Land of Fire and Ice

Land of Fire and Ice PDF Author: Mark Shirley
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781589780323
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 144

Get Book Here

Book Description
Visit a land of wonders... a place where glaciers stretch to the horizon, where fissures pour forth rivers of molten rock, where giants still tread and ancient spirits guard forgotten secrets. Iceland sits on the edge of the frozen sea, its people clinging to the coastal lowlands while the interior is still the realm of the giants, trolls, spirits and fantastic beasts. On the civilized mainland creatures of legend may rarely show themselves, but in Iceland they rarely hide. Within Europe the Order of Hermes holds absolute magical dominion, but Icelandic magicians go about their business unaware of the Order of Hermes, its magi and their pretensions. These Norse wizards concern themselves with the politics of spirits, warding against troll raids and wresting a good growing season from Iceland's capricious weather.Land of Fire and Ice will give your troupe the opportunity to explore this wondrous land ruled by the law, rather than by a king. Magicians live in harmony with their mundane neighbors, but feuds bubble under the veneer of civilization.Included in Land of Fire and Ice are: A detailed description of Iceland's mundane and mystical landscape, culture and lawTwo major saga outlines and many story seeds Two magical traditions unique to Iceland, the galdramen and the trollsons

Land of Fire and Ice

Land of Fire and Ice PDF Author: Mark Shirley
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781589780323
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 144

Get Book Here

Book Description
Visit a land of wonders... a place where glaciers stretch to the horizon, where fissures pour forth rivers of molten rock, where giants still tread and ancient spirits guard forgotten secrets. Iceland sits on the edge of the frozen sea, its people clinging to the coastal lowlands while the interior is still the realm of the giants, trolls, spirits and fantastic beasts. On the civilized mainland creatures of legend may rarely show themselves, but in Iceland they rarely hide. Within Europe the Order of Hermes holds absolute magical dominion, but Icelandic magicians go about their business unaware of the Order of Hermes, its magi and their pretensions. These Norse wizards concern themselves with the politics of spirits, warding against troll raids and wresting a good growing season from Iceland's capricious weather.Land of Fire and Ice will give your troupe the opportunity to explore this wondrous land ruled by the law, rather than by a king. Magicians live in harmony with their mundane neighbors, but feuds bubble under the veneer of civilization.Included in Land of Fire and Ice are: A detailed description of Iceland's mundane and mystical landscape, culture and lawTwo major saga outlines and many story seeds Two magical traditions unique to Iceland, the galdramen and the trollsons

The Mythic Dimension

The Mythic Dimension PDF Author: Joseph Campbell
Publisher: New World Library
ISBN: 1577315944
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 365

Get Book Here

Book Description
These 12 eclectic essays explore the topic for which Campbell was best known: myth and its fascinating context within the human imagination in the arts, literature, and culture, as well as in everyday life.

Mythic Iceland

Mythic Iceland PDF Author: Pedro Ziviani
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781568823522
Category : Games
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Get Book Here

Book Description
A BASIC ROLEPLAYING GAME: The Nordic and Celtic peoples who settled Iceland in the 9th century came from lands with rich traditions of folklore, where the mythical and supernatural were part of daily life. They found an island of striking beauty, with inland valleys, richly grassed and forested lowlands, massive glaciers, and impressive volcanic mountain ranges. They also found the land to be teeming with spirits of nature and mythic creatures. This book aims to bring to life the world of the Icelandic Sagas and fairy tales, using the Basic Roleplaying system.

