The Golden Bough. A Study in Magic and Religion. Part 3. The Dying God: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Golden Bough. A Study in Magic and Religion. Part 3. The Dying God, credited to James Frazer, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The Golden Bough. A Study in Magic and Religion. Part 3. The Dying God by James Frazer. Read in English by Leon Harvey The fourth volume in Frazer's seminal 12 volume set on anthropology and traditional systems of belief. With this third part of The Golden Bough we take up the question, why had the King of the Wood at Nemi regularly to perish by the hand of his successor? Topics investigated include the practice and intention of human sacrifice, the mortality of gods, the regular killing of divine kings and spirits, and the superstitions surrounding the succession of the soul. - Summary by Leon Harvey

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Golden Bough. A Study in Magic and Religion. Part 3. The Dying God
• Author credits: James Frazer
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 15
• Listed recording duration: 9:29:13

Catalogue topics

• religion
• social science

Track guide

1. 00 - PREFACE — 3:13
2. 01 - I. THE MORTALITY OF THE GODS. — 11:35
3. 02 - II. THE KILLING OF THE DIVINE KING. Part I. PREFERENCE FOR A VIOLENT DEATH. — 10:25
4. 03 - II. PART 2. KINGS KILLED WHEN THEIR STRENGTH FAILS. — 1:09:04
5. 04 - II PART 3. KINGS KILLED AT THE END OF A FIXED TERM. — 26:22
6. 05 - II PART 4. OCTENNIAL TENURE OF THE KINGSHIP — 1:01:55
7. 06 - II PART 5. FUNERAL GAMES. — 55:21
8. 07 - III. THE SLAYING OF THE KING IN LEGEND. — 29:56
9. 08 - IV. THE SUPPLY OF KINGS. — 28:22
10. 09 - V. TEMPORARY KINGS. — 22:34
11. 10 - VI.SACRIFICE OF THE KING'S SON. — 1:08:59
12. 11 - VII. SUCCESSION TO THE SOUL. — 16:18
13. 12 - VIII. PART 1. THE KILLING OF THE TREE SPIRIT. PART 1. — 1:11:33
14. 13 - VIII. PART 2. PART 5. — 1:04:16
15. 14 - NOTE A Chinese Indifference to Death. NOTE B Swinging as a Magical Rite. ADDENDA — 29:20

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.