John Frederick Lindow (born July 23, 1946) is an American philologist who is Professor Emeritus of Old Norse and Folklore at University of California, Berkeley. He is a well known authority on Old Norse religion and literature.

Biography

John Lindow was born in Washington, D.C., on July 23, 1946, the son of Wesley Lindow and Eleanor Niemetta. His father was a banker and his mother was a teacher. John Lindow received his undergraduate degree at Harvard University, where he gained an A.B., magna cum laude, in 1968, and a PhD in 1972, both in Germanic Languages and Literatures. After gaining his Ph.D, Lindow joined the faculty at University of California, Berkeley, serving as Acting Assistant Professor (1972–1974), Assistant Professor (1974–1977), Associate Professor (1977–1983), and Professor of Scandinavian (1983-?). He was since retired as Professor Emeritus of Old Norse and Folklore. In 1977, Lindow was elected as a corresponding member of the Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy. In 2018, he received the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Falcon at the Icelandic president's residence for scholarly contributions in the area of Icelandic medieval literature. He is also a member of the American Folklore Society, the Medieval Academy of America and the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study.

Research

Lindow specializes in the study of Old Norse religion and literature. He is also an expert on Scandinavian folklore, Sami and Finnish mythology, and Inuit religion. Lindow's Handbook of Norse mythology was published in 2001. He is the co-editor of the forthcoming Pre-Christian Religions of the North: History and Structures, which is to be published in four volumes by Brepols, and the forthcoming Old Norse Mythology, which is to be published by Oxford University Press.

Personal life

Lindow married Katharine Forbes, a teacher, on October 4, 1968, with whom he has two daughters.

Selected publications

Sources