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"In the past few decades, interest in the rich and varied literature of early Scandinavia has prompted a corresponding interest in its background: its origins, social and historical context, and relationship to other medieval literatures. Until the 1980s, however, there was a distinct lack of scholarship in English that synthesized the critical trends and thinking in the field, so in 1985 Carol J. Clover and John Lindow brought together several of the most distinguished Old Norse scholars to contribute essays for a collection that would finally provide a comprehensive guide to the major genres of Old Norse-Icelandic literature." "The contributors summarize and comment on scholarly work in th...
The current revival of interest in the rich and varied literature of early Scandinavia has prompted a corresponding interest in its background: its origins, social and historical context, and relationship to other medieval literatures. Even readers with a knowledge of Old Norse and Icelandic have found these subjects difficult to pursue, however, for up-to-date reference works in any language are few and none exist in English. To fill the gap, six distinguished scholars have contributed ambitious new essays to this volume. The contributors summarize and comment on scholarly work in the major branches of the field: Eddie and skaldic poetry, family and kings' sagas, courtly writing, and mythology. Taken together, their judicious and attractively written essays-each with a full bibliography-make up the first book-length survey of Old Norse literature in English and a basic reference work that will stimulate research in these areas and help to open up the field to a wider academic readership.
Originally published in 1935, this book examines the role of dreams in Old Norse literature, how dreams were changed by the coming of Christianity, and how parallels in folklore can further inform an understanding of the importance of dreams to pre-Christian Norsemen. Kelchner also supplies an appendix featuring the original Icelandic text of the relevant Eddas alongside her own translation. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in thematic conventions in Old Norse literature.
This major survey of Old Norse-Icelandic literature and culturedemonstrates the remarkable continuity of Icelandic language andculture from medieval to modern times. Comprises 29 chapters written by leading scholars in thefield Reflects current debates among Old Norse-Icelandicscholars Pays attention to previously neglected areas of study, such asthe sagas of Icelandic bishops and the fantasy sagas Looks at the ways Old Norse-Icelandic literature is used bymodern writers, artists and film directors, both within and outsideScandinavia Sets Old Norse-Icelandic language and literature in its widercultural context
This volume contains 17 articles written by Lars Lonnroth about the sagas, Eddic poetry, and other Icelandic or Old Norse texts. The book begins with excerpts from Lonnroth's controversial doctoral dissertation - European Sources of Icelandic Saga Writing (1965) - in which he challenged the established views of the time about the origins of the sagas. Other papers from Lonnroth's early career include studies in the narrative art of sagas, in which he questioned the prevailing opinion that sagas are realistic, "objective," and devoid of ideology or Christian morality. Additional articles deal with the application of the oral-formulaic theory to Eddic poetry, the interpretation of the enigmatic inscription on the Swedish Rok-Stone, and the reception of Old Norse texts in Western literary tradition from Snorri Sturluson's in the 13th century to Richard Wagner's in the 19th century. Each of the papers has been supplemented in the book by a post scriptum, in which Lonnroth comments on the reception and further discussion of his scholarly work, occasionally revising his former opinions. (Series: The Viking Collection - Vol. 19)
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Draws on Old Norse literary heritage to explore questions of emotion as both a literary motif and as a social phenomenon. Authors throughout history have relied on the emotional make-up of their readers and audiences to make sense of the behaviours and actions of fictive characters. But how can a narrative voice contained in a text evoke feelings that are ultimately never real or actual, but a figment of a text, a fictive reality created out of words? How does one reconcile interiority - a presumed modern conceptualisation - with medieval emotionality? The volume seeksto address these questions. It positions itself within the larger context of the history of emotion, offering a novel approac...
An exciting new collection of essays exploring the startling variety of transformations of Old Norse texts, and their legacy in later literary cultures.The "Viking Age" of medieval Scandinavia, with its heathen religion and heroic literature, continues to fascinate readers, writers, students, scholars, poets, artists, and creators of all kinds around the world. This cultural legacy is preserved in Old Norse literature, much of it composed and produced in Iceland, an island with a unique position in relation to the ebb and flow of religions, institutions, and empires. The chapters in this book examine many topics in Old Norse literature: the mysterious personas of the god Odin, the strange or...
Old Norse texts offer different ideas about what it is to be female, presenting women in diverse social and economic positions. This book analyzes female characters in medieval Icelandic saga literature, and demonstrates how they engaged with some of the most contested values of the period, revealing the anxieties of both the authors and audiences.
The vast and diverse corpus of Old Norse literature preserves the language spoken not only by the Vikings, kings, and heroes of medieval Scandinavia but also by outlaws, missionaries, and farmers. Scholars have long recognized that the wealth of verbal exchanges in Old Norse sagas presents the modern reader with the opportunity to speak face-to-face, as it were, with these great voices of the past. However, despite the importance of verbal exchanges in the sagas, there has been no book-length study of discourse in Old Norse literature since 1935. This book meets the need for such a study by offering a literary analysis based on the adjacent field of pragmatic linguistics, which recognizes th...