Product Description

Book Description:

"This companion book to Donnelly's Atlantis, the Antediluvian World, published one year later, is less well known today. Ragnarok is out of print except through specialty print-on-demand publishers, while Atlantis, the Antediluvian World is in print and fairly easy to obtain. Ragnarok, The Age of Fire and Gravel, proposes that a comet impacted the Earth several tens of thousands of years ago; the impact produced the 'Drift' layers of gravel which have been attributed to the Ice ages; this event destroyed a civilization which had high technology, a civilization which vanished completely except for some myths; the disaster was accompanied by catastrophic fire followed by years-long cloud cover and extreme cold. Humanity survived only by hiding in deep caves; when they re-emerged they had to restart civilization from scratch. Donnelly provides extensive geological, archeological, astronomical and mythological evidence for this theory. The book is not academic and often sensationalistic, but his populist style does not seem to detract from the argument.

Today, mass extinction from cometary impact is considered mainstream science, supported by a huge body of physical evidence. In Donnelly's time it was unknown that cometary or asteroid impacts had even occurred on this planet. There was very little knowledge of the structure or nature of comets. Today, we have sent probes into Halleys' comet, landed a probe on an asteroid, and witnessed the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy on Jupiter. We also have extensive data about impact craters on the Earth, Moon, Mars and other planets and moons. The impact event which wiped out the dinosaurs has been validated by a layer of iridium, an otherwise rare element, which appears in the strata in the layer just above the dinosaurs, and a recently discovered impact crater in the Yucatan. There have also been other mass extinctions in the geological past, for instance the Permian extinction before the age of the dinosaurs which also wiped out nearly all life on earth. This growing knowledge of the risk of impact events to our civilization was popularized recently in a pair of big-budget disaster movies: Deep Impact and Armageddon. However, the theory that such an event occurred in the recent geological or even historical past is still considered speculative." (Quote from sacred-texts.com)

Table of Contents:

Publisher’s Preface; The Drift; The Characteristics Of The Drift.; The Origin Of The Drift Not Known.; The Action Of Waves.; Was It Caused By Icebergs?; Was It Caused By Glaciers?; Was It Caused By Continental Ice-sheets?; The Drift A Gigantic Catastrophe.; Great Heat A Prerequisite.; The Comet.; A Comet Caused The Drift.; What Is A Comet?; Could A Comet Strike The Earth?; The Consequences To The Earth.; The Legends; The Nature Of Myths.; Did Man Exist Before The Drift?; Legends Of The Coming Of The Comet.; Ragnarok; The Conflagration Of PhaËton; Other Legends Of The Conflagration.; Legends Of The Cave-life.; Legends Of The Age Of Darkness.; The Triumph Of The Sun.; The Fall Of The Clay And Gravel.; The Arabian Myths.; The Book Of Job.; Genesis Read By The Light Of The Comet.; Conclusions; Was Pre-glacial Man Civilized?; The Scene Of Man's Survival; The Bridge.; Objections Considered.; Biela's Comet.; The Universal Belief Of Mankind.; The Earth Struck By Comets Many Times.; The After-word.; Endnotes

About the Publisher:

Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, Esoteric and Mythology. www.forgottenbooks.org

Forgotten Books is about sharing information, not about making money. All books are priced at wholesale prices. We are also the only publisher we know of to print in large sans-serif font, which is proven to make the text easier to read and put less strain on your eyes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3171545 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-16
• Released on: 2007-11-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 401 pages

From the Publisher
Kessinger Publishing reprints over 1,500 similar titles all available through Amazon.com.

About the Author
About the Author:

"Ignatius Donnelly, an Irish writer, lawyer, and politician is remembered primarily for his extensive work on Atlantis. Donnelly's theories are the basis for much of the Atlantis belief today, including the placement and timing of the Atlantis disaster.

Although he was a native of Philadelphia, and practiced law there for a few years, Donnelly decided to explore new territory in the hopes of creating the ultimate utopia. In 1856 he and his wife, Katherine, left Pennsylvania for Minnesota, and with the help of a handful of partners created a mini-utopia in Nininger City, seventeen miles south of St. Paul. This cooperative farm failed after the real estate crash of 1857, but its failure ushered in Donnelly's political career." (Quote from kenyon.edu)

Customer Reviews

How much do we realy know?
Ignatius Donnelly was a 19th century populist and freethinker whose books on Atlantis were groundbreakers--in fact the first serious look at the possibility of an antideluvian continent of high culture that existed in the mid-Atlantic.

Despite some flaws not fully proven Donnelly does manage to bring up a number of questions of the revisionist variety that later researchers have used in research in the ensuing 100 years.

Ragnarok also avoids a lot of the "channelling" and new age gobbledegook so familiar with fans of the genre. Highly recommended as an introduction.

The Origin of Cataclysmic Legends
Ignatius Donnelly was born in 1831 Philadelphia and became a lawyer in 1852. Married in 1855, they moved to Minnesota. When Minnesota became a state in 1857 Donnelly was elected lieutenant governor. In 1862 he was elected to Congress for three terms. He campaigned for Greenback policies and served in the state senate. Donnelly wrote "Atlantis" and "Ragnarok" which became sensational best sellers and made him wealthy. "The Great Cryptogram" analyzed Shakespeare's plays to prove they were written by Francis Bacon. Two novels dealt with a fascist takeover of America "Caesar's Column", and racial intolerance "Dr. Huguet". In 1887 he became a founder of the Populist Party, and was nominated for Vice-President in 1898. He died in Minneapolis on 1/1/1901. His politics, oratory, and literature marked his originality and talents; his writings are now out of fashion.

