Norse Poetry Research Articles

Writing Down the Myths ed. by Joseph Falaky Nagy (review)

Reviewed by: Writing Down the Myths ed. by Joseph Falaky Nagy Jane-Anne Denison Nagy, Joseph Falaky, ed., Writing Down the Myths (Cursor Mundi, 17), Turnhout, Brepols, 2013; hardback; pp. x, 326; 12 b/w illustrations, 2 b/w tables; R.R.P. €80.00; ISBN 9782503542188. Writing Down the Myths contains a collection of recent scholarly research relating to mythography. Rather than focusing on the myths themselves, each chapter aims to do exactly what the title says, that is, critically address the activity of writing down the myths, together with how this has affected their preservation, interpretation, and modern understanding. Writing Down the Myths does not restrict itself to one period of time or one geographical area. Instead, its chapters demonstrate that the questions faced by scholars exist across the field of study, irrespective of place or time, and this strengthens the academic reliability of the book. While the chapters cover a wide range of themes, all chapters will be of interest to any scholar interested in myths and their origins. For medievalists and early modern historians, approximately half of the volume is of specific significance. Among these, several stand out. The first such chapter is that by Jan Ziokowski, ‘Medieval Latin Mythography as Death and Resurrection of Myth’, which argues that myth and mythography have been underrepresented in medieval Latin studies at the expense of classical works. Ziokowski also considers the link between the survival, and more correctly, non-survival, of myth as a result of religious change. ‘Snorri Sturlason and the Construction of Norse Mythography’, by Margaret Clunies Ross, aims to place Snorri Sturlason’s writing in its medieval context through a discussion of its sources and reception in both Iceland and in mainland Europe. The chapter includes an interesting look at the Edda as an educational device during Snorri’s life, with a suggestion that it was in fact more useful in teaching the art of Norse poetry than as a record of Norse mythology. The chapter also argues that Snorri’s work was more creative than previously recognised, even suggesting that the Edda is one of the most original works of the period. [End Page 240] Gísli Sigurðsson’s chapter, ‘Thor and the Midgard Serpent: Whom Should We Read, Snorri or Finnur?’, is of particular note for readers with an interest in the study of the supernatural in texts. Sigurðsson considers the problems associated with determining the extent to which the sources represent traditional knowledge and beliefs, against that which was created by those who first recorded the texts in writing. Again, the chapter also recognises the poetic value of such myths. While the title of Stephanie W. Jamison’s chapter, ‘India and the Graphy O’ Myth’, suggests that it is solely concerned with Indian myths and their origins, this is far from the case. This chapter begins with an enlightening discussion of the similarities in the first written recordings of myths across cultures. Jamison’s main discussion centres on the Rig Veda, to demonstrate how the generally accepted models of mythology and mythography do not fit ancient and medieval Indian texts. This thought-provoking chapter challenges readers to think about whether the sources within their own area of study actually fit within set guidelines. Other chapters in the book utilise examples as wide-ranging as Hittite, Greek, Roman, Celtic, and early modern Japanese mythology to demonstrate their arguments, and while the book is written to a high academic standard, the reader does not need to possess expert knowledge in these cultures to be able to appreciate the chapters. Individual authors are successful in their discussions of the problems and theories of the study of mythography related to their own particular area of research, while still providing interesting ideas that could be extended into others. Overall, the volume is successful in creating a starting point for ongoing scholarship and discussion related to the activity of writing down myths. Anyone interested in the links between history, mythology, and the action of writing down of myths across all cultures and times will find Writing Down the Myths an interesting read. Jane-Anne Denison The University of Highlands and Islands Copyright © 2014 Jane-Anne Denison...

