Essay Question: To what extent do the authors of Gísla saga Súrssonar and Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar critique Icelandic law and the sentence of outlawry?
Essay Question: Why do the authors of the skáldasögur (Bjarnar saga Hítdœlakappa, Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar, Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu, Hallfreðar saga, and Kormáks saga) incorporate poetry in their sagas?
Essay Question: How is the figure of the poet presented in the skáldasögur (Bjarnar saga Hítdœlakappa, Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar, Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu, Hallfreðar saga, and Kormáks saga)?
Essay Title: ‘There is ample evidence in the eddic corpus of a distinct genre of Odinic wisdom dialogue. The poems belonging to this genre are uniform in their themes and formulaic in their execution.’ Discuss.
Essay Title: ‘The primary value of eddic poetry and Snorri Sturluson’s Edda is located not in their aesthetic accomplishments but in their status as mythological sources.’ Discuss.
Essay Title: ‘The incorporation of Norse mythological material in Beowulf is nothing more than a random assortment of half-remembered stories.’ Discuss.
A translation into Spanish of the Old Norse poem Völundarkviða from the Poetic Edda by Josefina Troncoso (@kriemhildsrache on Twitter), a 3rd year English student at Durham University. This is one of the mythological poems, and is related to the…
A translation of the Old Norse poem Völundarkviða from the Poetic Edda by Josefina Troncoso (@kriemhildsrache on Twitter), a 3rd year English student at Durham University. This is one of the mythological poems, and is related to the tale of…
Short clip of a performance of 'Grípisspá' (Grípir's Prophecy) by the ensemble Moirai (Hanna Marti vocals, and Mara Winter, flute and vocals). Moirai, founded in Reykjavik in 2015,specializes in the music of the Early and High…
A performance of the Eddic Poem 'Helreið Brynhildar' (Brynhild's Ride to Hel) by the ensemble Moirai (Hanna Marti vocals, and Mara Winter, flute and vocals). Moirai, founded in Reykjavik in 2015,specializes in the music of the Early and High…
Handout on Laxdœla saga saga (The Saga of the People of Laxárdalr) by Joanne Shortt Butler, including extracts from the saga, a family tree and reading list.
A short handout produced by Joanne Shortt Butler on the topic of Ari Thorgilsson’s Book of the Icelanders and Icelandic Identity, including a short reading list, questions, and a glossary of terms and characters.
A handout produced by Joanne Shortt Butler on the origins of sagas: composition and tradition, including a timeline, extracts from sagas, and a reading list.
A handout produced by Joanne Shortt Butler on the Old Norse literature topic of 'The Saga of Hrafnkel Frey’s Godi', including background reading, questions to think about, and a glossary of terms and letters.