James George Frazer
Scottish anthropologist whose The Golden Bough synthesized comparative mythology, religion, and ritual into a vast study of primitive thought. Its influence on literature—Eliot, Yeats, Lawrence—was immense. Though his methods are now considered outdated, it remains a monument of 19th-century scholarship.
Works
- The Golden BoughComparative study of magic rituals and religious beliefs across cultures
- Totemism and ExogamyAnthropological investigation of kinship systems and tribal social organization
- The Fear of the Dead
- Myths of the Origin of FireAnthropological analysis of fire origin myths across diverse human cultures
- The Worship of NatureStudy of nature veneration and sacred beliefs in primitive and traditional cultures