Late Placement of the Finite Verb in Old NorseFornyrðislagMeter

In Old Norse poetry, there is a syntactic difference between bound clauses (subordinate clauses and main clauses introduced by a con-junction) and unbound clauses (main clauses not introduced by a conjunction). In bound clauses, the finite verb is often placed late in the sentence, violating the V2 requirement upheld in prose. In unbound clauses, the V2 requirement is normally adhered to, but infornyrðislagpoetry, late placement of the finite verb is occasionally found. Hans Kuhn explained these instances as a result of influence from West Germanic poetry. The present article argues that these instances can be explained as a remnant of the Proto-Norse word order, and that this explanation is better supported by the data.*

Half beast–half man: hybrid figures in animal art

This paper seeks to explore ideas about the human-animal relationship prevailing in Scandinavian, pre-Christian society from the perspective of representations in Nordic animal art. After an introduction on art, meaning and context, it focuses on expressions of hybridity. Hybrid motifs are represented in the animal art in complex and dense expressions argued to reveal a basic transformative logic which challenges and transcends settled categories. The investment of creativity in these motifs, an investment which is argued also to be present in the periphrastic style of Old Norse poetry, is taken as an indication of their essentiality in respect of ideas of a transgressive relationship between animals and humans.

Poetry on Christian Subjects. Part 1: The Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries. Part 2: The Fourteenth Century (review)

Reviewed by: Poetry on Christian Subjects. Part 1: The Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries. Part 2: The Fourteenth Century John Kennedy Clunies Ross, Margaret, ed., Poetry on Christian Subjects. Part 1: The Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries. Part 2: The Fourteenth Century (Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages, 7), Turnhout, Brepols, 2007; cloth; pp. lxix, 1040; R.R.P. €120.00; ISBN 9782503518930 (in 2 vols.). Poetry on Christian Subjects is the first publication of a planned nine volumes which will present most of the surviving Old Norse poetry from before about 1400. Only the poems of the Poetic Edda and some closely associated texts fall outside the scope of the project ‘Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages’, a major international initiative with its administrative headquarters in the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Sydney. It is intended that electronic as well as print editions will appear. This volume, designated Number 7, presents twenty-eight items edited by fifteen contributing editors, including many of the most distinguished figures in the field of skaldic studies. These poems of Christian piety, composed between the mid-twelfth century and the early 1400s, vary in length from 1 to 149 stanzas. Most are substantial works, although almost all are, in the general editor’s words, ‘relatively neglected and unappreciated’ (p. liii). The best known are probably the justly celebrated Lilja, Einar Skulason’s Geisli, and the powerful but notoriously difficult Sólarljóð. After the general introduction and other preliminary matter, each item has its own brief introduction. The normalized text of each stanza is followed by an arrangement in prose order of the Norse text (or in the case of two curious stanzas a Latin text in skaldic metre), a clear English translation which explains the poetic kennings (periphrases), detailed information about manuscripts and their readings, details about the appearance of the stanza in previous editions, notably the hitherto standard Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning of Finnur Jónsson (1912–15), notes where relevant on the prose context of the poem, and notes designed primarily to elucidate the meaning. A reviewer, inevitably, can note minor blemishes, such as the use of the obsolete íslenzkum on page xi instead of the correct íslenskum (see p. xv); the omission from their proper alphabetical places of the sigla ‘Anon. Gyð’, ‘Anon. Heil’, and ‘Anon. Hsv’ in the list ‘Sigla used in this volume’; and the unhelpfulness of some of the bibliography entries, such as the one reading simply ‘GBpB = Guðmundar saga biskups (‘B’). In Bskp, 559–60426, 60822– [End Page 206] 136’, with no explanation of Bskp. But such flaws are a very minor element in what gives abundant evidence of being a tour de force of meticulous scholarship. Unlike most publications which might merit that description, Poetry on Christian Subjects is also an exceptionally clear and attractive work, which makes available to specialists and non-specialists a variety of poems that cast an intriguing light on intellectual currents in medieval Iceland and on Iceland’s relationships with other medieval societies and literatures. John Kennedy School of Information Studies Charles Sturt University Copyright © 2009 John Kennedy

A History of Old Norse Poetry and Poetics. Margaret Clunies Ross

<i>A History of Old Norse Poetry and Poetics</i>. Margaret Clunies Ross

A History of Old Norse Poetry and Poetics

A History of Old Norse Poetry and Poetics

A History of Old Norse Poetry and Poetics (review)

A History of Old Norse Poetry and Poetics (review)

A History of Old Norse Poetry and Poetics

A History of Old Norse Poetry and Poetics

Hel in Early Norse Poetry

Hel in Early Norse Poetry

Bard of Iceland: Jónas Hallgrímsson, Poet and Scientist by Dick Ringler (review)

