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Biblical Chaos Dragons – and Indo-European Ones

Wikander, Ola LU (2013) OTSEM-II annual conference 2013
Abstract
One of the instances that have often been suggested as a possible link between Indo-European and biblical traditions and thought constructs is that of the battle against the dragon or sea monster – a special instance of the Chaoskampf motif. Suggestions in this direction have been put forth by Nicolas Wyatt and by Ajoy Kumar Lahiri, who have argued that Semitic traditions concerning the divine battle against aquatic monsters are somehow connected to or dependent upon Indo-European, or specifically Indo-Aryan, traditions of a similar nature. To be sure, the idea of a divine hero battling a serpentine monster is thoroughly ensconced both in the greater Old Testament world and in many ancient Indo-European cultures. In this paper, it is my... (More)
One of the instances that have often been suggested as a possible link between Indo-European and biblical traditions and thought constructs is that of the battle against the dragon or sea monster – a special instance of the Chaoskampf motif. Suggestions in this direction have been put forth by Nicolas Wyatt and by Ajoy Kumar Lahiri, who have argued that Semitic traditions concerning the divine battle against aquatic monsters are somehow connected to or dependent upon Indo-European, or specifically Indo-Aryan, traditions of a similar nature. To be sure, the idea of a divine hero battling a serpentine monster is thoroughly ensconced both in the greater Old Testament world and in many ancient Indo-European cultures. In this paper, it is my purpose to discuss such possible links and evaluate them, and hopefully to add some ideas of my own.



At the conference, the paper was examined and discussed with me by Prof. Terje Stordalen. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
unpublished
subject
keywords
dragon, Leviathan, Rahab, Vrtra, Indra, Illuyanka, Indo-European, Old Testament, Hebrew Bible, Ugarit, Ugaritic, Baal, serpent, Chaoskampf, Enuma Elish, Tiamat, Veda
conference name
OTSEM-II annual conference 2013
conference location
University of Tartu, Estonia
conference dates
2013-09-13 - 2013-09-16
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Centre for Theology and Religious Studies (015017000)
id
9ee80da9-c876-4827-86cb-5a90d6cd1572 (old id 4216098)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 14:22:49
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:19:59
@misc{9ee80da9-c876-4827-86cb-5a90d6cd1572,
  abstract     = {{One of the instances that have often been suggested as a possible link between Indo-European and biblical traditions and thought constructs is that of the battle against the dragon or sea monster – a special instance of the Chaoskampf motif. Suggestions in this direction have been put forth by Nicolas Wyatt and by Ajoy Kumar Lahiri, who have argued that Semitic traditions concerning the divine battle against aquatic monsters are somehow connected to or dependent upon Indo-European, or specifically Indo-Aryan, traditions of a similar nature. To be sure, the idea of a divine hero battling a serpentine monster is thoroughly ensconced both in the greater Old Testament world and in many ancient Indo-European cultures. In this paper, it is my purpose to discuss such possible links and evaluate them, and hopefully to add some ideas of my own.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
At the conference, the paper was examined and discussed with me by Prof. Terje Stordalen.}},
  author       = {{Wikander, Ola}},
  keywords     = {{dragon; Leviathan; Rahab; Vrtra; Indra; Illuyanka; Indo-European; Old Testament; Hebrew Bible; Ugarit; Ugaritic; Baal; serpent; Chaoskampf; Enuma Elish; Tiamat; Veda}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  title        = {{Biblical Chaos Dragons – and Indo-European Ones}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}