John G.r. Forlong

Encyclopedia of Religions - in Three Volumes, Vol. Iii: N-z John G.r. Forlong

From a decree of Charlemagne in 789 A. C. we see that human sacrifices were still common in his barbarous empire. especially among pagan Saxons. They did not begin to die out till the 9th century. Unable to prevent the sacrifice of cattle at ancient shrines, Gregory I (600 A. C.) instructed his missionaries that these were to be offered up to God and to Christ, at the new churches which often were the old sacred circles... -from "sacrifice" This 1906 classic of comparative literature, hard to find in print today, was the first English-language project to approach the world's religions from an anthropological perspective. The work of thirty years for Scottish author JAMES G. R. FORLONG (1824-1904), it was originally published under the now-antiquated title A Cyclopedia of Religions and produced at the author's own expense, so strongly did he feel about the need for it despite the reluctance of the publishing houses of the day to produce it. A road engineer by trade, Forlong traveled the world, learning seven languages and becoming an avid amateur student of native culture-his labor of love was gathering, in this three-volume set, a comprehensive, academic knowledge of the totality of human religious belief. Volume III: N-Z includes entries on such gods, peoples, places, practices, symbols, and concepts as: ? Na'aman, naga, oaths, and Odin ? pagoda, Pantheism, and Quakers ? Ra, runes, Shin-to, and Sophists ? talisman, Tertullian, unicorn, and Upanishads ? vana, wells, Yggdrasil, and Zeus ? and much more.