MLRy 99.2, 2004 555 unification has fundamentally affected Jewish identity in Germany. These premisses are explored in fivethematic blocks. The firstsection, on architecture and Jewishness, analyses the history ofsynagoguesin Germany. While nineteenth-century eclecticism, which often combined neo-Gothic with neo-Islamic elements, reflectedthe attempt to combine a Jewish religious identity with the idea of Germanness, afterthe Holocaust the prayer rooms of the immediate post-war period were considered to be strictly provisional. However, after the foundation of the Central Council of Jews in 1950 a second phase began which resulted in the building of eighteen synagogues in the old Federal Republic between 1950 and 1967. Focusing on the demands of Jewish ritual, these buildings tap into various modern architectural styles without any reference to the Holocaust. A fundamental reorientation occurred in the 1980s when a number of synagogues were built that incorporate the rupture of the Holocaust structurally into their design; a prominent example is the 'Jiidisches Gemeindezentrum Frankfurt am Main', built by the architects Salomon Korn and Gerhard Basler. The transition from communicative to cultural memory is the central concern of the following sections, which deal with sites of memories, remembrance days, and Jewish life in Germany. Here Korn argues that the historicization of the Holocaust may help to objectify German-Jewish relations and ultimately overcome the classic distribution of roles between the descendants of perpetrators and victims. Engaging with the ongoing debate on 'Normalitat', Korn rightly observes that it can only be understood in terms of a historically dynamic reality (p. 163). For Korn this has a twofold consequence: German-Jewish relations cannot continue to be negotiated through a transgenerational sense of guilt and feelings of shame; nor can Jews in a unified Germany define their Jewish identity solely negatively in terms of the Holo? caust and the desire to leave Germany forgood. According to Korn, Jews in Germany are well on their way to becoming German Jews. The diversification of Jewishness in Germany since the 1990s also means that the Central Council of Jews will have to redefine its own vision and mission. A section on Korn's own interventions in the debate on the Holocaust memorial follows. Analysing the 'Gedenkdilemma' (p. 221) in the country of the former perpetrators, he nevertheless criticizes the decision explicitly to exclude non-Jewish victims from the Holocaust memorial. The book finishes with a measured assessment of the Walser-Bubis debate. Korn's book thus offers a wide range of highly illuminating contributions to the ongoing negotiation of German-Jewish relations from a Jewish perspective; fur? thermore, the essays on synagogue architecture, which are accompanied by many photographic reproductions, add an interesting chapter to the history of Jewish life in post-war Germany. In short, this collection of engaging and well-written essays should be ofgreat interest to scholars working in contemporary German and GermanJewish Studies. University College Dublin Anne Fuchs Bardof Iceland: JonasHallgrimsson, Poet and Scientist. By Dick Ringler. Madison: UniversityofWisconsin Press. 2002. xiv + 474pp. ISBN 0-299-17720-3 (hbk). A long and loving life's work, Bard ofIceland presents almost all the reader needs to know to understand and appreciate the life and achievement of Jonas Hallgrimsson, the young poet and scientist who brought Icelandic poetry into the modern world; composer of the first Icelandic sonnet, he never abandoned completely the tech? niques and style of traditional Norse poetry. Born the son of a parson in Northern Iceland, Jonas followed the usual but difficultpath forpromising young men in early nineteenth-century Iceland, attending the Latin school near the capital, where he 556 Reviews was exposed to Greek, Latin, and theology, and then studying in Copenhagen, where traditionally 'Icelanders became Europeans'. Here he encountered the latest think? ing in biology, geology, and related sciences: the spirit of modern scientific enquiry, which sought to explain how, rather than why (in an Aristotelian sense) things happen. Founding with other young Icelanders the progressive journal Fjblnir, in which many of his most important poems were published, Jonas found employment in research fora new 'Description of Iceland', a historical, geographical, geological, and archaeological survey. Travelling round the country, as the firstIcelander to explore his own land from a scientific perspective, Jonas...

