This work is Rydberg's finest- an academic compilation of subjects ranging from a treatment of the burning times, and of religious philosophy (dualism, specifically) to short passages on some cryptids of note, to various meanderings through the high ritual magick and alchemy of the era spoken of. Clearly hostile to Catholic lore, Rydberg manages to choke back his disdain of that...
Tomorrow I anticipate finishing a very good academic work entitled "The Magic of the Middle Ages"- it combines some cryptid lore with a short of short story involving an alchemist and mage and a group of Victorian men traveling back in time with black magic. Added to this is an extensive treatment of the burning times especially the cultural and religious effects of the Malleus Maleficarum (the...
"The Book of Werewolves" is a slightly ominously-titled work from the mid 1800s by the somewhat eccentric genius Sabine Baring-Gould. It covers far more than just your typical tales of lycanthropy and delves deeply into berserker (bear-serker) lore, Hindu tradition, and cannibalism among other things, titillating the reader with rather lurid depictions of criminal behavior.
