Learning and understanding in the Old Norse world : essays in honour of Margaret Clunies Ross / edited by Judy Quinn, Kate Heslop, and Tarrin Wills.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Clunies Ross, Margaret.

Quinn, Judy.

Heslop, Kate.

Wills, Tarrin.

Series:

Medieval texts and cultures of Northern Europe ; 18.

Medieval texts and cultures of Northern Europe ; 18

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Old Norse literature--History and criticism.

Old Norse literature.

Civilization, Viking.

Oral tradition--Scandinavia--History.

Oral tradition.

History.

Scandinavia.

Genre:

Festschriften.

Physical Description:

xiv, 456 pages : maps, portrait ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Turnhout : Brepols, 2007.

Summary:

This volume presents twenty essays by leading scholars of Old Norse which bring into focus the nature of learned traditions - both oral and written - in medieval Scandinavia and the interpretation and re-interpretation of them over time. Theoretical frameworks for understanding Old Norse literature is the initial topic of the collection, which then moves on to present recent work on Old Norse myth and society; current perspectives on oral traditions in performance and text; and reflections on medieval ideas about language, both vernacular and Latin. The collection is rounded off by a section on prolonged traditions - the transformations of local and imported traditions into new literary forms. Individual essays in the volume offer significant primary research as well as reconsiderations of key issues in scholarship, their subjects ranging widely, both conceptually and chronologically, around the twin themes of learning and understanding. Like the research of the volume's honor and, Margaret Clunies Ross, Learning and Understanding in the Old Norse World exemplifies the diversity and vigour of current research in the field of Old Norse and draws together philological, literary, historical and anthropological perspectives on the subject.

Contents:

Tabula Gratulatoria xii

I Theoretical Frameworks for Understanding Old Norse Literature

The Speaking Bodies of Saga Texts / Jurg Glauser 13

The Icelandic Saga as a Kind of Literature with Special Reference to its Representation of Reality / Vesteinn Olason 27

Political Echoes: Reading Eyrbyggja Saga in Light of Contemporary Conflicts / Torfi H. Tulinius 49

Structuralist Approaches to Saga Literature / Lars Lonnroth 63

Reconstructing Skaldic Encomia: Discourse Features in Pjodolfr's 'Magnus verses' / Diana Whaley 75

II Old Norse Myth and Society

How Uniform Was the Old Norse Religion? / Stefan Brink 105

Odinn, Warriors, and Death / Jens Peter Schjodt 137

Myth and Ritual in the Haleygjatal of Eyvindr skaldaspillir / Russell Poole 153

Famous Last Words: Monologue and Dialogue in Hamdismal and the Realization of Heroic Tale / John Hines 177

III Oral Traditions in Performance and Text

The Immanent Saga of Guhmundr riki / Gisli Sigurdsson 201

The Art of Poetry and the Sagas of Icelanders / Gudrun Nordal 219

Mansongr - a Phantom Genre? / Edith Marold 239

Skaldic Poetry and Performance / Stefanie Wurth 263

IV Vernacular and Latin Theories of Language

Poetry, Dwarfs, and Gods: Understanding Alvissmal / John Lindow 285

The Notion of Effeminate Language in Old Norse Literature / Mats Malm 305

Aelfric in Iceland / Kari Ellen Gade 321

Old Icelandic Grammatical Literature: The Last Two Decades of Research (1983-2005) / Fabrizio D. Raschella 341

V Prolonged Traditions

The 'Discourse of Counsel' and the 'Translated' Riddarasogur / Geraldine Barnes 375

Vatnsdoela saga: Visions and Versions / Andrew Wawn 399

Skanderbeg: An Albanian Hero in Icelandic Clothing / M. J. Driscoll 423

A Bibliography of Margaret Clunies Ross's Publications / Anna Hansen 447.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

2503525806

9782503525808

OCLC:

148323914