The Old Norse Poetic Translations of Thomas Percy: A New Edition and Commentary by Margaret Clunies Ross (review)

MLRy 99.1, 2004 267 As always with multi-authored volumes, it is intriguing to note the similarities and differences among the contributors. For instance, in the case of Hegel, both Saul and Walker concentrate on the lectures on aesthetics; whereas, in the case of Nietzsche (al? ways much harder forcritics to place), Walker concludes that Die Geburtder Tragodie 'propounds an idea of aesthetic autonomy far more radical than the German idealist tradition envisaged' (p. 136), only for Robertson to describe the text as 'this powerful but fanciful work' (p. 159). Overall, however, a coherent account of the importance of philosophy for German-speaking countries emerges from these six chronologically arranged chapters. Although the story this book tells of the relationship between philosophy and literature is hardly new, it tells it clearly. So for anyone embarking on a course of study of modern German thought or who is looking for a point of orientation, it can be recommended, not least because it has few competitors. University of Glasgow Paul Bishop The Old Norse Poetic Translations of Thomas Percy: A New Edition and Commentary. By Margaret Clunies Ross. (Making the Middle Ages, 4) Turnhout: Brepols. 2001. xiii + 290pp. ?55. ISBN 2-503-51077-9 (hbk). Margaret Clunies Ross pursues her recent interest in Medidvismus in this highly accessible version ofthe translations made from Old Norse by Bishop Thomas Percy. These include the Five Pieces ofRunic Poetry published in 1763 and Percy's previously unpublished draft translations of certain fragments of skaldic verse, including verses from Vellekla, one of the most difficultof all skaldic poems, and his version of parts of the Battle of Brunanburh. Clunies Ross offers an admirably lucid introduction to the characteristics of skaldic verse, including the nature of the kenning system. This is strictly an edition rather than an account of the intellectual background to Percy's translations, for which the reader is referred to the editor's The Norse Muse in Britain (Trieste: Edizioni Parnaso, 1998). Here she gives an account of Percy as translator, undertaking his translations from the Norse in response to Macpherson's success with Ossian. Publishing the original texts ofthe fivetranslations at the end of the volume was intended as 'a riposte and counterweight' (p. 9) to Macpherson, the fraudulent nature of whose work Percy suspected. Percy's sources were the most important seventeenth-century collections of Norse poetry, a corpus of reasonably accurate Old Norse usually provided with facing Latin translations. Clunies Ross shows a strong sympathy with Percy as a translator working for a reading public not necessarily ready for the material he puts before them. Thus he uses circumlocutions for Valhalla, 'palace of the gods', and valkyries, 'beautiful nymphs of war', both of which he would employ confidently in his 1770 Northern A ntiquities?clearly these concepts were not yet widely under stood. Percy was blessed with a near neighbour in Northamptonshire, Edward Lye, who was the most able scholar of his day in comparative Germanic languages, on whose comments he relies greatly, though by no means slavishly. Clunies Ross suggests that although Percy's original publisher, Shenstone, was dead by the time Five Pieces was published, he had been successful in dissuading the bishop from publishing furtherwork. Skaldic (as opposed to eddic) verse was simply too difficultfor late eighteenth-century tastes, offeringacute problems of syntax as well as the complexities ofthe kenning system. The facsimile text includes some often splendidly misleading notes which Clunies Ross both corrects and tries to account for. The failure to recognize the negative particle -at, forexample, means the poet is made to assert that fightingis, rather than is not, like kissing a young widow. Percy is responsible forthe widespread eighteenthcentury belief that Vikings drank from the skulls of their enemies, taken froma note in 268 Reviews his source which failed to understand that 'curved trees of skulls' referredto drinking horns. The published pieces mostly have some connection with England; the action of the 'Dying Ode of Regner Lodbrog' and 'Ransome of Egill the Scald' takes place in England, while 'The Complaint of Harold' is that of Haraldr Sigurdarson, who died at Stamford Bridge. Hakon (commemorated in the 'Funeral Song of Hacon') was brought up...

