Peace Unwoven: Transgressive Women in Old Icelandic Heroic and Mythological Literature, and in Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta Danorum
‘To that end I have done all things, so that King Siggeir should go to his death. I have also granted so much to happen so that vengeance be brought about, that for me there is no choice of life. I shall now die with King Siggeir willingly, while I married him unwilling.’
‘í litklæðum’ – Coloured Clothes in Medieval Scandinavian Literature and Archaeology
What do we mean by ‘coloured clothes’? Or rather, what did the saga writers mean by their term litklæði?
The Viking Sagas to be aired on BBC 4
The BBC will be airing a show examining Iceland’s medieval history this week. The Viking Sagas will first be see on Tuesday, May…
The Werewolf in Medieval Icelandic Literature
In northern regions much prominence is given to two kinds of shape-shifting: the ability to change into either a bear or a wolf, although the latter seems to have been more popular.
The Colour Green in Medieval Icelandic Literature: Natural, Supernatural, Symbolic?
The Colour Green in Medieval Icelandic Literature: Natural, Supernatural, Symbolic? By Anna Zanchi Paper given at the Thirteenth International Saga Conference (2006) Introduction: According…
Preserving the body Christian: the motif of “recapitation” in Ireland’s medieval hagiography
Preserving the body Christian: the motif of “recapitation” in Ireland’s medieval hagiography Johnson, Máire The Heroic Age A Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe Issue 10—Saints…
Some observations on martyrdom in post-conversion Scandinavia
Some observations on martyrdom in post-conversion Scandinavia By Haki Antonsson Saga Book, Vol.28 (2004) Introduction: The Irish Cogadh Caedhal Re Gallaibh (‘The War…
Viking weather-vane practices in medieval France
This paper discusses the apparent influence and, even, spread of Viking weather-vane practices to countries outside the Scandinavian area.
The Mythical Method in Song and Saga, Prose and Verse: Part One
The Mythical Method in Song and Saga, Prose and Verse: Part One Nohrnberg, James C. Arthuriana 21.1 (2011) Abstract T.S. Eliot’s ‘mythical method’ is…
Discretion and deceit: a re-examination of a military stratagem in Egils saga
Discretion and deceit: a re-examination of a military stratagem in Egils saga By Ian McDougall The Middle Ages in the Northwest: papers presented…
Female Experience and Authorial Intention in Laxdœla saga
Female Experience and Authorial Intention in Laxdœla saga By Loren Auerbach Saga Book, Vol.25 (1998) Introduction: Much has been made of Laxdœla saga…
Egil’s Bones
Egil’s Bones Byock, Jesse L. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN,Vol. 272, January (1995) Abstract An Icelandic saga tells of a Viking who had unusual, menacing features, including…
Sigurðar saga fóts (The Saga of Sigurðr Foot)
This is the first English translation of the short Icelandic romance Sigurðar saga fóts, with an introduction presenting the evidence for its dating and immediate literary context.
Nítíða saga: A Normalised Icelandic Text and Translation
Nítíða saga: A Normalised Icelandic Text and Translation By Sheryl McDonald Leeds Studies in English, n.s., 40 (2009) Introduction: Nítíða saga is one…
Heroes of the Valley
Heroes of the Valley By Jonathan Stroud Publisher:Hyperion Books for Children, Nov 22, 2010 ISBN:978-1423109662 Summary Halli Sveinsson has grown up in the…
A Viking in Shining Armour?: Vikings and chivalry in the fornaldarsögur
A Viking in Shining Armour?: Vikings and chivalry in the fornaldarsögur By Carolyne Larrington Viking and Medieval Scandinavia, Vol. 4 (2008) Introduction: When…
Medieval scholar to take one-year trip to explore Iceland’s sagas
A Cambridge scholar is starting a one-year journey across Iceland, to examine the history and significance of Icelandic sagas. Dr Emily Lethbridge, who…
Myth, Psychology, and Society in Grettis saga
Myth, Psychology, and Society in Grettis saga By Russell Poole Alvíssmál Vol.11 (2004) Introduction: The saga of Grettir Ásmundarson is exceptionally rich in…
Hamhleypur in fiorskfirdinga saga: a postclassical ironisation of myth?
Hamhleypur in fiorskfirdinga saga: a postclassical ironisation of myth? By Phil Cardew Paper given at the 11th International Saga Conference (2000) Introduction: The notion of…
Myth and Religion in the Poetry of a Reluctant Convert
Myth and Religion in the Poetry of a Reluctant Convert By Diana Whaley Paper given at the 11th International Saga Conference (2000) Introduction: Great exceptions…
Journey to the Antipodes. Cosmological and Mythological Themes in Alexanders Saga
Journey to the Antipodes. Cosmological and Mythological Themes in Alexanders Saga By David Ashurst Paper given at the 11th International Saga Conference (2000)…
Law and the (Un)dead: medieval models for understanding the hauntings in Eyrbyggja saga
Eyrbyggja saga alone, then, presents modern readers with at least three possible conceptions of the revenants nature.
Commercial Travel and Hospitality in the Kings’ sagas
The article argues that trade and hospitality were inseparable until the High Middle Ages; merchants had to visit the emporium in the role of guest in order to have the protection of the local chieftain or lord.
A Layered Landscape: How the Family Sagas Mapped Medieval Iceland
In this paper I discuss three ways in which the family sagas inscribed cognitive maps over Iceland: firstly, sagas explain how places received their names through the people who lived and acted there; secondly, saga narratives traversing the named landscape act to imprint it further with human meaning; and finally, Íslendingasögur refer us to physical evidence of saga action in the landscape, asserting it can ‘still be seen today’.
The Skull and Bones in Egils Saga: A Viking, A Grave, and Paget’s Disease
Both a literary creation and a historical figure, Egill is an intriguing character about whom
to raise the long perplexing question of saga veracity