Beowulf's Ecstatic Trance Magic

Nicholas E. Brink’s Beowulf’s Ecstatic Trance Magic examines the Old English epic Beowulf through the lens of ritual posture, altered consciousness, and ecstatic practice. Drawing on comparative mythology and the work of anthropologist Felicitas Goodman, the book proposes that figures and scenes preserved in ancient art can encode instructions for bodily positions associated with visionary or trance experiences.

The study connects the poem’s legendary world with Germanic religious symbolism, heroic identity, transformation, and the relationship between physical form and spiritual experience. It is intended for readers interested in Beowulf, Anglo-Saxon and Germanic traditions, shamanic studies, mythology, esotericism, and embodied approaches to ancient texts. The edition includes internal artwork and presents the subject as an interdisciplinary exploration rather than a conventional literary retelling.