After the Second World War, the question of the religious character of Germanic kingship was no longer prominent - not least because previously excessively hybrid views had been developed on the existence of a Germanic religious kingship. Now that in the meantime important insights have been gained into the practical exercise of power in the early kingdoms, it is time to enquire again into their ideological and religious foundations. The multiple perspectives developed in these papers lead to new insights which differ distinctly from earlier understandings of the early kingdoms. Above all, weight is added to the doubts about the existence of Germanic religious kingship.

Zusammenfassung

"Dieser sehr schöne Band mit seinen vielfältigen Ansätzen ist geradezu eine Aufforderung an die Zukunft, verschiedene Frage noch stärker interdisziplinär zu untersuchen."
Jürgen Strothmann in: Das Mittelalter 2/2006