Revisiting the Poetic Edda: Essays on Old Norse Heroic Legend (Routledge Medieval Casebooks)

Bringing alive the dramatic poems of Old Norse heroic legend, this new collection offers accessible, ground-breaking and inspiring essays which introduce and analyse the exciting legends of the two doomed Helgis and their valkyrie lovers; the dragon-slayer Siguror; Brynhildr the implacable shield-maiden; tragic Guorun and her children; Attila the Hun (from a Norse perspective!); and greedy King Frooi, whose name lives on in Tolkien's Frodo. The book provides a comprehensive introduction to the poems for students, taking a number of fresh, theoretically-sophisticated and productive approaches to the poetry and its characters. Contributors bring to bear insights generated by comparative study, speech act and feminist theory, queer theory and psychoanalytic theory (among others) to raise new, probing questions about the heroic poetry and its reception. Each essay is accompanied by up-to-date lists of further reading and a contextualisation of the poems or texts discussed in critical history. Drawing on the latest international studies of the poems in their manuscript context, and written by experts in their individual fields, engaging with the texts in their original language and context, but presented with full translations, this companion volume to The Poetic Edda: Essays on Old Norse Mythology (Routledge, 2002) is accessible to students and illuminating for experts. Essays also examine the afterlife of the heroic poems in Norse legendary saga, late medieval Icelandic poetry, the nineteenth-century operas of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen , and the recently published (posthumous) poem by Tolkien, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun . Bringing Alive The Dramatic Poems Of Old Norse Heroic Legend, This New Collection Offers Accessible, Ground-breaking And Inspiring Essays Which Introduce And Analyse The Exciting Legends Of The Two Doomed Helgis And Their Valkyrie Lovers; The Dragon-slayer Sigurðr; Brynhildr The Implacable Shield-maiden; Tragic Guðrún And Her Children; Attila The Hun (from A Norse Perspective!); And Greedy King Fróði, Whose Name Lives On In Tolkien's Frodo. The Book Provides A Comprehensive Introduction To The Poems For Students, Taking A Number Of Fresh, Theoretically-sophisticated And Productive Approaches To The Poetry And Its Characters. Contributors Bring To Bear Insights Generated By Comparative Study, Speech Act And Feminist Theory, Queer Theory And Psychoanalytic Theory (among Others) To Raise New, Probing Questions About The Heroic Poetry And Its Reception. Each Essay Is Accompanied By Up-to-date Lists Of Further Reading And A Contextualisation Of The Poems Or Texts Discussed In Critical History. Drawing On The Latest International Studies Of The Poems In Their Manuscript Context, And Written By Experts In Their Individual Fields, Engaging With The Texts In Their Original Language And Context, But Presented With Full Translations, This Companion Volume To The Poetic Edda: Essays On Old Norse Mythology (routledge, 2002) Is Accessible To Students And Illuminating For Experts. Essays Also Examine The Afterlife Of The Heroic Poems In Norse Legendary Saga, Late Medieval Icelandic Poetry, The Nineteenth-century Operas Of Richard Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelungen, And The Recently Published (posthumous) Poem By Tolkien, The Legend Of Sigurd And Gudrún. -- This Collection Visits The Dramatic Poems Of Old Norse Heroic Legend And Is A Companion Volume To The Poetic Edda: Essays On Old Norse Mythology (routledge, 2002), Considering Speech Act And Feminist Theory, Queer Theory And Psychoanalytic Theory (among Others) To Raise New Questions About The Poetry And Its Reception-- Heroic Homosociality And Homophobia In The Helgi Poems / David Clark -- Sigurðr, A Medieval Hero: A Manuscript-based Interpretation Of The Young Sigurðr Poems / Edgar Haimerl -- Dragons In The Eddas And In Early Nordic Art / Paul Acker -- Elegy In Eddic Poetry: Its Origin And Context / Daniel Sävborg -- Guðrunarkviða In Fyrsta: Guðrun's Healing Tears / Thomas D. Hill -- Gerðit Hon ... Sem Konor Aðrar: Women And Subversion In Eddic Heroic Poetry / Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir -- I Have Long Desired To Cure You Of Old Age: Sibling Drama In The Later Heroic Poems Of The Edda / Carolyne Larrington -- Mythological Motivation In Eddic Heroic Poetry: Interpreting Grottasöngr / Judy Quinn -- The Eddica Minora: A Lesser Poetic Edda? / Margaret Clunies Ross -- Fornaldarsögur And Heroic Legends Of The Edda / Elizabeth Ashman Rowe -- Wagner, Morris, And The Sigurd Figure: Confronting Freedom And Uncertainty / David Ashurst -- Writing Into The Gap: Tolkien's Reconstruction Of The Legends Of Sigurd And Gudrún / Tom Shippey. Edited By Paul Acker And Carolyne Larrington. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "Bringing alive the dramatic poems of Old Norse heroic legend, this new collection offers accessible, ground-breaking and inspiring essays which introduce and analyse the exciting legends of the two doomed Helgis and their valkyrie lovers; the dragon-slayer Sigurr; Brynhildr the implacable shield-maiden; tragic Gurun and her children; Attila the Hun (from a Norse perspective!); and greedy King Froi, whose name lives on in Tolkien's Frodo. The book provides a comprehensive introduction to the poems for students, taking a number of fresh, theoretically-sophisticated and productive approaches to the poetry and its characters. Contributors bring to bear insights generated by comparative study, speech act and feminist theory, queer theory and psychoanalytic theory (among others) to raise new, probing questions about the heroic poetry and its reception. Each essay is accompanied by up-to-date lists of further reading and a contextualisation of the poems or texts discussed in critical history. Drawing on the latest international studies of the poems in their manuscript context, and written by experts in their individual fields, engaging with the texts in their original language and context, but presented with full translations, this companion volume to The Poetic Edda: Essays on Old Norse Mythology (Routledge, 2002) is accessible to students and illuminating for experts. Essays also examine the afterlife of the heroic poems in Norse legendary saga, late medieval Icelandic poetry, the nineteenth-century operas of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, and the recently published (posthumous) poem by Tolkien, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun. "-- Provided by publisher Cover Title Copyright Contents List of Figures Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction: Revisiting the Poetic Edda Introduction to Chapter 1 1 Heroic Homosociality and Homophobia in the Helgi Poems Introduction to Chapters 2 and 3 2 Sigurðr, A Medieval Hero: A Manuscript-Based Interpretation of the “Young Sigurðr Poems” 3 Dragons in the Eddas and in Early Nordic Art Introduction to Chapters 4, 5 and 6 4 Elegy in Eddic Poetry: Its Origin and Context 5 Guðrúnarkviða in fyrsta: Guðrún’s Healing Tears 6 “Gerðit hon . . . sem konor aðrar”: Women and Subversion in Eddic Heroic Poetry Introduction to Chapter 7 7 “I Have Long Desired to Cure You of Old Age”: Sibling Drama in the Later Heroic Poems of the Edda Introduction to Chapter 8 8 Mythological Motivation in Eddic Heroic Poetry: Interpreting Grottasöngr 9 The Eddica minora: A Lesser Poetic Edda? 10 Fornaldarsögur and Heroic Legends of the Edda 11 Wagner, Morris, and the Sigurd Figure: Confronting Freedom and Uncertainty 12 Writing into the Gap: Tolkien’s Reconstruction of the Legends of Sigurd and Gudrún Contributors Index