Description
Book SynopsisClose examination of the significant theme of other-worldly encounters in Norse myth and legend, including giantesses, monsters and the Dead. A particular, recurring feature of Old Norse myths and legends is an encounter between creatures of This World [gods and human beings] and those of the Other [giants, giantesses, dwarves, prophetesses, monsters and the dead]. Concentrating on cross-gendered encounters, this book analyses these meetings, and the different motifs and situations they encompass, from the consultation of a prophetess by a king or god, to sexual liaisons and return from the dead. It considers the evidence for their pre-Christian origins, discusses how far individual poets and prose writers were free to modify them, and suggests that they survived in medieval Christian society because [like folk-tale] they provide a non-dogmatic way of resolving social and psychological problems connected with growing up, succession from one generation to the next, sexual relationships and bereavement.
Trade ReviewAn inspiring and readable study [.] invaluable for anyone working in the field of Old Norse studies. * SAGA-BOOK *
A very useful and thought-provoking book. * SPECULUM *
Thorough and impressive. [...] Gives thoughtful and precise readings of the Old Norse texts. * JOURNAL OF ENGLISH AND GERMANIC PHILOLOGY *
