Mythological Names and Dróttkvætt Formulae II: Base-Word-Determinant Indexing
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ABSTRACT Savannah Dehart. BRACTEATES AS INDICATORS OF
ABSTRACT Savannah DeHart. BRACTEATES AS INDICATORS OF NORTHERN PAGAN RELIGIOSITY IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES. (Under the direction of Michael J. Enright) Department of History, May 2012. This thesis investigates the religiosity of some Germanic peoples of the Migration period (approximately AD 300-800) and seeks to overcome some difficulties in the related source material. The written sources which describe pagan elements of this period - such as Tacitus’ Germania, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, and Paul the Deacon’s History of the Lombards - are problematic because they were composed by Roman or Christian authors whose primary goals were not to preserve the traditions of pagans. Literary sources of the High Middle Ages (approximately AD 1000-1400) - such as The Poetic Edda, Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda , and Icelandic Family Sagas - can only offer a clearer picture of Old Norse religiosity alone. The problem is that the beliefs described by these late sources cannot accurately reflect religious conditions of the Early Middle Ages. Too much time has elapsed and too many changes have occurred. If literary sources are unavailing, however, archaeology can offer a way out of the dilemma. Rightly interpreted, archaeological evidence can be used in conjunction with literary sources to demonstrate considerable continuity in precisely this area of religiosity. Some of the most relevant material objects (often overlooked by scholars) are bracteates. These coin-like amulets are stamped with designs that appear to reflect motifs from Old Norse myths, yet their find contexts, including the inhumation graves of women and hoards, demonstrate that they were used during the Migration period of half a millennium earlier. -
"Ok Er Þetta Upphaf´"--First-Stanza Quotation in Old Norse Prosimetrum
Judy Quinn “Ok er þetta upphaf”— First-Stanza Quotation in Old Norse Prosimetrum* hen prosimetrum involves the quotation of poetry — as medieval Scandinavian prosimetrum almost invariably does1 — the narrator’s voice is at once in competition with another voice, which through its Wpoetic form is graced with significance and authority. Verse quotations in sagas are conventionally very short, most typically of only one stanza, but occa- sionally of two, three, or more stanzas. As the evidence of other records demon- strates, however, a verse presented by a saga-narrator as a lausavísa, or single- stanza composition, may well be an excerpt from a longer poem.2 Sometimes acknowledgement is made of the loosening of the stanza from the whole poem through the narrator’s mention of the poem’s name, particularly in kings’ sagas where praise and memorial poems are frequently cited to verify aspects of an account,3 but even in this genre — avowedly indebted to the existence of whole * I am grateful to the Modern Language Association of America and the organizers of the Discussion Group on Old Norse Literature at the 1995 convention for inviting me to present an earlier version of this article there. 1. One important exception to this is Snorri Sturluson’s pedagogic prosimetrum composition, Hátta- tal, in which Snorri follows the learned Latin practice of crafting prosimetrum from his own verse and prose. Otherwise Old Norse prosimetrum seems to have conventionally been composed of prose and quoted poetry — either as evidence of events narrated or as the declamations of the participants in the narrative (see Einarsson 1974 and Friis-Jensen 1987 for a survey of these types). -
What Is a Kenning? Kennings Are Like Riddles
Year 4 English Lessons – 1st – 5th February st Monday 1 February 2021 – Live Lesson Today you will be learning about what kennings are and how they are created. Read the information below (pages 1-3) about kennings. Then use page 4 to plan your own kenning about yourself and use page 5 to write your kenning. What is a Kenning? Kennings are like riddles. They describe something without ever saying what it is. They are made up of a noun (object) + noun or a noun + verb (action word). Kennings are often found in Anglo-Saxon and Norse poems. Read the poems below out loud. What could they describe? lip-licking sauce-swirling chin-dripping flake-holding tongue-freezing cone-filling This kenning is about ice cream. Was your guess correct? What about this one: tail-wagger ball-catcher cat-chaser sofa-hugger face-licker This kenning is about a dog. Was your guess correct? 1 What do you notice about the 2 kennings poems? Here the phrases are made up of Here the phrases are made up of a noun (object) + a verb (doing a noun (object) + a verb (doing word) by adding -er to the verb. word) by adding -ing to the verb. Each line of the poem is made of a two-word phrase. The words are joined by a hyphen. It does not tell the reader what it is about. It gives the readers clues about the subject matter 2 3 Activity:- Monday 1st February 2021 Use this planning sheet to write down ideas for a kenning poem about yourself. -
WAGNER and the VOLSUNGS None of Wagner’S Works Is More Closely Linked with Old Norse, and More Especially Old Icelandic, Culture
