Stig Axel Folke Ström (15 October 1907 – 20 January 1996) was a Swedish religious studies scholar who specialized in the study of

Germanic religion Germanic religion may refer to: * Germanic paganism Germanic paganism or Germanic religion refers to the traditional, culturally significant religion of the Germanic peoples. With a chronological dating, chronological range of at least one t ...

Biography

Folke Ström was born in

Eskilstuna Eskilstuna () is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 69,948 inhabitants in 2020, with a total population of 107,806 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality ...

, Sweden on 15 October 1907. the son of politician Fredrik Ström and author Tua Ström. He grew up in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. After graduating from high school, Ström studied ethnography,

Nordic languages The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...

and religious history at

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

. Among his teachers were

Elias Wessén Elias Wessén (15 April 1889 – 30 January 1981) was a prominent Swedish linguist and a professor of Scandinavian languages at Stockholm University (1928–1956). In 1947, he was honoured with seat 16 in the Swedish Academy, which he held until h ...

, Tor Andræ and . He gained his

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in 1936, and his Ph.D. in 1942. His doctoral thesis, ''On the Sacred Origin of the Germanic Death Penalties'' (1942). Ström's thesis was praised upon publication, and he was appointed a

docent The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...

at Stockholm University in 1943. He was offered the position of professor at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

in 1943, but decided to continue his work at Stockholm. Since 1948, Ström was docent at the

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg () is a List of universities in Sweden, university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current List of universities in Sweden#Public universities, S ...

. Ström specialized in the study of

, particularly

Old Norse religion Old Norse religion, also known as Norse paganism, is a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into distinct branches. It was replaced by Christianity and forgotten ...

. He wrote numerous influential studies on this subjects. Ström retired in 1972. Ström died in Gothenburg, Sweden on 20 January 1996.

Selected works

* ''On the Sacral Origin of the Germanic Death Penalties'', 1942 * ''Den döendes makt och Odin i trädet'', 1947 * ''Den egna kraftens män. En studie i forntida irreligiositet'', 1948 * ''Diser, nornor, valkyrjor. Fruktbarhetskult och sakralt kungadöme i Norden'', 1954 * ''Loki. Ein mythologisches problem'', 1956 * ''Nordisk hedendom: tro och sed i förkristen tid'', 1961

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ström, Folke 1907 births 1996 deaths Germanic studies scholars Academic staff of Lund University Old Norse studies scholars Stockholm University alumni Academic staff of Stockholm University Writers on Germanic paganism Members of the Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy People from Eskilstuna

Biography

Selected works

See also

Sources