Selected by Choice Magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title From Odysseus to Aeneas, from Beowulf to King Arthur, from the Mahâbhârata to the Ossetian "Nart" tales, epic heroes and their stories have symbolized the power of the human imagination. Drawing on diverse disciplines including classics, anthropology, psychology, and literary studies, this product of twenty years' scholarship provides a detailed typology of the hero in Western myth: birth, parentage, familial ties, sexuality, character, deeds, death, and afterlife. Dean A. Miller examines the place of the hero in the physical world (wilderness, castle, prison cell) and in society (among monarchs, fools, shamans, rivals, and gods). He looks at the hero in battle and quest; at his political status; and at his relationship to established religion. The book spans Western epic traditions, including Greek, Roman, Nordic, and Celtic, as well as the Indian and Persian legacies. A large section of the book also examines the figures who modify or accompany the hero: partners, helpers (animals and sometimes monsters), foes, foils, and even antitypes. The Epic Hero provides a comprehensive and provocative guide to epic heroes, and to the richly imaginative tales they inhabit.

The main gun on an M109A6 Paladin can fire up to four rounds every minute. Each round can travel up to 15 miles (24 kilometers). The Paladin has been the backbone of United States Army artillery, providing cover to ground troops and helping the Army complete missions for over 20 years. Striking photos and informative text make reading this title a thrill for any young reader.

Herein is a collection of, at least, 23 illustrated, epic romances and legends from the middle ages. This volume contains the ever popular the Nibelung Hero as well as the tales of Beowulf, Roland the Paladin and Tristram and Isolde amongst the many recounted. The majority of these myths and legends have Northern European, British, Norse and Germanic origins, with the others sourced from the other regions of Europe. All are rich with cultural imagery and have captivating narratives. The virtues of knightly valour, so common to folklore and legends, are present in many of the stories, wrapped around and intertwined with the customs of royal courts, as we have come to know them. Fair maidens, and the practices of chivalry and courtship in their medieval form are a recurring theme. Enemies and nemeses, whether human or mythical beast are presented as vicious and foreboding, but, as always, a knight in shining armour on a white stallion sallies forth to save the damsel in distress and the day – well most times, at least. Originally published in 1884, this collection of stories was compiled by scholar of Medieval literature Wilhelm Wägner. The widely ranging stories within were chosen for their vivid imagery and emotive punch. ================ KEYWORDS/TAGS: Epic romances, tales, legends, middle ages, myths, sagas, wilhelm wagner, love, lust, knights in shining armour, Amelung, Kindred Legends, Langobardian, Alboin, Rosamund, King Rother, Ortnit, Hugdieterich, Wolfdieterich, King Samson, Dietwart, Dietrich Of Bern, Hildebrand, Comrades, action, Adventure, Faithful Ally, Ermenrich, Harlungs, King Etzel, Walter, Wasgenstein, Hildegunde, Reussen, Battle Of Ravenna, Going Home, Nibelung Hero, Siegfried, Youth, Burgundy, Dragonstone, dragon, Wooing, Brunhild, Treason, Death, Woe, Hunland, Lament, Hegeling Legend, Hagen, Hettel, Gudrun, Queen Gerlind, Victory, Beowulf, Grendel, Bold Diver, She-Wolf, Sea, Fight With The Dragon, Carolingian Legends, Children Of Haymon, Roland, Bugle, horn, William Of Orange, Legends Of King Arthur, Holy Grail, Titurel, Percival, Lohengrin, Tristram, Isolde, Tannhäuser

In the nineteenth century, epic poetry in the Homeric style was widely seen as an ancient and anachronistic genre, yet Victorian authors worked to recreate it for the modern world. Simon Dentith explores the relationship between epic and the evolution of Britain's national identity in the nineteenth century up to the apparent demise of all notions of heroic warfare in the catastrophe of the First World War. Paradoxically, writers found equivalents of the societies which produced Homeric or Northern epics not in Europe, but on the margins of empire and among its subject peoples. Dentith considers the implications of the status of epic for a range of nineteenth-century writers, including Walter Scott, Matthew Arnold, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, William Morris and Rudyard Kipling. He also considers the relationship between epic poetry and the novel and discusses late nineteenth-century adventure novels, concluding with a brief survey of epic in the twentieth century.

The Italian romance epic of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, with its multitude of characters, complex plots, and roots in medieval Carolingian epic and Arthurian chivalric romance, was a form popular with courtly and urban audiences. In the hands of writers such as Boiardo, Ariosto, and Tasso, works of remarkable sophistication that combined high seriousness and low comedy were created. Their works went on to influence Cervantes, Milton, Ronsard, Shakespeare, and Spenser. In this volume instructors will find ideas for teaching the Italian Renaissance romance epic along with its adaptations in film, theater, visual art, and music. An extensive resources section locates primary texts online and lists critical studies, anthologies, and reference works.