Reconstructing Old Norse Oral Tradition

Reconstructing Old Norse Oral Tradition Stephen Mitchell (bio) The written residue of oral tradition from the medieval Nordic world encompasses a wide variety of pan-national genres, including charms, legends, and genealogical lore, but modern scholarly attention has generally focused on two areas: (1) the prose (and often prosimetrical) Icelandic sagas and (2) traditional poetry in its two dominant forms, eddic and scaldic. Many factors play into this somewhat restricted image of what constituted oral tradition in the hyperborean Middle Ages—obviously, manuscript preservation and the issue of what materials have come down to us are key elements, but so too are, among others, the effects of early modern nation-building, nineteenth-century nationalism, and contemporary aesthetic tastes. Certainly one important aspect of the emphasis on saga literature is the broad appeal the Icelandic sagas hold for modern audiences, a fascination easily apprehended in that they are characteristically complex narratives exhibiting sophisticated literary portraiture and realistically detailed events. The topics of the sagas vary from historical, legendary, religious, and contemporary themes to the completely fantastic, and as such they offer an inclusive and panoramic view of medieval Nordic cultural life, narrative imagination, and attitudes toward the past and the heroic. Whether these marvelous medieval texts are to be seen as (1) reflections of a vibrant oral culture absorbing and codifying elements of the world around their authors, or (2) merely reflexes of written texts borrowed from abroad, or (3) some compromise between the two extremes, borrowing freely from available foreign models but also incorporating much native tradition, has historically dominated perceptions and scholarly debates about the sagas (Andersson 1964), and although occasionally new models emerge (Lönnroth 1976), it is clear that the weight of the nativist—anti-nativist arguments remains a powerful influence on academic treatments of the topic. Eddic poetry principally concerns itself with mythological and heroic themes, whereas scaldic verse tends toward praise, memorial, and occasional poetry, but it should be noted that scaldic panegyrics also take up, for example, [End Page 203] Christian religious themes. The frequently noted performance contexts of such poetry have played a particularly prominent role in discussions of oral composition and delivery of such works in medieval Scandinavia (Bauman 1986; Harris 2000). Perhaps the greatest change in the study of medieval Norse saga literature and lore over the past 100 years has been an enhanced appreciation for the cultural context of these materials—not just How were they formulated, but With what patronage? Under what circumstances? With what audience in mind? With what expectations? Declaimed? Read silently? and so on. Once such wonderful works had been wrenched from the hands of a desiccating formalism dedicated to a fixed text and an equally alkaline literary criticism that saw only words on a page, an understanding of the Norse materials’ potential as ethnic textual photograph and literary wonderwork was available, a synthetic view that exhibits allegiance to neither extremist position but understands the potential for developing a much-needed symbiosis between them. The works of Lars Lönnroth have been of special importance in this regard (e.g., 1980), and have had a marked impact on several generations of scholars in North America and Europe. A recent work by Gísli Sigurðsson (2002) challenges many assumptions concerning our (in)ability to reconstruct medieval orality from surviving documents and offers new insights into the character of the sagas’ oral background. If the trend in saga schoarship has been one of increased context-ualization, modern consideration of Norse poetry has likewise been marked by an enhanced appeciation for “performance contexts,” that is, an increased understanding for how an “ethnography of speaking” assists us in reading such texts (e.g., Mitchell 2002). Alongside such performance-oriented approaches, sophisticated considerations employing codicology and literary criticism in new ways (e.g., Harris 1983; Quinn 1992), have led to important re-evaluations of the poetic corpus and its potential relationship to oral tradition. Far from exhausting the possibilities of spiritual culture in the Nordic Middle Ages (see, for example, the overview in Mitchell 2000), the Icelandic sagas and poetic materials give us a glimpse into how rich the nature of oral narration must once have been in that world...

Pre-Cnut praise-poetry in Viking age England

The poems in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the years 937, 942, 973, and 975 are here interpreted as examples of Old English praise-poetry, celebrating the deeds of the West Saxon kings, and it is suggested that this tenth-century development of the genre of praise-poetry in Anglo-Saxon England is likely to be due to the contemporary influence of Norse skaldic poetry. It is further argued that this sudden flourishing of praise-poetry represents a literary reflex of the Vikings' political destabilization of late Anglo-Saxon England, recreating to a significant degree the type of conditions which H. M. Chadwick famously characterized as those of a 'Heroic Age'.

