Medievalists.net » Poetic Edda http://www.medievalists.net Where the Middle Ages Begin Sun, 06 Dec 2015 23:06:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.9 Understanding Grettir as an Ethical Hero: Comparing Havamal and Grettir’s Saga http://www.medievalists.net/2014/09/06/understanding-grettir-ethical-hero-comparing-havamal-grettirs-saga/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/09/06/understanding-grettir-ethical-hero-comparing-havamal-grettirs-saga/#comments Sat, 06 Sep 2014 13:15:02 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=52357 The Icelandic family sagas are replete with heroes, fighting men and strong women who stood with their teeth to the wind and carved a life for themselves out of an inhospitable world

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/09/06/understanding-grettir-ethical-hero-comparing-havamal-grettirs-saga/feed/ 0 Advice from a Norse God: Wisdom from the Hávamál http://www.medievalists.net/2014/08/24/advice-norse-god-wisdom-havamal/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/08/24/advice-norse-god-wisdom-havamal/#comments Sun, 24 Aug 2014 14:00:14 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=52078 The Hávamál (Sayings of the High One) is part of the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems that survive in a 13th century manuscript.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/08/24/advice-norse-god-wisdom-havamal/feed/ 0 The Colors of the Rainbow in Snorri’s Edda http://www.medievalists.net/2014/02/04/the-colors-of-the-rainbow-in-snorris-edda/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/02/04/the-colors-of-the-rainbow-in-snorris-edda/#comments Tue, 04 Feb 2014 22:04:25 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=47306 In the second part of his Edda, the Gylfaginning, Snorri Sturluson gives a systematic account of Norse mythology from the creation of the world to its end.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/02/04/the-colors-of-the-rainbow-in-snorris-edda/feed/ 0 The Extreme Emotional Life of Völundr the Elf http://www.medievalists.net/2014/02/01/the-extreme-emotional-life-of-volundr-the-elf/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/02/01/the-extreme-emotional-life-of-volundr-the-elf/#comments Sat, 01 Feb 2014 05:18:45 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=47190 In this article, my aim is to determine the function of elves in Old Norse narratives from the thirteenth century by concentrating on the figure of Völundr, the protagonist of Völundarkviða, who to my mind is the most important Old Norse elf.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/02/01/the-extreme-emotional-life-of-volundr-the-elf/feed/ 0 Viking Age Queens: The example of Oseberg http://www.medievalists.net/2013/09/30/viking-age-queens-the-example-of-oseberg/ http://www.medievalists.net/2013/09/30/viking-age-queens-the-example-of-oseberg/#comments Mon, 30 Sep 2013 12:04:43 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=43977 The Oseberg ship burial is a Viking Age burial mound containing a double female inhumation, which is located in the Oslofjord area in Norway.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2013/09/30/viking-age-queens-the-example-of-oseberg/feed/ 0 Dead and famous, or unknown but alive? Heroism and common sense in medieval Scandinavian and African tradition http://www.medievalists.net/2013/07/09/dead-and-famous-or-unknown-but-alive-heroism-and-common-sense-in-medieval-scandinavian-and-african-tradition/ http://www.medievalists.net/2013/07/09/dead-and-famous-or-unknown-but-alive-heroism-and-common-sense-in-medieval-scandinavian-and-african-tradition/#comments Wed, 10 Jul 2013 00:13:46 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=42037 Although some scholars see heroism as a characteristic of the whole Germanic tradition, a careful study of Scandinavian literature reveals that this is not the case

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2013/07/09/dead-and-famous-or-unknown-but-alive-heroism-and-common-sense-in-medieval-scandinavian-and-african-tradition/feed/ 0 What did Dragons look like for the Vikings? http://www.medievalists.net/2013/06/16/what-did-dragons-look-like-for-the-vikings/ http://www.medievalists.net/2013/06/16/what-did-dragons-look-like-for-the-vikings/#comments Sun, 16 Jun 2013 05:01:09 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=41665 While the modern image of the dragons often depicts a beast that has four legs, leathery wings and breathes fire, the medieval image of the creature could be very different. In the article, 'Dragons in the Eddas and in Early Nordic Art,' Paul Ackey shows that the Vikings and Norse society had their own ideas of what dragons looked like.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2013/06/16/what-did-dragons-look-like-for-the-vikings/feed/ 0 The Elder Edda Revisited: Past and Present Performances of the Icelandic Eddic Poems http://www.medievalists.net/2013/01/18/the-elder-edda-revisited-past-and-present-performances-of-the-icelandic-eddic-poems-2/ http://www.medievalists.net/2013/01/18/the-elder-edda-revisited-past-and-present-performances-of-the-icelandic-eddic-poems-2/#comments Fri, 18 Jan 2013 06:44:53 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=38781 What first struck me when I started my research on the Elder Edda is that, during the past four decades, several theatre practitioners have experimented with presentations of some of the poems and demonstrated that they can be highly effective in dramatic performance.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2013/01/18/the-elder-edda-revisited-past-and-present-performances-of-the-icelandic-eddic-poems-2/feed/ 0 Re-forging the smith: an interdisciplinary study of smithing motifs in Völuspá and Völundarkviða http://www.medievalists.net/2012/08/29/re-forging-the-smith-an-interdisciplinary-study-of-smithing-motifs-in-voluspa-and-volundarkvida/ http://www.medievalists.net/2012/08/29/re-forging-the-smith-an-interdisciplinary-study-of-smithing-motifs-in-voluspa-and-volundarkvida/#comments Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:21:37 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=35236 In 
this
 dissertation
 I
 examine 
key
 smithing 
motifs 
in 
the 
eddic 
poems 
Võluspá
 and
 Võlundarkviña 
in
 relation 
to 
the 
socio-cultural 
role 
of 
smithing
techniques 
and 
sites 
in 
early 
medieval
 Scandinavia.



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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2012/08/29/re-forging-the-smith-an-interdisciplinary-study-of-smithing-motifs-in-voluspa-and-volundarkvida/feed/ 0 Odin and his Brothers: Common Threads of the Odinic Tradition http://www.medievalists.net/2011/03/21/odin-and-his-brothers-common-threads-of-the-odinic-tradition/ http://www.medievalists.net/2011/03/21/odin-and-his-brothers-common-threads-of-the-odinic-tradition/#comments Mon, 21 Mar 2011 06:44:35 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=18834 Within the Poetic Edda Odin, Lodur (Loki) and Haenir are responsible for the creation of humanity in Nordic mythology.

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