Gunnar's Daughter

Gunnar's Daughter PDF Author: Sigrid Undset
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780141180205
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 218

Get Book Here

Book Description
The first historical novel by the Nobel Prize-winning author of Kristin Lavransdatter A Penguin Classic More than a decade before writing Kristin Lavransdatter, the trilogy about fourteenth-century Norway that won her the Nobel Prize, Sigrid Undset published Gunnar’s Daughter, a brief, swiftly moving tale about a more violent period of her country’s history, the Saga Age. Set in Norway and Iceland at the beginning of the eleventh century, Gunnar's Daughter is the story of the beautiful, spoiled Vigdis Gunnarsdatter, who is raped by the man she had wanted to love. A woman of courage and intelligence, Vigdis is toughened by adversity. Alone she raises the child conceived in violence, repeatedly defending her autonomy in a world governed by men. Alone she rebuilds her life and restores her family's honor—until an unremitting social code propels her to take the action that again destroys her happiness. First published in 1909, Gunnar's Daughter was in part a response to the rise of nationalism and Norway's search for a national identity in its Viking past. But unlike most of the Viking-inspired art of its period, Gunnar's Daughter is not a historical romance. It is a skillful conversation between two historical moments about questions as troublesome in Undset's own time—and in ours—as they were in the Saga Age: rape and revenge, civil and domestic violence, troubled marriages, and children made victims of their parents' problems.

Ice Land

Ice Land PDF Author: Betsy Tobin
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101133546
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 271

Get Book Here

Book Description
A beautiful epic of love, longing, redemption, and enchantment in the tradition of Marion Zimmer Bradley?s The Mists of Avalon Iceland, AD 1000 Freya knows that her people are doomed. Warned by the Fates of an impending disaster, she must embark on a journey to find a magnificent gold necklace, one said to possess the power to alter the course of history. But even as Freya travels deep into the mountains of Iceland, the country is on the brink of war. The new world order of Christianity is threatening the old ways of Iceland?s people, and tangled amidst it all are two star-crossed lovers who destiny draws them together?even as their families are determined to tear them apart Infused with the rich history and mythology of Iceland, Betsy Tobin?s sweeping novel is an epic adventure of forbidden love, lust, jealousy, faith and magical wonder set under the shadow of a smoldering volcano.

The Book of Reykjavik

The Book of Reykjavik PDF Author: Friðgeir Einarsson
Publisher: Comma Press
ISBN: 1912697556
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 112

Get Book Here

Book Description
Reluctant to observe a new family tradition, a boy finds himself stranded outside a graveyard on the night before Christmas... Three farming brothers, forced to relocate to the city by poor harvests, discover an unexpected demand for their green-fingered talents... Residents of a new apartment block are woken in the early hours by the eerie sound of a table saw that once operated on the building’s grounds... Iceland is a land of stories; from the epic sagas of its mythic past, to its claim today of being home to more writers, more published books and more avid readers, per head, than anywhere in the world. As its capital (and indeed only city), Reykjavik has long been an inspiration for these stories. But, as this collection demonstrates, this fishing-village-turned-metropolis at the farthest fringe of Europe has been both revered and reviled by Icelanders over the years. The tension between the city and the surrounding countryside, its rural past and urban present, weaves its way through The Book of Reykjavik, forming an outline of a fragmented city marked by both contradiction and creativity. Includes a foreword written by award-winning Icelandic author Sjón. Translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb, Philip Roughton, Lytton Smith, Meg Matich and Larissa Kyzer. Published with the support of the Icelandic Literature Center.

Why Iceland?

Why Iceland? PDF Author: Asgeir Jonsson
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN: 0071706739
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 237

