic and ecological factors, as well as for including the voices of minorities in the discussions about the developments of pilgrimage networks. * Hannah Kristine Lunde, Folklore * In this impeccably researched and engagingly-written book, Marion Grau introduces readers to a Norwegian 'pilgrimage network' and its ritualizations of text, landscape, practices, and narratives. Grau brings an ecumenical perspective and a cross-disciplinary approach to bear on this rich study of reconstructed medieval pilgrimages, both at their inceptions and today as they continue to play a formative role in personal, national, and religious identity. Grau is an academic, pilgrim, and guide as she maps these paths for the reader in this important contribution to the ever-growing field of pilgrimage studies. * Kathryn R. Barush, Associate Professor and Thomas E. Bertelsen Jr. Chair of Art History and Religion, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley / Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University * There has been a remarkable revival of pilgrimage shrines and routes in post-Reformation countries across Northern Europe. Marion Grau has made an impressive contribution to the growing, inter-disciplinary study of this revival. She guides us gently along the routes to the St. Olav shrine in Trondheim and sets this particular example within the wider context of a changing nation. * John Eade, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Roehampton, London * Interweaving 'circumambulatory field work,' theological reflection, and historical analysis, Grau has produced a richly textured tapestry of various narratives and vividly present landscapes and bodies. This is an impressive exploration of important issues concerning migration, nationalism, sacred and secular rituals, and climate change within the context of a Norwegian pilgrimage. * Sarah M. Pike, author of For the Wild: Ritual and Commitment in Radical Eco-Activism * It is indeed a fine and novel study of pilgrimage in Norway, with interesting nuances and rich source materials. The book is written in an engaging language free of theological jargon, and it is both thought-provoking and interesting. It's well worth the read. * Peder AnkerGallatin, Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture *