1. From Lawspeaker to Lawbook A Power Struggle between the Church and Secular Leaders? [1] There can be little doubt that the rich and varied secular literary works that flowed from the pens of the writers of medieval Iceland in their vernacular tongue can only be explained against a background of […]
Introduction. Written Texts and Oral Traditions The Medieval World View and the Individuality of Iceland Life in Scandinavia lies beyond the horizons of most courses in medieval studies, based as they are almost entirely on ecclesiastical sources from continental Europe. To be sure, specialists in the field are aware of the […]
for Saswati and Pratichi Preface ‘That’s my cue,’ says my father when he wants to get in with one of his stories and link it in with something someone else has just said apropos of something completely different. My interest in the oral telling of stories and reciting of verses goes […]
Foreword The relationship between oral tradition and literary authorship is a classic bone of contention in the study of early epic narrative. Works like the Iliad, Beowulf, La Chanson de Roland and Njáls saga have all been interpreted as orally transmitted texts, but they have also been interpreted as literary artifacts composed […]
Series Foreword This series is dedicated to the empirical study of oral traditions in their historical contexts. The rigorous methods of investigation developed by Milman Parry and Albert Lord, as documented in Lord’s The Singer of Tales (Harvard University Press 1960; Harvard Studies in Comparative Literature 24. Second edition 2000, with an […]
Ymir in India, China—and Beyond Michael Witzel, Harvard University Abstract: In examining the Old Norse mythological creation story about Ymir, that is, the creation of the world from the body of a primordial giant, from a broadly comparative perspective, this essay refers to a variety of creation myths, some […]
Baldr and Iraj: Murdered and Avenged Emily Lyle, University of Edinburgh Abstract: Comparing the Old Norse myth about Baldr with the Persian Iraj story, this essay deals with methodological considerations about comparativism and structural models as heuristic tools for reconstructing ancient traditions. The essay points to common aspects of […]
Vermin Gone Bad in Medieval Scandinavian, Persian, and Irish Traditions Joseph Falaky Nagy, Harvard University Abstract: The tales in medieval Scandinavian literature centered on the legendary entrepreneur Ragnarr loðbrók, his wives, and his sons famously feature several serpentine motifs. The narrative construct of a family literally and metaphorically bound […]
Óðinn, Charms, and Necromancy: Hávamál 157 in its Nordic and European Contexts Stephen A. Mitchell, Harvard University Abstract: Óðinn claims in stanza 157 of Hávamál that he is able to carve and color runes such that a hanged man will walk and talk with him. In this essay the […]
Creation from Fire in Snorri’s Edda: The Tenets of a Vernacular Theory of Geothermal Activity in Old Norse Myth Mathias Nordvig, University of Colorado, Boulder Abstract: This article argues that Snorri’s version of the creation myth in Snorri’s Edda contains imagery from volcanic activity described in terms of a […]