Iceland Imagined: Nature, Culture, and Storytelling in the North Atlantic (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books)

Iceland, Greenland, Northern Norway, and the Faroe Islands lie on the edges of Western Europe, in an area long portrayed by travelers as remote and exotic--its nature harsh, its people reclusive. Since the middle of the eighteenth century, however, this marginalized region has gradually become part of modern Europe, a transformation that is narrated in Karen Oslund's Iceland Imagined.This cultural and environmental history sweeps across the dramatic North Atlantic landscape, exploring its unusual geography, saga narratives, language, culture, and politics, and analyzing its emergence as a distinctive and symbolic part of Europe. The earliest visions of a wild frontier, filled with dangerous and unpredictable inhabitants, eventually gave way to images of beautiful, well-managed lands, inhabited by simple but virtuous people living close to nature. This transformation was accomplished by state-sponsored natural histories of Iceland which explained that the monsters described in medieval and Renaissance travel accounts did not really exist, and by artists who painted the Icelandic landscapes to reflect their fertile and regulated qualities. Literary scholars and linguists who came to Iceland and Greenland in the nineteenth century related the stories and the languages of the "wild North" to those of their home countries.Karen Oslund is assistant professor of world history at Towson University in Maryland. Iceland, Greenland, Northern Norway, and the Faroe Islands lie on the edges of Western Europe, in an area long portrayed by travelers as remote and exotic - its nature harsh, its people reclusive. Since the middle of the eighteenth century, however, this marginalized region has gradually become part of modern Europe, a transformation that is narrated in Karen Oslund's Iceland Imagined . This cultural and environmental history sweeps across the dramatic North Atlantic landscape, exploring its unusual geography, saga narratives, language, culture, and politics, and analyzing its emergence as a distinctive and symbolic part of Europe. The earliest visions of a wild frontier, filled with dangerous and unpredictable inhabitants, eventually gave way to images of beautiful, well-managed lands, inhabited by simple but virtuous people living close to nature. This transformation was accomplished by state-sponsored natural histories of Iceland which explained that the monsters described in medieval and Renaissance travel accounts did not really exist, and by artists who painted the Icelandic landscapes to reflect their fertile and regulated qualities. Literary scholars and linguists who came to Iceland and Greenland in the nineteenth century related the stories and the languages of the "wild North" to those of their home countries. Contents......Page 6 Map 1. The North Atlantic......Page 25 Map 2. Iceland......Page 54 Map 3. Greenland......Page 104 Map 4. The Faroe Islands......Page 142 Foreword: Amid the Mists of Northern Waters and Words......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 14 1. Icelandic Landscapes......Page 47 2. Nordic by Nature......Page 78 3. Mastering the World’s Edges......Page 99 4. Translating and Converting......Page 121 5. Reading Backward......Page 140 Epilogue: Whales and Men......Page 169 Notes......Page 188 Bibliography......Page 238 Index......Page 270 Contents 6 Map 1. The North Atlantic 25 Map 2. Iceland 54 Map 3. Greenland 104 Map 4. The Faroe Islands 142 Foreword: Amid the Mists of Northern Waters and Words 8 Acknowledgments 14 1. Icelandic Landscapes 47 2. Nordic by Nature 78 3. Mastering the World’s Edges 99 4. Translating and Converting 121 5. Reading Backward 140 Epilogue: Whales and Men 169 Notes 188 Bibliography 238 Index 270 9780295990835 University of Washington Press