Hello everyone! A kind soul on /r/Norse redirected me to this sub. It looks like there's a lot of passionate souls here, so hopefully you'll be able to give me a push in the right direction :-)

I write to you in hopes of that you'd be willing to provide me with a spark of inspiration. I have an upcoming bachelor thesis to write, and the only thing I know so far is that I'd like to tackle the idea of 'sacred' cauldrons being used in connection with (ritual) community meals/feasts. Seeing as it is a bachelor thesis I don't need to invent something completely new or original for that matter. The last year or so I've gotten a new-found love for mythological comparative studies, but I need to bear in mind that since I'm studying archaeology, I do need to incorporate material culture into the study, whether be it an object (or several), structures, or basically anything physical we've got left from pan-Germanic societies. I wrote a "pre-bachelor" thesis on late Iron Age Scandinavian sorceresses where I compared grave goods (emphasis on staffs/wands) with written sources (the Eddas, Ibn Fadlan, Heimskringla etc.) and it was such a joy to write and to dive into the rich source material. I'd very much like to do something similar this time around, but with focus on the cult function of cauldrons/kettles.

So far I've found a few mentions of cauldrons in Old Norse sources, one being the kettle in the hall of Ægir, and the other being the kettle in Valhall (Eldhrímnir). Furthermore there is metioning of "The Kettle of Són" and a kettle in Gesta Danorum which were used to boil snakes to make a powerful brew. I also plan on incorporating a transdisciplinary approach where I look on onomastics fx. the name Askettil and Thorkettil, and I plan to extensive cross-referencing between the aforementioned sources with archaeological material such as the Gundestrup Cauldron, the Kivik Stones, the Hochdorf burial, the Oseberg burial and maybe ancient stew recipes.

To give you an idea of the direction I want to go with the thesis, I've made a rough sketch of the research question I want to build the assignment around;
"The use of kettles/cauldrons is featured in a number of Old Norse sources. These sources hints at a sacred function for the kettles in relation to ritual practice. By cross-referencing the literature with archaeological material, can we deduce a ritual function for said kettles?"

I've completed a list with literature I think would prove relevant to my thesis, but since I haven't read through it yet, I think some (a lot) of it can be discarded;

Bäck, M. & Hållans Stenholm, A. 2012. Lilla Ullevi- den heliga platsens geografi. Stockholm.

Bjarni F. Einarsson. 2008. Blót Houses in Viking Age Farmstead Cult. Acta Archaeologica. Vol.79. Issue 1. p. 145-184.

Damm, C. B. 1998. Forhistoriske ritualer: En discussion omkring mening og handling. Religion og materiel kultur. Ed. Lisbeth Bredholt Christensen and Stine Benedicte Sveen. Aarhus University Press.

Gunnell, T. 2001. Hof, Halls, Goðar and Dwarves: An Examination of the Ritual Space in the Pagan Icelandic Hall. Cosmos. The Journal of the Traditional Cosmology Society. Vol 17:1. p.3-36.

Hermanson, L. Introduction: Rituals, Performatives, and Political Order in Northern Europe c. 650-1350. Ed. Wojtek Jezierski, Lars Hermanson, Hans Jacob Orning, and Thomas Småberg. Rituals, Performatives, and Political Order in Northern Europe c. 650-1350. Ritus et artes. Vol 7.

Hultgård, A. 1995. Fornskandinavisk kult-finns det skriftliga källor? Ed. Kerstin Engdahl & Anders Kaliff. Religion från stenålder till medeltid. Artiklar baserade på Religionsarkeologiska nätverksgruppens konferens på Lövstadbruk den 1-3 december 1995. Riksantikvarieämbetet. Arkeologiska undersökningar. Skrifter nr.19. p.25-57.

Kaliff, A. 2006. Gravhus, kulthus eller tempel? Ed. by Mats Anglert, Magnus Artursson & Fredrik Svanberg. Kulthus & Dödshus. Det ritualiserade rummets teori och praktik. p.129-142.

Larsson, L. Hall, harg eller hof. Ett kulthus I Uppåkra. Ed. by Mats Anglert, Magnus Artursson & Fredrik Svanberg. Kulthus & Dödshus. Det ritualiserade rummets teori och praktik. p.143-152.

Näsström, B. 2002. Blot. Tro och offer i det förkristna Norden. Stockholm.

Nielsen, A. 1996. Hedniska kult- och offerhandlingar i Borg. Ett uttryck för gardens centrala betydelse under yngre järnålder. Ed. Kerstin Engdahl & Anders Kaliff. Religion från stenålder till medeltid. Artiklar baserade på Religionsarkeologiska nätverksgruppens konferens på Lövstadbruk den 1-3 december 1995. Riksantikvarieämbetet. Arkeologiska undersökningar. Skrifter nr.19. p.89-104.

Nielsen, A. Rituals and Power: About Small Buildings and Animal Bones from Late Iron Age. Ed. Anders Andrén, Kristina Jennbert, and Catharina Raudvere. Old Norse Religion in Long-Term Perspectives: Origins, Changes, and Interactions: An International Conference in Lund, Sweden, June 3-7, 2004. p. 243-248.

Sundqvist, O. 2016. An Arena for Higher Powers: Ceremonial Buildings and Religious Strategies for Rulership in Late Iron Age Scandinavia. Brill: Leiden & Boston.

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TL:DR; I'm going to write a thesis about the use of 'sacred' kettles in a Late Iron Age Scandinavian/pan-Germanic context. Do you think my research question would cover the question(s) I am trying to shed light on? Also, if you can point me to any obvious literature or material you think I might've overlooked, but which you find important, please do share! Any criticism or thoughts you feel like sharing? Please send it my way as well.

Thank you very much for reading!