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Njal’s Saga Archive
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Blood Vengeance and the Depiction of Women in La leyenda de los siete infantes de Lara, The Nibelungenlied and Njal’s Saga
Posted on May 18, 2013 | No CommentsDespite countless manifestations in literature of many traditions and cultures, the archetype of vengeance as a theme is a common and current one -
Lawyers in the Old Icelandic Family Sagas: Heroes, Villains, and Authors
Posted on March 24, 2013 | No CommentsAlong with the accomplishments of skill in arms and verse-making, many a saga hero is credited with a knowledge of law and legal procedure. Many of these heroes are shown duelling with their enemiesin a series of legal disputes forming a series of chapters. -
The Wilderness of Dragons: The reception of dragons in thirteenth century Iceland
Posted on January 13, 2013 | No CommentsIn thirteenth century Iceland, however, the dragon consists of more than the mere imagining of man; it is a creature that is imbued with centuries of history, biology, theology, and mythology synthesized into an oftentimes wholly logical and other times completely fantastical beast. -
TROUBLESOME CHILDREN IN THE SAGAS OF ICELANDERS
Posted on December 28, 2012 | No CommentsIt must be stressed that the concept of childhood is certainly not an easy one. One is tempted to ask whether any generalisations about medieval or modern attitudes to childhood might not pose problems. -
INTERVIEW: Song of the Vikings: Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths
Posted on December 13, 2012 | No CommentsAn interview with author Nancy Brown on her latest medieval offering: "Song of the Vikings: Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths". -
Gender Roles and Symbolic Meaning in Njáls Saga
Posted on November 8, 2012 | No CommentsThere are many examples in Njáls saga of characters who fail to adhere to their assigned gender role and as a result perpetuate the chain of events that leads the saga to its grisly conclusion. -
“Ek Skal Hér Ráða”: Themes of Female Honor in the Icelandic Sagas
Posted on May 25, 2012 | No CommentsA major goal of this thesis is to not only interpret the representations of women from these sagas, but also to place these representations in the context of the time and the writers. Icelanders wrote these sagas a couple centuries after the Viking age ended and are based nearly entirely on oral tradition. -
Njáls saga as a novel: four aspects of rewriting
Posted on December 28, 2011 | No CommentsInspired by Njáls saga and Laxdæla saga, the novel Fire in the Ice by American novelist Dorothy James Roberts is one of numerous modern rewritings of classical and medieval literature. -
“Ek Skal Hér Ráða”: Themes of Female Honor in the Icelandic Sagas
Posted on August 28, 2011 | No Comments“Ek Skal Hér Ráða”: Themes of Female Honor in the Icelandic Sagas Rivenbark, Susan Elizabeth (University of North Carolina at Wilmington) M.A. Thesis, Appalachian State University, May (2011) Abstract There was...