From a modern point of view, the four volumes of the Atlantica of Olaus Rudbeck the elder (1630-1702) seem to be not only the climax of Gothicism, but a key example of an early modern polymath. In Odins Imperium Bernd Roling reconstructs Rudbeck’s immense influence at Scandinavian universities, the debates he provoked, his manifold reception in early modern academic culture and the role Rudbeckianism played as paradigm of science until the Swedish romanticism of the 19th century. Taking into account all branches of science, Bernd Roling illustrates in detail Rudbeck’s majestic impact on antiquarianism, national mythology, and also on religious sciences and linguistics, but also documents the massive criticism the scholar from Uppsala received almost immediately.

See inside the book.