A Razor for a Goat : : Problems in the History of Witchcraft and Diabolism / / Elliot Rose.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Toronto Press eBook-Package Archive 1933-1999
• VerfasserIn: Rose, Elliot,
• MitwirkendeR: Kieckhefer, Richard,
• TeilnehmendeR: Kieckhefer, Richard.
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2016]; ©1989
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (272 p.)

First published in 1962, Elliot Rose's A Razor for a Goat is a study of witchcraft as a religion, whether the religion was a form of pagan survival or a depraved Christian (or anti-Christian) heresy. Rose surveyed witch-scares, fairy folklore, 'ritual' deaths, the Canon Episcopi, and goliards for evidence for witchcraft, and to make some suggestions about the reality behind the popular beliefs on witchcraft societies and Sabbats. One of the first studies to debunk the dominant theory of the time that witchcraft had been an organized pre-Christian religion, A Razor for a Goat is listed on many anthropology, religion, and history course bibliographies.This reprint has a ten-page foreword by Richard Kieckhefer that gives a historiographical examination of the importance of this book, and situates it within the discipline today. Closely reasoned, and written with a rare wit, A Razor for a Goat is a classic study and excellent survey of the literature and history of witchcraft.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Which Witch Is Which? -- 2. Light from the Obscure Men -- 3. Dianus versus Diabolus -- 4. 1066 and All That -- 5. Divinity That Doth Hedge -- 6. A Hunt for a Huntress -- 7. What Song the Syrens Sang -- 8. The Gargoyles of Notre Dame -- 9. The Powers of Darkness -- 10. A Tell-tale in Their Company -- Appendixes -- Bibliography -- Index