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Cultural Legacies of Old Norse Literature
New Perspectives
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Edited by:
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With contributions by:
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2022
About this book
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 origins of poetry and scholarship, the cryptic lore of the elusive dwarfs, the fame of the dragon-slayer Sigurd and the defiant "Sworn Brothers", the early settlement of Iceland, trade in the medieval north, and the history of literary production. Several contributors upend traditional interpretations of their topics, while others offer new insights into the rich modern artistic reception of Norse myth. These studies reveal the striking resilience and adaptability of Old Norse narrative traditions, which retain their timeless appeal through a startling variety of contexts and changes in form.
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 origins of poetry and scholarship, the cryptic lore of the elusive dwarfs, the fame of the dragon-slayer Sigurd and the defiant "Sworn Brothers", the early settlement of Iceland, trade in the medieval north, and the history of literary production. Several contributors upend traditional interpretations of their topics, while others offer new insights into the rich modern artistic reception of Norse myth. These studies reveal the striking resilience and adaptability of Old Norse narrative traditions, which retain their timeless appeal through a startling variety of contexts and changes in form.
Author / Editor information
Contributor: Dustin Geeraert
Dustin Geeraert teaches English and Icelandic literature at the University of Manitoba.
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Contributor: Christopher Crocker
Christopher Crocker is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Iceland and teaches Icelandic literature at the University of Manitoba.
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Contributor: Christopher Crocker
Christopher Crocker is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Iceland and teaches Icelandic literature at the University of Manitoba.
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Contributor: Dustin Geeraert
Dustin Geeraert teaches English and Icelandic literature at the University of Manitoba.
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Contributor: M J Toswell
M.J. TOSWELL is a Professor at theUniversity of Western Ontario.
Topics
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Frontmatter
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Contents
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List of Illustrations
vii -
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List of Contributors
viii -
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Foreword: Old Norse and the Porous Boundaries of Medievalism
xi -
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Acknowledgements
xiv -
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Note on the Text
xv -
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Introduction
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1 Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in Medieval Iceland: Saga Realism and the Sworn Brothers
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2 The Malleability of the Past: Íslendingabók as Narrative History
25 -
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3 Women’s Work and Material Culture in Medieval Iceland: Gender, Narrative, and Cloth Production
46 -
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4 Vafþrúðnismál, from Parchment to Print: Stability and Change in the Transmission of Eddic Poetry
68 -
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5 The Odinic Motif: The Wanderer in the Mist
88 -
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6 What has Darwin to do with Óðinn? Shapeshifting, God, and Nature in the ‘Great Story of the North
113 -
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7 Madness, Mythology, and Mitteleuropa: Günter Grass’s Transformation of Old Norse Myth in The Tin Drum
141 -
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8 Once More, with Fiction: Transforming Myth in Gerður Kristný’s Blóðhófnir and the Eddic Poem Skírnismál
161 -
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Afterword: Ethnographic Medievalisms
181 -
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Bibliography
191 -
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Index
213
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
January 4, 2024
eBook ISBN:
9781800106093
Original publisher:
D.S.Brewer
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9781800106093
Keywords for this book
Old Norse literature; Viking Age; medieval Scandinavia; heathen religion; heroic literature; Iceland; Old Norse texts; cultural legacy; Odin; poetry; dwarfs; dragon-slayer Sigurd; Sworn Brothers; settlement of Iceland; trade in the medieval north; literary production; Norse myth; artistic reception; narrative traditions
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
