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THE TRANSFORMING SELF AND OTHERWORLDLY WISDOM: SOURCES OF POETIC INSPIRATION IN MEDIEVAL NORTHWEST EUROPE by TIMOTHY HANNON (Under the Direction of Katharina Wilson) ABSTRACT Certain tales of the medieval Norse, Anglo-Saxons, Irish and Welsh explain the source of poetic inspiration as existing in a world apart, whether that be in the realm of the gods, in the Celtic Otherworld, or with the Christian God. Generally, each culture follows a similar pattern in explaining the process of inspiration, beginning with a binding or a containment in the physical world, followed by danger-tinged contemplation, and eventually leading to communication with the source of poetry. The tales of these four cultures are discussed in terms of this schemata and compared with one another, eventually leading towards an understanding of wisdom that poetic composition may bring to a poet. INDEX WORDS: Medieval, Poetic inspiration, Inspiration, Poetry, Myth, Legend, Norse, Óðinn, Odin, Anglo-Saxon, Irish, Welsh, Medieval England, Medieval Ireland, Medieval Wales, Medieval Iceland, Medieval Scandinavia, Medieval poetry, Medieval Christianity, Taliesin, Finn, Beowulf THE TRANSFORMING SELF AND OTHERWORLDLY WISDOM: SOURCES OF POETIC INSPIRATION IN MEDIEVAL NORTHWEST EUROPE by TIMOTHY HANNON B.A, The College of New Jersey, 2005 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS ATHENS, GEORGIA 2010 © 2010 Timothy Hannon All Rights Reserved THE TRANSFORMING SELF AND OTHERWORLDLY WISDOM: SOURCES OF POETIC INSPIRATION IN MEDIEVAL NORTHWEST EUROPE by TIMOTHY HANNON Major Professor: Katharina Wilson Committee: Elissa Henken Jonathan Evans Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2010 DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to the literature to which gave it existence: medieval poetry and prose.
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