Old Norse Mythology

An Introduction to the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-67283-0
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 186 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Old Norse Mythology is an accessible and multidisciplinary introduction to the field. It surveys the 13 most consequential Eddic poems and Snorri Sturluson’s Edda, with a text-by-text approach explaining the content of each, how they represent Old Norse mythology, and the relations between texts.

Old Norse mythology was written in medieval Iceland and Scandinavia a couple centuries after the conversion to Christianity. As such, Old Norse mythology is a literary phenomenon that was created based on cultural memories and attitudes, particularly among Icelandic scholars. Mathias Nordvig offers invaluable insight into the distinction between the historical religion that existed in pre-Christian Scandinavia and the literary treatment of its cultural material in medieval sources. The guide features helpful illustrations and a timeline of the development of Nordic-Germanic culture, as well as an end-of-book overview of skaldic poets, skaldic and Eddic poems, medieval texts, runic inscriptions, and picture stones mentioned throughout the book.

This book is an important companion to studies in Old Norse mythology, and an essential read for students of Norse literature, mythology, medieval history, history of religion, and medievalism.

Zielgruppe

Undergraduate Advanced and Undergraduate Core

Autoren/Hrsg.

Nordvig, Mathias

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Kinder- und Jugendliteratur, Märchen, Mythen, Sagen
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Skandinavische Literaturen
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Stoffe, Motive und Themen
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Europäische Literatur

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction
Source criticism and theory
Pre-Christian religions in Northern Europe
Old Norse mythology in medieval literature
The myths in poetry
Völuspá
Hávamál
Vafþrúðnismál
Grímnismál
Skírnismál
Lokasenna
Hymiskviða
Þrymskviða
Harbarðslióð
Alvíssmál
Völundarkviða
Heroic poems
Miscellaneous poems
The myths in prose
Snorri’s Edda
Prologue
Gylfaginning
Skáldskaparmál
Gesta Danorum
Heimskringla
Ynglinga saga
Saga excerpts
Short stories
Sörla þáttr
Ögmundar þáttr
Miscellaneous tales
Contemporary uses of Old Norse mythology

Über Autor(innen)

Mathias Nordvig is Associate Teaching Professor of Nordic Studies at University of Colorado-Boulder, where he has taught subjects on Old Norse mythology and the Viking Age since 2015. His books include Volcanoes in Old Norse Mythology and Ancestral North.