Get Book Here

Book Description
As late as the mid 1980s, Iceland’s economy revolved around little else than a semi-robust cod-fishing industry. By the end of the century, however, it had transformed itself into a major player in world finance, building an international banking empire worth twelve times its GDP. The tiny island nation of 300,000 was one of the global economy’s great success stories. And then everything came crashing down. Why Iceland? is the inside account of one of the economic meltdown’s most fascinating and far-reaching tragedies. As Chief Economist of Kaupthing Bank, the country’s largest bank before the collapse, Ásgeir Jónsson is perfectly suited to examine Iceland’s collapse in painstaking detail. He witnessed behind-the-scenes events firsthand, such as an intriguing meeting in January 2008 when a group of international hedge fund managers gathered in a bar in Reykjavik to discuss Iceland’s economy—an informal affair that eventually became the center of a criminal investigation by the country’s Financial Supervisory Authority. This inside account examines the pressing issues behind history’s biggest banking collapse: How did Iceland transform itself from one of Europe’s poorest to one of its wealthiest countries? What happened to cause the destruction of the nation’s banking industry during a single week of October 2008? Was it the result of a speculation “attack” by hedge funds on the nation’s currency? Iceland remains the biggest casualty of the economic downturn, and the ramifications of its catastrophic failure reach deeply into the economies of Europe, the United States, and other global markets. Ásgeir Jónsson offers a unique perspective and an expert’s insight into the rise and fall of this once-proud banking giant. Why Iceland? provides the who, what, where, and when of Iceland’s demise, serving as a fascinating read and providing the understanding necessary for forecasting when and where the aftershocks will shake up markets in other parts of the world. "Fearsome Vikings discovered Iceland. Hedge funds knocked it down. It was a humiliating tumble for the former financial powerhouse, which was proud of its status in Europe. A late bloomer, Iceland had been the last country in Europe to be settled, the Nordic nation rapidly caught up with its wealthier relations. It was all fine until October 2008, when country's banking system collapsed in a week. Written by an Icelandic economist, Why Iceland? chronicles the meltdown, in the context of the nation's history."--New York Post (A "Required Reading" Selection)

Mythic Imagination Today

Mythic Imagination Today PDF Author: Terry Marks-Tarlow
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004448438
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 149

Get Book Here

Book Description
Mythic Imagination Today is an illustrated guide to the interpenetration of mythology and science throughout the ages. This monograph brings alive our collective need for story as a guide to the rules, roles, and relationships of everyday life.

Icelandic Magic - Aims, Tools and Techniques of the Icelandic Sorcerers

Icelandic Magic - Aims, Tools and Techniques of the Icelandic Sorcerers PDF Author: Christopher Alan Smith
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781905297924
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 220

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this unprecedented work, the author Christopher A. Smith has meticulously studied no less than 6 original Icelandic manuscripts dating from 1500 to 1860 to extract a picture of the aims, tools and techniques of Icelandic sorcerers. Set against the context of the harsh economic, social and environmental conditions of this North Atlantic island, the book gives a detailed account of the types of spells that were used and the motivations behind them. Hundreds of items from the six books of magic have been analysed to present the reader with a clear idea of the methods that were used, including incantation, invocation of deities and use of the enigmatic magical staves (galdrastafir). Furthermore, the book goes into great detail concerning the physical tools used by magicians and the kinds of objects that might have been found in a sorcerer's 'toolbox'. The book is illustrated throughout with images from the original manuscripts. Although it is not intended by any means as a book of instruction, one chapter does focus on workings of certain types and gives suggestions for those brave enough to try them out. All in all, this work will be an indispensable item for anyone interested in the history of magic in general and of Icelandic magic in particular.

Mythology in the Middle Ages

Mythology in the Middle Ages PDF Author: Christopher R. Fee
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313027250
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 317

Get Book Here

Book Description
Placing heroes from a wide range of medieval traditions shoulder to shoulder, this title provides the opportunity to examine what is common across medieval mythic, legendary, and folkloric traditions, as well as what seems unique. Myths of gods, legends of battles, and folktales of magic abound in the heroic narratives of the Middle Ages. Mythology in the Middle Ages: Heroic Tales of Monsters, Magic, and Might describes how Medieval heroes were developed from a variety of source materials: Early pagan gods become euhemerized through a Christian lens, and an older epic heroic sensibility was exchanged for a Christian typological and figural representation of saints. Most startlingly, the faces of Christian martyrs were refracted through a heroic lens in the battles between Christian standard-bearers and their opponents, who were at times explicitly described in demonic terms. The book treats readers to a fantastic adventure as author Christopher R. Fee guides them on the trail of some of the greatest heroes of medieval literature. Discussing the meanings of medieval mythology, legend, and folklore through a wide variety of fantastic episodes, themes, and motifs, the journey takes readers across centuries and through the mythic, legendary, and folkloric imaginations of different peoples. Coverage ranges from the Atlantic and Baltic coasts of Europe, south into the Holy Roman Empire, west through the Iberian peninsula, and into North Africa. From there, it is east to Byzantium, Russia, and even the far reaches of Persia.