Creanga De Aur James Frazer Pdf Download
Bernd Manison
Creanga de aur: A Classic Work of Anthropology and Folklore
Creanga de aur (The Golden Bough) is a monumental work by the Scottish scholar James George Frazer (1854-1941), who is widely regarded as one of the founders of modern anthropology and comparative religion. The book explores the myths, rituals, and beliefs of ancient and primitive societies, tracing the origins and evolution of magic, religion, and science. Frazer's main thesis is that human civilization has progressed from a stage of primitive magic, through a stage of religion based on the worship of nature and fertility, to a stage of rational science and philosophy.
The title of the book refers to a branch of mistletoe that, according to the Roman poet Ovid, grew on a sacred oak tree in a grove dedicated to the goddess Diana at Aricia, near Rome. The branch could only be cut by a runaway slave who had to kill the priest-king of the grove, known as the Rex Nemorensis (King of the Wood), in a ritual combat. The slave then became the new priest-king until he was challenged and killed by another contender. Frazer saw this legend as an example of a widespread pattern of myths and rituals related to the death and rebirth of a divine king or a vegetation god, who embodied the fertility and life-force of nature.
Creanga de aur was first published in two volumes in 1890, but Frazer continued to revise and expand it throughout his life. The second edition, in three volumes, appeared in 1900, and the third edition, in twelve volumes, was published between 1911 and 1915. The book was immensely influential and popular, attracting both academic and general readers. It inspired many writers, artists, and thinkers, such as T.S. Eliot, W.B. Yeats, D.H. Lawrence, Robert Graves, Joseph Campbell, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Mircea Eliade, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and Ernest Hemingway.
Creanga de aur is widely available in various editions and translations, but some of them are incomplete or abridged. If you want to read the original and complete version of Frazer's masterpiece in Romanian, you can download the PDF files from the following links:
- [James George Frazer, Creanga de aur, vol. 1 (1980)]
- [James George Frazer, Creanga de aur, vol. 2 (1980)]
These PDF files are scanned copies of the Romanian translation by Octavian Nistor, with notes by Gabriela Duda, published by Editura Minerva in Bucharest in 1980. They are hosted by Academia.edu, a platform for academics to share research papers. You will need to create a free account or log in with your Facebook or Google account to access them.
We hope you enjoy reading Creanga de aur and discovering the fascinating world of anthropology and folklore that Frazer revealed with his erudition and imagination.
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