Notes on Contributors viii
Maps xii
Introduction 1
Rory McTurk
1 Archaeology of Economy and Society 7
Orri Vésteinsson
2 Christian Biography 27
Margaret Cormack
3 Christian Poetry 43
Katrina Attwood
4 Continuity? The Icelandic Sagas in Post-Medieval Times 64
Jón Karl Helgason
5 Eddic Poetry 82
Terry Gunnell
6 Family Sagas 101
Vésteinn Ólason
7 Geography and Travel 119
Judith Jesch
8 Historical Background: Iceland 870–1400 136
Helgi Þorláksson
9 Historiography and Pseudo-History 155
Stefanie Würth
10 Language 173
Michael Barnes
11 Late Prose Fiction (lygiso¨gur) 190
Matthew Driscoll
12 Late Secular Poetry 205
Shaun Hughes
13 Laws 223
Gudmund Sandvik and Jón Viðar Sigurðsson
14 Manuscripts and Palaeography 245
Guðvarður Már Gunnlaugsson
15 Metre and Metrics 265
Russell Poole
16 Orality and Literacy in the Sagas of Icelanders 285
Gísli Sigurðsson
17 Pagan Myth and Religion 302
Peter Orton
18 The Post-Medieval Reception of Old Norse and Old Icelandic
Literature 320
Andrew Wawn
19 Prose of Christian Instruction 338
Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir
20 Rhetoric and Style 354
Þórir Óskarsson
21 Romance (Translated riddarasögur) 372
Jürg Glauser
22 Royal Biography 388
Ármann Jakobsson
23 Runes 403
Patrik Larsson
24 Sagas of Contemporary History (Sturlunga saga): Texts and
Research 427
Úlfar Bragason
25 Sagas of Icelandic Prehistory (fornaldarsögur) 447
Torfi H. Tulinius
26 Short Prose Narrative (þáttr) 462
Elizabeth Ashman Rowe and Joseph Harris
27 Skaldic Poetry 479
Diana Whaley
28 Social Institutions 503
Gunnar Karlsson
29 Women in Old Norse Poetry and Sagas 518
Judy Quinn
Index 536
Rory McTurk is Professor of Icelandic Studies at the University of Leeds. Previously he has taught at the Universities of Lund and Copenhagen and at University College, Dublin. He is the author of Studies in Ragnars saga loðbrókar and its Major Scandinavian Analogues (1991) and Chaucer and the Norse and Celtic Worlds (2005), and has translated Kormáks saga for the Penguin Sagas of Warrior-Poets (2002).
"In a series that already has a large number and wide range of
excellent titles to its credit, I would venture opinion that this
volume is one of its best...we have here a major publication of
considerable value, not to mention its intrinsic interest.
Obviously it will be a necessary acquisition for any specialist
collection and for any academic collection where aspects of Old
Norse literature and culture may be needed...this will also be a
useful addition to major general collections."
Reference Reviews
"...its chapters are crammed full to bursting with facts and
figures, references to primary and secondary sources, swift
overviews of past scholarship, and (very importantly) present
debates. This is ostensibly a reference book, to be consulted on
particular issues and subjects. But as with all the best
encyclopedias...browsing becomes addictive...Mc Turk's Companion to
Old Norse-Icelandic Studies is a great resource for the scholar or
graduate student who may think, mistakenly, that he or she is
familiar with this field."
The Review of English Studies
"No one could read the volume and not learn something, indeed a
great deal"
TLS
“A comprehensive guide to Old Norse-Icelandic literature which
functions as a basic reference work for scholars in neighboring
disciplines, a reliable introduction for students, and an
interesting and informative read for Old Norse scholars … a
remarkable achievement and a valuable resource.”
Carolyne Larrington, St John’s College, Modern Language Review
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