Eddic, Skaldic, and Beyond shines light on traditional divisions of Old Norse–Icelandic poetry and awakens the reader to work that blurs these boundaries. Many of the texts and topics taken up in these enlightening essays have been difficult to categorize and have consequently been overlooked or undervalued. The boundaries between genres (Eddic and Skaldic), periods (Viking Age, medieval, early modern), or cultures (Icelandic, Scandinavian, English, Continental) may not have been as sharp in the eyes and ears of contemporary authors and audiences as they are in our own. When questions of classification are allowed to fade into the background, at least temporarily, the poetry can be appreciated on its own terms. Some of the essays in this collection present new material, while others challenge long-held assumptions. They reflect the idea that poetry with “medieval” characteristics continued to be produced in Iceland well past the fifteenth century, and even beyond the Protestant Reformation in Iceland (1550). This superb volume, rich in up-to-date scholarship, makes little-known material accessible to a wide audience.
- Cover
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- The Sources of Merlínússpá: Gunnlaugr Leifsson’s Use of Texts Additional to the De gestis Britonum of Geoffrey of Monmouth
- The Genesis of Strengleikar: Scribes, Translators, and Place of Origin
- Einarr Skúlason, Snorri Sturluson, and the Post- Pagan Mythological Kenning
- Skáldskaparmál as a Tool for Composition of Pseudonymous Skaldic Poetry
- Háttatal Stanza 12 and the Divine Legitimation of Kings
- Creating Tradition: The Use of Skaldic Verse in Old Norse Historiography
- Rattus rattus as a Beast of Battle? Stanza 12 of Ragnars Saga
- Wit and Wisdom: The Worldview of the Old Norse-Icelandic Riddles and Their Relationship to Eddic Poetry
- Devotional Poetry at the End of the Middle Ages in Iceland
- Love and Death in the Icelandic Ballad
- Steinunn Finnsdóttir and Snækóngs Rímur
- Notes
- Bibliography
- List of Contributors
- Index
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