Donnelly studied the legends and mythologies of Hindus, Persians, Britons, Chinese, Greeks, Scandinavians, the North, Central, and South American Indians, Arabians, Babylonians, and Egyptians that told of disaster by fire, hail, frost, darkness, changes in climates, and tales of dragons and other monsters. Donnelly claimed these reflected a visit from a giant comet, and the proof lay in The Drift of unstratified deposits which came from a cometic collision rather than glacial movement. Donnelly suggested a comet could have caused Old Testament events such as the destruction of the wicked cities, the sun standing still, and stones falling from the heavens. Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods (or Rain of Rocks), commanded the interest of general readers, and the admiration (if not credence) of the scientific world. Donnelly, a good lawyer, argued his case well with all the evidence available to him at the time. Decades later Immanuel Velikovsky would publish his version of this theory.

The surface of our planet consists of layers of sand, clay, and gravel (over stratified rock). It contains no trace of fossils. The pre-glacial world saw tropical plants growing near the Arctic Circle in Miocene times. Herds of elephants and other animals lived in Europe. Donnelly says a sudden cataclysm brought severe cold, and left deposits of sand, clay, and gravel; fissures were created in earth's crust. He explains why this was caused by a comet striking earth, the heat vaporizing the seas to create clouds, rain, and snow. Rocks on the surface would be smashed and crushed. This collision was preserved in the legends of mankind. The Great Lakes suggest points of impact. Vast clouds, and debris in the sky, would create a "nuclear winter".

Donnelly says myths and legends are ultimately based on some fact. Finding the same legends among different nations suggests a common experience in prehistoric times. These myths of a cataclysm imply the existence of mankind; they are in accord with the facts known to science and from deep excavations. The legends coincide in this: a monster in the air; the heat; the fire; the cave-life; the darkness; the return of light. Donnelly respectfully suggests the Book of Job is the oldest in the Bible, and gives a new viewpoint to the beginning of Genesis.

Donnelly answers objections in Part IV Chapter IV. The position of certain constellations in Job estimates this time as 30,000 years ago. Donnelly suggests the fire that seemed to drop out of the heavens and set a number of fires in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois on October 8, 1871 was the result of Bielas' comet. There is a universal feeling that regards comets with fear; Revelation (chapter xii, v.3) is a symbol of a comet brushing the earth. Why would God permit such a calamity? Perhaps what was destroyed was not worth preserving? It could be God's plan to punish the wicked of this world, says Donnelly.

The Origin of Cataclysmic Legends
Ignatius Donnelly was born in 1831 Philadelphia and became a lawyer in 1852. Married in 1855, they moved to Minnesota. When Minnesota became a state in 1857 Donnelly was elected lieutenant governor. In 1862 he was elected to Congress for three terms. He campaigned for Greenback policies and served in the state senate. Donnelly wrote "Atlantis" and "Ragnarok" which became sensational best sellers and made him wealthy. "The Great Cryptogram" analyzed Shakespeare's plays to prove they were written by Francis Bacon. Two novels dealt with a fascist takeover of America "Caesar's Column", and racial intolerance "Dr. Huguet". In 1887 he became a founder of the Populist Party, and was nominated for Vice-President in 1898. He died in Minneapolis on 1/1/1901. His politics, oratory, and literature marked his originality and talents; his writings are now out of fashion.

Donnelly studied the legends and mythologies of Hindus, Persians, Britons, Chinese, Greeks, Scandinavians, the North, Central, and South American Indians, Arabians, Babylonians, and Egyptians that told of disaster by fire, hail, frost, darkness, changes in climates, and tales of dragons and other monsters. Donnelly claimed these reflected a visit from a giant comet, and the proof lay in The Drift of unstratified deposits which came from a cometic collision rather than glacial movement. Donnelly suggested a comet could have caused Old Testament events such as the destruction of the wicked cities, the sun standing still, and stones falling from the heavens. Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods (or Rain of Rocks), commanded the interest of general readers, and the admiration (if not credence) of the scientific world. Donnelly, a good lawyer, argued his case well with all the evidence available to him at the time. Decades later Immanuel Velikovsky would publish his version of this theory.

The surface of our planet consists of layers of sand, clay, and gravel (over stratified rock). It contains no trace of fossils. The pre-glacial world saw tropical plants growing near the Arctic Circle in Miocene times. Herds of elephants and other animals lived in Europe. Donnelly says a sudden cataclysm brought severe cold, and left deposits of sand, clay, and gravel; fissures were created in earth's crust. He explains why this was caused by a comet striking earth, the heat vaporizing the seas to create clouds, rain, and snow. Rocks on the surface would be smashed and crushed. This collision was preserved in the legends of mankind. The Great Lakes suggest points of impact. Vast clouds, and debris in the sky, would create a "nuclear winter".

Donnelly says myths and legends are ultimately based on some fact. Finding the same legends among different nations suggests a common experience in prehistoric times. These myths of a cataclysm imply the existence of mankind; they are in accord with the facts known to science and from deep excavations. The legends coincide in this: a monster in the air; the heat; the fire; the cave-life; the darkness; the return of light. Donnelly respectfully suggests the Book of Job is the oldest in the Bible, and gives a new viewpoint to the beginning of Genesis.

Donnelly answers objections in Part IV Chapter IV. The position of certain constellations in Job estimates this time as 30,000 years ago. Donnelly suggests the fire that seemed to drop out of the heavens and set a number of fires in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois on October 8, 1871 was the result of Bielas' comet. There is a universal feeling that regards comets with fear; Revelation (chapter xii, v.3) is a symbol of a comet brushing the earth. Why would God permit such a calamity? Perhaps what was destroyed was not worth preserving? It could be God's plan to punish the wicked of this world, says Donnelly.