The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead, Volume 2 (of 3) The Belief Among the Polynesians

About this book

The work is a scholarly survey of Polynesian concepts of immortality and ancestor worship, extending the comparative study begun in Frazer’s earlier Gifford Lectures on Australian, Torres Strait, New Guinea and Melanesian societies. In this second volume, originally delivered as lectures at the Royal Institution (1916) and Trinity College, Cambridge (1921‑22), Frazer abandons the lecture format for a more expansive treatment, though the structure remains chapter‑by‑chapter. The book opens with a detailed preface that situates the Polynesians, spanning New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, the Cook, Society, Marquesas and Hawaiian islands, in their geographic and linguistic context, then proceeds to systematic sections on each group’s beliefs, rites, social organization and funerary customs, each broken into numbered subsections that promise exhaustive coverage of myth, taboo, priesthood and the fate of the soul.

Frazer writes in the measured, prose‑rich style of early‑20th‑century anthropology, blending meticulous citation with a narrative that reflects the era’s comparative‑religion ambition. Readers who appreciate dense, source‑driven analysis of cultural belief systems, especially scholars of anthropology, religious studies, or Pacific history, will find the volume rewarding. Its careful organization, extensive footnotes and focus on ritual detail make it a valuable reference for those investigating how disparate island societies articulate death, afterlife and the veneration of ancestors.