Northern Gnois: Thor, Baldr, and the Volsungs in the Thought of Freud and Jung

C.G. Jung regarded psychology to be a modern form of myth. Inspired by this insight, Mogenson’s book examines the writings of Freud and Jung in the light of Norse mythology. Jung’s theory of the archetype is read as a variant of the old stories concerning Thor’s encounters with the giants. Freud’s theories of a death instinct, repetition compulsion, mourning and the ego-ideal are read as a variant to the tale of Baldr’s death. And the fractious relations of Freud, Jung and Sabina Spielrein are seen as reflecting the saga of the Volsungs. Imaginative and scholarly, Northern Gnosis will be valued by the psychoanalytic reader for its fresh appreciation of Freud and Jung as makers of the myths that continue to inform our minds.