Description
Book SynopsisFrom runic inscriptions to sagas, this book introduces readers to the world of Old Norse-Icelandic literature. It covers mythology and family sagas, as well as less well-known areas, such as oral story-telling, Eddaic verse and skaldic verse. It shows how a range of authors from Shakespeare to Seamus Heaney have been influenced by this literature.
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations.
Chronology.
Preface.
1. Iceland.
The Beginnings.
Language.
Cultural Heritage.
Discovery and Settlement.
2. The Saga.
What Is a Saga?.
Are Family Sagas Medieval Novels?.
Are Family Sagas Chronicles of Times Past?.
Three Extracts: Egils saga, Vatnsdœla saga and Laxdœla saga.
3. New Knowledge and Native Traditions.
Latin Learning.
Eddaic and Skaldic Verse.
Historical Writings.
Fornaldarsögur.
Riddarasögur and Rímur.
4. The Politics of Old Norse-Icelandic Literature.
Iceland and Scandinavian Nationalism.
Old Norse-Icelandic as ‘Ancient Poetry’.
Bishop Percy’s Translations.
Gray’s ‘Norse Odes’.
The Romantic Viking.
Our Friends in the North.
Old Norse-Icelandic Studies in Academia.
The Debate about Saga Origins.
Why is Old Norse English Literature?.
Old Norse-Icelandic and English Medieval Literature.
5. The Influence of Old Norse-Icelandic Literature.
BlakeTolkien and Fantasy Literature.
Scott, Kingsley and Haggard.
Landor, Arnold and Morris.
Stevenson, Hardy and Galsworthy.
MacDiarmid, Mackay Brown, and Auden and MacNeice.
Heaney and Muldoon.
Appendix: Hrafnkell’s Saga.
Glossary.
Notes.
Bibliography.
Index