WAGNER AND THE VOLSUNGS None of Wagner’s works is more closely linked with Old Norse, and more especially Old Icelandic, culture. It would be carrying coals to Newcastle if I tried to go further into the significance of the incom- parable eddic poems. I will just mention that on my first visit to Iceland I was allowed to gaze on the actual manuscript, even to leaf through it . It is worth noting that Richard Wagner possessed in his library the same Icelandic–German dictionary that is still used today. His copy bears clear signs of use. This also bears witness to his search for the meaning and essence of the genuinely mythical, its very foundation. Wolfgang Wagner Introduction to the program of the production of the Ring in Reykjavik, 1994 Selma Gu›mundsdóttir, president of Richard-Wagner-Félagi› á Íslandi, pre- senting Wolfgang Wagner with a facsimile edition of the Codex Regius of the Poetic Edda on his eightieth birthday in Bayreuth, August 1999. Árni Björnsson Wagner and the Volsungs Icelandic Sources of Der Ring des Nibelungen Viking Society for Northern Research University College London 2003 © Árni Björnsson ISBN 978 0 903521 55 0 The cover illustration is of the eruption of Krafla, January 1981 (Photograph: Ómar Ragnarsson), and Wagner in 1871 (after an oil painting by Franz von Lenbach; cf. p. 51). Cover design by Augl‡singastofa Skaparans, Reykjavík. Printed by Short Run Press Limited, Exeter CONTENTS PREFACE ............................................................................................ 6 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 7 BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARD WAGNER ............................ 17 CHRONOLOGY ............................................................................... 64 DEVELOPMENT OF GERMAN NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS ..68 ICELANDIC STUDIES IN GERMANY ......................................... -
An Investigation of the Kennings in Ragnarsdrápa and Øxarflokkr
Universitet i Oslo, Fall 2013 Exploring the Emotive versus the Scholarly: an Investigation of the Kennings in Ragnarsdrápa and Øxarflokkr By Sydney A. Krell Guidance: Mikael Males Master Thesis in Nordic Viking and Medieval Culture Summary The poetry of Bragi inn Gamli and Einarr Skúlason has been thoroughly studied by many Old Norse scholars, but never directly in comparison to one another. This paper will investigate the nuances of each author’s verse, specifically regarding the way in which they utilize kennings, and draw conclusions based upon their similarities and differences. Both Bragi and Einarr composed within the same language, geographical area, and poetic tradition; they used similar kenning types that evolve from pagan imagery; and each describes a precious weapon given to them by a ruler whom they praise via a traditional skaldic long style poem. However, they could not be more different. This is due to the fact that Einarr’s kennings are meant to show his scholastic prowess, and Bragi’s are meant to affect his audience and move his plot based verse forward. The poetry of Bragi Boddason makes use of pagan mythology, ekphrasis, nýgerving, ofljóst and metaphors in the form of kennings, just as the poetry of Einarr Skúlason does. And yet the poems differ so greatly. Bragi’s kennings are meant to affect his audience on an emotional level, whereas Einarr’s are meant to impress on a scholarly level. Each author accomplishes magnificent prose, but with different expectations and outcomes achieved. 1 Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor Mikael Males for his support, useful comments, encouragement and guidance throughout the process of writing my master thesis. -
Gylfaginning Codex Regius, F
Snorri Sturluson Edda Prologue and Gylfaginning Codex Regius, f. 7v (reduced) (see pp. 26/34–28/1) Snorri Sturluson Edda Prologue and Gylfaginning Edited by ANTHONY FAULKES SECOND EDITION VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN RESEARCH UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON 2005 © Anthony Faulkes 1982/2005 Second Edition 2005 First published by Oxford University Press in 1982 Reissued by Viking Society for Northern Research 1988, 2000 Reprinted 2011 ISBN 978 0 903521 64 2 Printed by Short Run Press Limited, Exeter Contents Codex Regius, fol. 7v ..........................................................Frontispiece Abbreviated references ....................................................................... vii Introduction ..........................................................................................xi Synopsis ..........................................................................................xi The author ..................................................................................... xii The title ....................................................................................... xvii The contents of Snorri’s Edda ................................................... xviii Models and sources ........................................................................ xx Manuscripts .............................................................................. xxviii Bibliography ...............................................................................xxxi Text ....................................................................................................... -
JL Borges and the Poetic Art of the Icelandic Skalds