The Anglo-Saxon and NorseRune Poems: a comparative study

It has been customary, since comparative scholarship in the field of Germanic literatures began, to explain perceived similarities between Old English and Old Norse poetry in terms of their derivation from common cultural roots and closely cognate languages. Similarities in the two poetic systems have been regarded as evidence of the conservation of ideas, figures of speech and poetic forms. Such similarities have then been used to reveal what the ‘original’ Germanic customs, ideas and literary expressions might have been before the various tribal groups dispersed to their historical medieval locations. This way of thinking assumes the persistence into early medieval times of archaic modes of thought and expression wherever cultural similarities are perceived. The Old English, Old Norwegian and IcelandicRune Poemshave usually been considered in this light. It is widely accepted that they reflect a shared cultural prototype. Moreover, their texts span a considerable period of time and yet show significant similarities. The Old EnglishRune Poemhas often been compared with its Scandinavian counterparts to reveal older forms of thought. Andreas Heusler offered a fairly typical assessment: ‘Die wenigen Anklänge an die nordischen Reihen … erklären sich unbedenklich aus einer alten Grundform der Wanderungszeit, als Angeln und Nordleute Nachbarn waren.’

Peter Nikolaj Skougaard. Grundtvigs mathematiske ven

Peter Nikolaj Skougaard and Grundtvig By E. Brandt Nielsen P. N. Skougaard was born in the island of Bornholm in the same year as Grundtvig and belonged to his circle of young fellow students. Grundtvig called him the only friend of his youth or his “mathematical friend”, Skougaard’s interests being mathematics and, especially, history. The common interest which brought them together was indeed history and dramatic art. History became their real sphere. The diary tells of Grundtvig’s struggle with historical matter and Skougaard’s energetic attempt to make him approach the study of the Arnemagnæan collection in a scholarly way. Skougaard is victorious, but only as regards the scholarly method and only in so far as Grundtvig leaves historical narrative in favour of linguistic and historical studies. In his way of getting to know the spiritual content of Norse poetry Grundtvig differed widely from his friend. Skougaard was a man of enlightenment, and Grundtvig’s existential interpretation of the Eddie poetry could only be very strange to him and double Dutch. The importance of Skougaard to the young Grundtvig is very great as indicated by numerous writings, printed as well as unprinted. Grundtvig compares him to people like Snorre, Schiønning, Gräter, and Nyerup, and he draws a parallel to the influence which he received from Henrik Steffens. Although they probably did not see each other after their meeting in the island of Langeland in 1807, and although he often changed his opinion of other people, Grundtvig’s opinion of P. N. Skougaard remained remarkably unaltered from the early poetry, the diaries, to Kirke-Speil, the work of his old age. Skougaard became Grundtvig’s scholarly conscience and his personal adviser in the “Egeløkke”- crisis— indeed, Grundtvig does not hesitate to describe his encounter with the young Skougaard in 1801 as decided by fate itself. As human beings the two friends could hardly have been less alike, and Grundtvig points to the fact himself. Skougaard’s life became something of a tragedy, determined more by inward tendencies than by outward circumstances. He let himself be defeated by adversity— a young historical writer he was subjected to life censorship according to the printing ordinance of 1799; he did not, like Grundtvig, eventually obtain exemption— Grundtvig, on the other hand, always made external adversity become a challenge and an incitement to still greater achievements. The purely psychological relationship between the two young friends may seem rather puzzling. For instance, revising the article on the investigation of antiquity for Danne-Virke Grundtvig tries to objectify his relations with Skougaard, just as he leaves out the highly personal words about him in the final version of the poem “Strandbakken ved Egeløkke”— an attempt, in other words, at an objective limitation of Skougaard’s influence; but elsewhere, not least in the foot-note to the preface of Nordens Mytologi 1808, the expression of personal feelings is given free scope. But, as the scholar who chooses, first and foremost, the literature for Grundtvig to take with him to “Egeløkke” and who energetically forces him away from his aesthetic and historical mistake: the historical narrative— and by his strong and original personality, Skougaard acquired an importance for Grundtvig which was unique,— it was so great that in my opinion one might well ask how Grundtvig would have developed, had not Skougaard influenced his scholarly work and personal life. For this reason the name of Peter Nikolaj Skougaard should be remembered and rehabilitated. He deserves it.

The Kenning in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse Poetry

The Kenning in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse Poetry