Alphabetic Excavations : Johannes Bureus and the Runic Kabbalah
(2025) Cabala Christiana as a Discursive Space of Transfer In Zutot: Perspectives on Jewish Culture 22(1). p.98-121- Abstract
- Around the turn of the 17th century, the Swedish antiquary and mystic Johannes Bureus (1568–1652) claimed to have discovered the primordial theology and science of his Scandinavian ancestors encoded in their system of writing, the runic alphabet, inspired in large part by earlier Christian interpretations of the Kabbalah. In the leadup to the Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years’ War, he viewed the discovery as the ecumenical solution to the confessional divisions that were rending Europe asunder. This article explores how Bureus’s simultaneously typical and idiosyncratic engagement with the Kabbalah originated, what functions it served in his broader antiquarian program, and how it evolved to adapt to the shifting contours of... (More)
- Around the turn of the 17th century, the Swedish antiquary and mystic Johannes Bureus (1568–1652) claimed to have discovered the primordial theology and science of his Scandinavian ancestors encoded in their system of writing, the runic alphabet, inspired in large part by earlier Christian interpretations of the Kabbalah. In the leadup to the Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years’ War, he viewed the discovery as the ecumenical solution to the confessional divisions that were rending Europe asunder. This article explores how Bureus’s simultaneously typical and idiosyncratic engagement with the Kabbalah originated, what functions it served in his broader antiquarian program, and how it evolved to adapt to the shifting contours of Protestant scholarship in the first half of the 17th century. (Less)
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https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/9585dee2-49c2-4fe1-b7f6-a2c6a626dca5
- author
- Norris, Matthew LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Johannes Bureus, runic alphabet, Kabbalah, history of writing, oriental scholarship, Guillaume Postel, Zoroaster
- in
- Zutot: Perspectives on Jewish Culture
- volume
- 22
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 24 pages
- publisher
- Brill
- conference name
- Cabala Christiana as a Discursive Space of Transfer
- conference location
- Bad Homburg, Germany
- conference dates
- 2023-10-10 - 2023-10-12
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85208039792
- ISSN
- 1571-7283
- DOI
- 10.1163/18750214-02101007
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 9585dee2-49c2-4fe1-b7f6-a2c6a626dca5
- date added to LUP
- 2023-11-14 16:41:01
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 14:00:45
@article{9585dee2-49c2-4fe1-b7f6-a2c6a626dca5,
abstract = {{Around the turn of the 17th century, the Swedish antiquary and mystic Johannes Bureus (1568–1652) claimed to have discovered the primordial theology and science of his Scandinavian ancestors encoded in their system of writing, the runic alphabet, inspired in large part by earlier Christian interpretations of the Kabbalah. In the leadup to the Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years’ War, he viewed the discovery as the ecumenical solution to the confessional divisions that were rending Europe asunder. This article explores how Bureus’s simultaneously typical and idiosyncratic engagement with the Kabbalah originated, what functions it served in his broader antiquarian program, and how it evolved to adapt to the shifting contours of Protestant scholarship in the first half of the 17th century.}},
author = {{Norris, Matthew}},
issn = {{1571-7283}},
keywords = {{Johannes Bureus; runic alphabet; Kabbalah; history of writing; oriental scholarship; Guillaume Postel; Zoroaster}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{98--121}},
publisher = {{Brill}},
series = {{Zutot: Perspectives on Jewish Culture}},
title = {{Alphabetic Excavations : Johannes Bureus and the Runic Kabbalah}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/18750214-02101007}},
doi = {{10.1163/18750214-02101007}},
volume = {{22}},
year = {{2025}},
}