Sigrún Á. Eiríksdóttir “El verso incorruptible” Jorge Luis Borges and the Poetic Art of the Icelandic Skalds If the same words were repeated over and again, they could fade and become like a shaped coin, “stiff and dead upon the earth”. Einar Ólafur Sveinsson, Við uppspretturnar (At the Source). The kenning as rhetoric (of myth and history) round 1220 the Icelandic writer and historian, Snorri Sturlu- son, wrote a treatise on the rhetoric art of the skaldic poetry (“Skáldskaparmál”) which some seven hundred years later A 1 was partly reproduced by Borges in Argentina. When Borges wrote his essay on the kennings in 1933, he had not be- gun his studies of Old Norse and based his observations on transla- tions, into both English and German as indicated by his appendixed bibliography. Yet we can suppose that he had already become ac- quainted with the basic principle behind the kennings when he was a young boy and read Völsungasaga in the translation of William Morris 1 “Las kenningar”, in Historia de la eternidad. All references to Borges’ work (unless otherwise stated) are to Jorge Luis Borges, Obras completas, hereafter referred to as OC. On Snorri and Borges’ fascination and admiration for him see Literaturas germá- nicas medievales (LGM hereafter), the poem “Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241)” (El otro, el mismo), and my essay “‘La alucinación del lector’. Jorge Luis Borges and the legacy of Snorri Sturluson”. Variaciones Borges 2/1996 38 Sigrún Á. Eiríksdóttir and Eiríkr Magnússon.2 There he would have come across archaisms and even coinages from Germanic roots which the translators resorted to in order to capture the ancient and “barbaric” flavour of the original. -
Rędende Iudithše: the Heroic, Mythological and Christian Elements in the Old English Poem Judith
University of San Diego Digital USD Undergraduate Honors Theses Theses and Dissertations Fall 12-22-2015 Rædende Iudithðe: The eH roic, Mythological and Christian Elements in the Old English Poem Judith Judith Caywood Follow this and additional works at: https://digital.sandiego.edu/honors_theses Part of the European Languages and Societies Commons, and the Literature in English, British Isles Commons Digital USD Citation Caywood, Judith, "Rædende Iudithðe: The eH roic, Mythological and Christian Elements in the Old English Poem Judith" (2015). Undergraduate Honors Theses. 15. https://digital.sandiego.edu/honors_theses/15 This Undergraduate Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Digital USD. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital USD. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Rædende Iudithðe: The Heroic, Mythological and Christian Elements in the Old English Poem Judith ______________________ A Thesis Presented to The Faculty and the Honors Program Of the University of San Diego ______________________ By Jude Caywood Interdisciplinary Humanities 2015 Caywood 2 Judith is a character born from the complex multicultural forces that shaped Anglo-Saxon society, existing liminally between the mythological, the heroic and the Christian. Simultaneously Germanic warrior, pagan demi-goddess or supernatural figure, and Christian saint, Judith arbitrates amongst the seemingly incompatible forces that shaped the poet’s world, allowing the poem to serve as an important site for the making of a new Anglo-Saxon identity, one which would eventually come to be the united English identity. She becomes a single figure who is able to reconcile these opposing forces within herself and thereby does important cultural work for the world for which the poem was written. -
The Editing of Eddic Poetry Judy Quinn
A HANDBOOK TO EDDIC POETRY This is the first comprehensive and accessible survey in English of Old Norse eddic poetry: a remarkable body of literature rooted in the Viking Age, which is a critical source for the study of early Scandinavian myths, poetics, culture, and society. Dramatically recreating the voices of the legendary past, eddic poems distil moments of high emotion as human heroes and supernatural beings alike grapple with betrayal, loyalty, mortality, and love. These poems relate the most famous deeds of gods such as Óðinn and Þórr with their adversaries the giants; they bring to life the often fraught interactions between kings, queens, and heroes as well as their encounters with valkyries, elves, dragons, and dwarfs. Written by leading international scholars, the chapters in this volume showcase the poetic riches of the eddic corpus and reveal its relevance to the history of poetics, gender studies, pre-Christian religions, art history, and archaeology. carolyne larrington is Official Fellow and Tutor at St John’s College, University of Oxford. judy quinn is Reader in Old Norse Literature in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at the University of Cambridge. brittany schorn is a Research Associate in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at the University of Cambridge. A HANDBOOK TO EDDIC POETRY Myths and Legends of Early Scandinavia CAROLYNE LARRINGTON University of Oxford JUDY QUINN University of Cambridge BRITTANY SCHORN University of Cambridge University Printing House, Cambridge cb2 8bs, United Kingdom Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence. -
RMN Newsletter 8 2014
