Landscape, Tradition and Power in Medieval Iceland
Title | Landscape, Tradition and Power in Medieval Iceland PDF eBook |
Author | Chris Callow |
Publisher | BRILL |
Pages | 417 |
Release | 2020-08-03 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9004331603 |
In this volume Chris Callow provides a critical reading of the evidence for changes in Iceland’s socio-political structures from its colonisation to the 1260s when leading Icelanders swore oaths of loyalty to the Norwegian king.
Landscape, Tradition and Power in a Region of Medieval Iceland
Title | Landscape, Tradition and Power in a Region of Medieval Iceland PDF eBook |
Author | Christopher Callow |
Publisher | |
Pages | |
Release | 2001 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
The Routledge Research Companion to the Medieval Icelandic Sagas
Title | The Routledge Research Companion to the Medieval Icelandic Sagas PDF eBook |
Author | Ármann Jakobsson |
Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
Pages | 377 |
Release | 2017-02-17 |
Genre | Literary Criticism |
ISBN | 131704147X |
The last fifty years have seen a significant change in the focus of saga studies, from a preoccupation with origins and development to a renewed interest in other topics, such as the nature of the sagas and their value as sources to medieval ideologies and mentalities. The Routledge Research Companion to the Medieval Icelandic Sagas presents a detailed interdisciplinary examination of saga scholarship over the last fifty years, sometimes juxtaposing it with earlier views and examining the sagas both as works of art and as source materials. This volume will be of interest to Old Norse and medieval Scandinavian scholars and accessible to medievalists in general.
Medieval Iceland
Title | Medieval Iceland PDF eBook |
Author | Sverrir Jakobsson |
Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
Pages | 246 |
Release | 2024-09-20 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 1040122795 |
In the ninth century, at the beginning of this account, Iceland was uninhabited save for fowl and smaller Arctic animals. In the middle of the sixteenth century, by the end of this history, it had embarked on a course that led to the creation of a small country on the periphery of Europe. The history of medieval Iceland is to some degree a microcosm of European history, but in other respects it has a trajectory of its own. As in medieval Europe, the evolution of the Church, episodic warfare, and the strengthening of the bonds of government played an important role. Unlike the rest of Europe, however, Iceland was not settled by humans until the Middle Ages and it was without towns and any type of executive government until the late medieval period. Medieval Iceland is a review of Icelandic history from the settlement until the advent of the Reformation, with an emphasis on social and political change, but also on cultural developments, such as the creation of a particular kind of literature, known throughout the world as the sagas. A view of medieval Icelandic history as it has never been told before from one of its leading historians, this book will appeal to students and scholars alike interested in Icelandic and medieval history.
Iceland’s Relationship with Norway c.870 – c.1100
Title | Iceland’s Relationship with Norway c.870 – c.1100 PDF eBook |
Author | Ann-Marie Long |
Publisher | BRILL |
Pages | 311 |
Release | 2017-07-03 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9004336516 |
In Iceland’s Relationship with Norway c.870 – c.1100: Memory, History and Identity, Ann-Marie Long reassesses the development of early Icelandic society and how it was memorialised, with particular attention given to the place of Norway in Icelandic cultural memory.
Story, World and Character in the Late Íslendingasögur
Title | Story, World and Character in the Late Íslendingasögur PDF eBook |
Author | Rebecca Merkelbach |
Publisher | Boydell & Brewer |
Pages | 302 |
Release | 2024-06-11 |
Genre | Literary Criticism |
ISBN | 1843846667 |
Argues for new models of reading the complexity and subversiveness of fourteen "post-classical" sagas. The late Sagas of Icelanders, thought to be written in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, have hitherto received little scholarly attention. Previous generations of critics have unfavourably compared them to "classical" Íslendingasögur and fornaldarsögur, leading modern audiences to project their expectations onto narratives that do not adhere to simple taxonomies and preconceived notions of genre. As "rogues" within the canon, they challenge the established notions of what makes an Íslendingasaga. Based on a critical appraisal of conceptualisations of canon and genre in saga literature, this book offers a new reading of the relationship between the individual, paranormal, and social dimensions that form the foundation of these sagas. It draws on a multidisciplinary approach, informed by perspectives as diverse as "possible worlds" theory, gender studies, and social history. The "post-classical" sagas are not only read anew and integrated into both their generic and socio-historical context; they are met on their own terms, allowing their fascinating narratives to speak for themselves.
Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders
Title | Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders PDF eBook |
Author | Margaret Clunies Ross |
Publisher | Boydell & Brewer |
Pages | 262 |
Release | 2022-08-16 |
Genre | Sagas |
ISBN | 184384639X |
Sagas of Icelanders, also called family sagas, are the best known of the many literary genres that flourished in medieval Iceland, most of them achieving written form during the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. Modern readers and critics often praise their apparently realistic descriptions of the lives, loves and feuds of settler families of the first century and a half of Iceland's commonwealth period (c. AD 970-1030), but this ascription of realism fails to account for one of the most important components of these sagas, the abundance of skaldic poetry, mostly in dróttkvætt "court metre", which comes to saga heroes' lips at moments of crisis. These presumed voices from the past and their integration into the narrative present of the written sagas are the subject of this book. It investigates what motivated Icelandic writers to develop this particular mode, and what particular literary effects they achieved by it. It also looks at the various paths saga writers took within the evolving prosimetrum (a mixed verse and prose form), and explores their likely reasons for using poetry in diverse ways. Consideration is also given to the evolution of the genre in the context of the growing popularity in Iceland of romantic and legendary sagas. A final chapter is devoted to understanding why a minority of sagas of Icelanders do not use poetry at all in their narratives.g prosimetrum (a mixed verse and prose form), and explores their likely reasons for using poetry in diverse ways. Consideration is also given to the evolution of the genre in the context of the growing popularity in Iceland of romantic and legendary sagas. A final chapter is devoted to understanding why a minority of sagas of Icelanders do not use poetry at all in their narratives.g prosimetrum (a mixed verse and prose form), and explores their likely reasons for using poetry in diverse ways. Consideration is also given to the evolution of the genre in the context of the growing popularity in Iceland of romantic and legendary sagas. A final chapter is devoted to understanding why a minority of sagas of Icelanders do not use poetry at all in their narratives.g prosimetrum (a mixed verse and prose form), and explores their likely reasons for using poetry in diverse ways. Consideration is also given to the evolution of the genre in the context of the growing popularity in Iceland of romantic and legendary sagas. A final chapter is devoted to understanding why a minority of sagas of Icelanders do not use poetry at all in their narratives.