The Mappae Mundi of Medieval Iceland (Studies in Old Norse Literature)

An innovative, interdisciplinary approach to the understudied Icelandic mappae mundi.The Icelandic mappae mundi (maps of the world), drawn between c. 1225 and c. 1400, are contemporary with the breathtaking rise of its vernacular literary culture, and provide important insights into the Icelanders'capacious geographical awareness in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. However, in comparison with those drawn elsewhere, among them the English Hereford mappa mundi, they have received little critical attention. This book explores the Icelandic mappae mundi not only for what they reveal about the Icelanders'geographical awareness, but as complex registers of Icelandic national self-perception and imagining, situating them in their various literary, intellectual, and material contexts. It reveals fully how Icelanders used the cartographic medium to explore fantasies of national origin, their political structures, and place in Europe. The small canon of Icelandicworld maps is reproduced here photographically, with their texts presented alongside English translations to enable a wider understanding. DALE KEDWARDS is HM Queen Margrethe II Distinguished Research Fellow at the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute, the National Museum of Iceland, and the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle. The Icelandic mappae mundi (maps of the world), drawn between c. 1225 and c. 1400, are contemporary with the breathtaking rise of its vernacular literary culture, and provide important insights into the Icelanders' capacious geographical awareness in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. However, in comparison with those drawn elsewhere, among them the English Hereford mappa mundi, they have received little critical attention.
This book explores the Icelandic mappae mundi not only for what they reveal about the Icelanders' geographical awareness, but as complex registers of Icelandic national self-perception and imagining, situating them in their various literary, intellectual, and material contexts. It reveals fully how Icelanders used the cartographic medium to explore fantasies of national origin, their political structures, and place in Europe. The small canon of Icelandicworld maps is reproduced here photographically, with their texts presented alongside English translations to enable a wider understanding.

DALE KEDWARDS is HM Queen Margrethe II Distinguished Research Fellow at the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute, the National Museum of Iceland, and the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle. The Icelandic mappae mundi (maps of the world), drawn between c. 1225 and c. 1400, are contemporary with the breathtaking rise of its vernacular literary culture, and provide important insights into the Icelanders' capacious geographical awareness in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. However, in comparison with those drawn elsewhere, among them the English Hereford mappa mundi , they have received little critical attention. This book explores the Icelandic mappae mundi not only for what they reveal about the Icelanders' geographical awareness, but as complex registers of Icelandic national self-perception and imagining, situating them in their various literary, intellectual, and material contexts. It reveals fully how Icelanders used the cartographic medium to explore fantasies of national origin, their political structures, and place in Europe. The small canon of Icelandic world maps is reproduced here photographically, with their texts presented alongside English translations to enable a wider understanding. Table of Contents Introduction The Icelandic hemispherical world maps The Icelandic zonal map The two maps from Viey Iceland in Europe Forty Icelandic Priests and a Map of the World Conclusion Map Texts and Translations Bibliography The Icelandic mappae mundi (maps of the world), drawn between c. 1225 and c. 1400, are contemporary with the breathtaking rise of its vernacular literary culture, and provide important insights into the Icelanders' capacious geographical awareness in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. However, in comparison with those drawn elsewhere, among them the English Hereford mappa mundi, they have received little critical attention. 0 This book explores the Icelandic mappae mundi not only for what they reveal about the Icelanders' geographical awareness, but as complex registers of Icelandic national self-perception and imagining, situating them in their various literary, intellectual, and material contexts. It reveals fully how Icelanders used the cartographic medium to explore fantasies of national origin, their political structures, and place in Europe. The small canon of Icelandic world maps is reproduced here photographically, with their texts presented alongside English translations to enable a wider understanding Front cover 1 Contents 8 Illustrations 10 Acknowledgements 12 Abbreviations 14 Introduction 16 Chapter 1 The Icelandic Hemispherical World Maps 38 Chapter 2 The Icelandic Zonal Map 78 Chapter 3 The Two Maps from Viðey 116 Chapter 4 Iceland in Europe 134 Chapter 5 Forty Icelandic Priests and a Map of the World 162 Conclusion 194 Map Texts and Translations 200 The Icelandic Hemispherical World Maps 202 The Icelandic Zonal Map 208 The Larger Viðey Map 212 The Smaller Viðey Map 246 Bibliography 256 Index 272 Studies in Old Norse Literature 278