The Retrospective Methods Network Newsletter May 2014 № 8 Edited by Frog Helen F. Leslie and Joseph S. Hopkins Published by Folklore Studies / Dept. of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies University of Helsinki, Helsinki 1 RMN Newsletter is a medium of contact and communication for members of the Retrospective Methods Network (RMN). The RMN is an open network which can include anyone who wishes to share in its focus. It is united by an interest in the problems, approaches, strategies and limitations related to considering some aspect of culture in one period through evidence from another, later period. Such comparisons range from investigating historical relationships to the utility of analogical parallels, and from comparisons across centuries to developing working models for the more immediate traditions behind limited sources. RMN Newsletter sets out to provide a venue and emergent discourse space in which individual scholars can discuss and engage in vital cross- disciplinary dialogue, present reports and announcements of their own current activities, and where information about events, projects and institutions is made available. RMN Newsletter is edited by Frog, Helen F. Leslie and Joseph S. Hopkins, published by Folklore Studies / Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies University of Helsinki PO Box 59 (Unioninkatu 38 A) 00014 University of Helsinki Finland The open-access electronic edition of this publication is available on-line at: http://www.helsinki.fi/folkloristiikka/English/RMN/ © 2014, the authors ISSN 2324-0636 (print) ISSN 1799-4497 (electronic) All scientific articles in this journal have been subject to peer review. 2 Contents Editor’s Note ....................................................................................................................................... -
Scripta Islandica 72/2021
SCRIPTA ISLANDICA ISLÄNDSKA SÄLLSKAPETS ÅRSBOK 72/2021 REDIGERAD AV LASSE MÅRTENSSON OCH VETURLIÐI ÓSKARSSON under medverkan av Pernille Hermann (Århus) Else Mundal (Bergen) Guðrún Nordal (Reykjavík) Heimir Pálsson (Uppsala) Henrik Williams (Uppsala) UPPSALA, SWEDEN Utgiven med stöd från Vetenskapsrådet © 2021 respektive författare (CC BY) DOI: 10.33063/diva-439399 Sättning: Ord och sats Marco Bianchi Isländska sällskapet Institutionen för nordiska språk vid Uppsala universitet ISSN 0582-3234 (tryckt) ISSN 2001-9416 (digitalt) Innehåll FELIX LUMMER, Of Magical Beings and Where to Find Them: On the Concept of álfar in the translated riddarasǫgur .............. 5 FROG, Preserving Blunders in Eddic Poems: Formula Variation in Numbered Inventories of Vafþrúðnismál and Grímnismál ...... 43 LASSE MÅRTENSSON, The Change menninir > mennurnir, mennirnir in Icelandic ........................................... 93 MARTIN RINGMAR, Läsning för folket? Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu i skandinaviska nyöversättningar: Hur? För vem? Varför? ....... 107 MIKAEL MALES, Kan fornisländskans rúnar betyda ’bokstäver’? ... 127 Recension LASSE MÅRTENSSON, Rec. av Karl G. Johansson och Elise Kleivane (red.). Speculum septentrionale. Konungs skuggsjá and the Euro pean Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages ..................... 137 Författarna i denna årgång ................................. 143 Of Magical Beings and Where to Find Them On the Concept of álfar in the Translated riddarasǫgur FELIX LUMMER 1. Introduction The process of translation attempts to enable the understanding of for- eign concepts and ideas, something which naturally involves the use of both words and concepts that are already extant in the receiving culture. This natu rally involves linguistic problems, but more interestingly often results in the overlapping, alteration and merging of concepts, something that can have long-term consequences on language and cultural under- standing. -
Snorri Sturluson Skáldskaparmál 2
Snorri Sturluson Edda Skáldskaparmál 2 Snorri Sturluson Edda Skáldskaparmál 2. Glossary and Index of Names Edited by ANTHONY FAULKES VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN RESEARCH UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON 1998 © Anthony Faulkes 1998 First published by Viking Society for Northern Research 1998 Reprinted with minor corrections 2007 ISBN: 978 0 903521 38 3 Volume 2, paper bound edition Printed by Short Run Press Limited, Exeter Contents of Volume 1 Introduction ............................................................................. vii Title ....................................................................................... vii Synopsis ...............................................................................viii The composition of the work ............................................... x Date and authorship.............................................................. xi The verse quotations ..........................................................xiii The flulur .............................................................................. xv The dialogue frame...........................................................xviii The prose narratives .......................................................... xxii The analysis of poetic diction .......................................... xxv Purpose............................................................................xxxvii Manuscripts ..................................................................... xxxix This edition ...........................................................................