Gisli Sursson's Saga and the Saga of the People of Eyri

Gisli Sursson's Saga and the Saga of the People of Eyri PDF

Author:

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2003-09-25

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 0141941898

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

These sagas recount fierce feuds in which honour is fought for, sacrifice is demanded, and blood is shed. The fate of the characters at the centre of each saga, however, is very different. Gisli is a traditional Viking-age hero who is determined to exact revenge at any cost and whose death is tragic when it comes. In contrast his nephew, Snorri, represents a new generation and acts to strengthen the new social order. Taken together these sagas reveal the richness and variety of the saga tradition.

Comic Sagas and Tales from Iceland

Comic Sagas and Tales from Iceland PDF

Author:

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2013-03-07

Total Pages: 375

ISBN-13: 0141975520

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Comic Sagas and Tales brings together the very finest Icelandic stories from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries, a time of civil unrest and social upheaval. With feuding families and moments of grotesque violence, the sagas see such classic mythological figures as murdered fathers, disguised beggars, corrupt chieftains and avenging sons do battle with axes, words and cunning. The tales, meanwhile, follow heroes and comical fools through dreams, voyages and religious conversions in medieval Iceland and beyond. Shaped by Iceland's oral culture and their conversion to Christianity, these stories are works of ironic humour and stylistic innovation.

Valkyrie

Valkyrie PDF

Author: Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-04-02

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 1350137103

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE Valkyries: the female supernatural beings that choose who dies and who lives on the battlefield. They protect some, but guide spears, arrows and sword blades into the bodies of others. Viking myths about valkyries attempt to elevate the banality of war – to make the pain and suffering, the lost limbs and deformities, the piles of lifeless bodies of young men, glorious and worthwhile. Rather than their death being futile, it is their destiny and good fortune, determined by divine beings. The women in these stories take full part in the power struggles and upheavals in their communities, for better or worse. Drawing on the latest historical and archaeological evidence, Valkyrie introduces readers to the dramatic and fascinating texts recorded in medieval Iceland, a culture able to imagine women in all kinds of roles carrying power, not just in this world, but pulling the strings in the other-world, too. In the process, this fascinating book uncovers the reality behind the myths and legends to reveal the dynamic, diverse lives of Viking women.

Nordic Elites in Transformation, c. 1050–1250, Volume III

Nordic Elites in Transformation, c. 1050–1250, Volume III PDF

Author: Wojtek Jezierski

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-10-06

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 1000200116

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book explores the practical and symbolic resources of legitimacy which the elites of medieval Scandinavia employed to establish, justify, and reproduce their social and political standing between the end of the Viking Age and the rise of kingdoms in the thirteenth century. Geographically the chapters cover the Scandinavian realms and Free State Iceland. Thematically the authors cover a wide palette of cultural practices and historical sources: hagiography, historiography, spaces and palaces, literature, and international connections, which rulers, magnates or ecclesiastics used to compete for status and to reserve haloing glory for themselves. The volume is divided in three sections. The first looks at the sacral, legal, and acclamatory means through which privilege was conferred onto kings and ruling families. Section Two explores the spaces such as aristocratic halls, palaces, churches in which the social elevation of elites took place. Section Three explores the traditional and novel means of domestic distinction and international cultural capital which different orders of elites – knights, powerful clerics, ruling families etc. – wrought to assure their dominance and set themselves apart vis-à-vis their peers and subjects. A concluding chapter discusses how the use of symbolic capital in the North compared to wider European contexts.

The Final Battle of Gisli Sursson: A Picture Book / Lokabardagi Gisla Surssonar: Myndasaga

The Final Battle of Gisli Sursson: A Picture Book / Lokabardagi Gisla Surssonar: Myndasaga PDF

Author: William R. Short

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2015-03-17

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13: 9781312997530

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Gisla saga tells the Viking-age story of Gisli Sursson, a valiant man whose luck sometimes deserted him, and so ultimately, he was declared an outlaw. In his final battle, Gisli faced Eyjolf and fourteen armed men. He fought them to his death, killing many of them and wounding all of them before he was overcome. This book tells the story of that battle in brilliant photographs, with text from the saga in both English translation and in the original Icelandic. The photos were taken where the battle took occurred, standing in the footsteps of the people who fought and died there over 1000 years ago."

The Penguin Classics Book

The Penguin Classics Book PDF

Author: Henry Eliot

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2019-02-21

Total Pages: 1904

ISBN-13: 0141990937

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

**Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year** The Penguin Classics Book is a reader's companion to the largest library of classic literature in the world. Spanning 4,000 years from the legends of Ancient Mesopotamia to the poetry of the First World War, with Greek tragedies, Icelandic sagas, Japanese epics and much more in between, it encompasses 500 authors and 1,200 books, bringing these to life with lively descriptions, literary connections and beautiful cover designs.

The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki

The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki PDF

Author: Jesse L Byock

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2005-06-30

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 0141914092

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Composed in medieval Iceland, Hrolf's Saga is one of the greatest of all mythic-legendary sagas, relating half-fantastical events that were said to have occurred in fifth-century Denmark. It tells of the exploits of King Hrolf and of his famous champions, including Bodvar Bjarki, the 'bear-warrior': a powerful figure whose might and bear-like nature are inspired by the same legendary heritage as Beowulf. Depicting a world of wizards, sorceresses and 'berserker' fighters - originally members of a cult of Odin - this is a compelling tale of ancient magic. A work of timeless power and beauty, it offers both a treasury of Icelandic prose and a masterful gathering of epic, cultic memory, traditional folk tale and myths from the Viking age and far earlier.

Handbook of Pre-Modern Nordic Memory Studies

Handbook of Pre-Modern Nordic Memory Studies PDF

Author: Jürg Glauser

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2018-11-19

Total Pages: 1479

ISBN-13: 3110431483

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In recent years, the field of Memory Studies has emerged as a key approach in the Humanities and Social Sciences, and has increasingly shown its ability to open new windows on Nordic Studies as well. The entries in this book document the work-to-date of this approach on the pre-modern Nordic world (mainly the Viking Age and the Middle Ages, but including as well both earlier and later periods). Given that Memory Studies is an ever expanding critical strategy, the approximately eighty contributors in this volume also discuss the potential for future research in this area. Topics covered range from texts to performance to visual and other aspects of material culture, all approached from within an interdisciplinary framework. International specialists, coming from such relevant fields as archaeology, mythology, history of religion, folklore, history, law, art, literature, philology, language, and mediality, offer assessments on the relevance of Memory Studies to their disciplines and show it at work in case studies. Finally, this handbook demonstrates the various levels of culture where memory had a critical impact in the pre-modern North and how deeply embedded the role of memory is in the material itself.

Heads Will Roll

Heads Will Roll PDF

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2012-01-20

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 9004222286

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The decapitation motif recurs in nearly all medieval and early modern genres, from saints' lives and epics to comedies and romances, yet decollation is often little regarded, save as a marker of humanity (that is, as the moment mortality exits) or inhumanity (that is, as the moment the supernatural enters). However, as a seat of reason, wisdom, and even the soul, the head has long been afforded a special place in the body politic, even when separated from its body proper. Capitalizing upon the enduring fascination with decapitation in European culture, this collection examines--through a variety of critical lenses--the recurring "roles/rolls" of severed human heads in the medieval and early modern imagination. Contributors are Nicola Masciandaro, Mark Faulkner, Jay Paul Gates, Christine Cooper-Rompato, Dwayne Coleman, Mary Leech, Tina Boyer, Renée Ward, Andrew Fleck, Thomas Herron, Thea Cervone, and Asa Simon Mittman. Preface by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen.