Author: Ingemar Nordgren
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595336485
Category : Fornnordisk religion
Languages : en
Pages : 666
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Book Description
The Goths-a rumored people first known by history around the river Vistula in present Poland-was the people that more than other contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. It was however also the Goths who preserved the Roman culture against other Germanic tribes. Earlier it has been generally assumed the Goths originated in Scandinavia but during the 20th c. many scholars have grown skeptical. The author has, using both Classical and Nordic sources and supplementary sciences, made probable there is an intimate connection between the Goths and the Nordic countries. Consequently it is quite possible that at least part of the Goths have a Nordic origin. The book rests on the basic hypothesis that the Goths are not a people but a number of tribes and peoples united through a common religious/cultic origin. The old dispute concerning the relationship between Svear and Gautar also gets quite a new meaning. The book is interdisciplinary and embraces history, religion, arts, linguistics and archaeology. In 1999 Ingemar Nordgren received his Ph.D. at Odense University, Denmark The book builds to a considerable extent on his dissertation but has been updated and partly rewritten with brand new material.
Author: Robert Rix
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317589696
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 225
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Book Description
This book examines the sustained interest in legends of the pagan and peripheral North, tracing and analyzing the use of an ‘out-of-Scandinavia’ legend (Scandinavia as an ancestral homeland) in a wide range of medieval texts from all over Europe, with a focus on the Anglo-Saxon tradition. The pagan North was an imaginative region, which attracted a number of conflicting interpretations. To Christian Europe, the pagan North was an abject Other, but it also symbolized a place from which ancestral strength and energy derived. Rix maps how these discourses informed ‘national’ legends of ancestral origins, showing how an ‘out-of-Scandinavia’ legend can be found in works by several familiar writers including Jordanes, Bede, ‘Fredegar’, Paul the Deacon, Freculph, and Æthelweard. The book investigates how legends of northern warriors were first created in classical texts and since re-calibrated to fit different medieval understandings of identity and ethnicity. Among other things, the ‘out-of-Scandinavia’ tale was exploited to promote a legacy of ‘barbarian’ vigor that could withstand the negative cultural effects of Roman civilization. This volume employs a variety of perspectives cutting across the disciplines of poetry, history, rhetoric, linguistics, and archaeology. After years of intense critical interest in medieval attitudes towards the classical world, Africa, and the East, this first book-length study of ‘the North’ will inspire new debates and repositionings in medieval studies.
Author: Edward Pettit
Publisher: Open Book Publishers
ISBN: 1783748303
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 344
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Book Description
The image of a giant sword melting stands at the structural and thematic heart of the Old English heroic poem Beowulf. This meticulously researched book investigates the nature and significance of this golden-hilted weapon and its likely relatives within Beowulf and beyond, drawing on the fields of Old English and Old Norse language and literature, liturgy, archaeology, astronomy, folklore and comparative mythology. In Part I, Pettit explores the complex of connotations surrounding this image (from icicles to candles and crosses) by examining a range of medieval sources, and argues that the giant sword may function as a visual motif in which pre-Christian Germanic concepts and prominent Christian symbols coalesce. In Part II, Pettit investigates the broader Germanic background to this image, especially in relation to the god Ing/Yngvi-Freyr, and explores the capacity of myths to recur and endure across time. Drawing on an eclectic range of narrative and linguistic evidence from Northern European texts, and on archaeological discoveries, Pettit suggests that the image of the giant sword, and the characters and events associated with it, may reflect an elemental struggle between the sun and the moon, articulated through an underlying myth about the theft and repossession of sunlight. The Waning Sword: Conversion Imagery and Celestial Myth in 'Beowulf' is a welcome contribution to the overlapping fields of Beowulf-scholarship, Old Norse-Icelandic literature and Germanic philology. Not only does it present a wealth of new readings that shed light on the craft of the Beowulf-poet and inform our understanding of the poem’s major episodes and themes; it further highlights the merits of adopting an interdisciplinary approach alongside a comparative vantage point. As such, The Waning Sword will be compelling reading for Beowulf-scholars and for a wider audience of medievalists.
Author: M. Danesi
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137376856
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 240
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Book Description
How and when did the kiss become a vital sign of romance and love? In this wide-ranging book, pop culture expert Marcel Danesi takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the history of the kiss, from poetry and painting to movies and popular songs, and argues that its romantic incarnation signaled the birth of popular culture.
Author: Shaun Hamill
Publisher: Pantheon
ISBN: 0593317262
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 520
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Book Description
From the acclaimed author of A Cosmology of Monsters ("I loved it" —Stephen King) comes an epic contemporary fantasy, a mixture of The Magicians and It: a story of dark magic, terrible mistakes, and second chances. "You can never go home again," the saying goes—but Hal, Athena, and Erin have to. In high school, the three were students of the eccentric Professor Marsh, trained in a secret system of magic known as the Dissonance, which is built around harnessing negative emotions: alienation, anger, pain. Then, twenty years ago, something happened that shattered their coven, scattering them across the country, stuck in mundane lives, alone. But now, terrifying signs and portents (not to mention a pointed Facebook invite) have summoned them back to Clegg, Texas. There, their paths will collide with that of Owen, a closeted teenager from Alabama whose aborted cemetery seance with his crush summoned something far worse: a murderous entity whose desperate, driving purpose includes kidnapping Owen to serve as its Renfield. As Owen tries to outwit his new master, and Hal, Athena, and Erin reckon with how the choices they made as teens might connect to the apocalyptic event unfurling over the Lone Star State, shocking alliances form, old and new romances brew, and three unsuccessful adults and one frightened teen are all that stand between reality and oblivion. From one of the boldest, most brilliant voices in modern fantastical horror, The Dissonance is a thrilling and beautifully written story of magic and monsters, forgiveness and friendship.
Author: Václav Blažek
Publisher: Masarykova univerzita
ISBN: 8028003583
Category : Crafts & Hobbies
Languages : en
Pages : 197
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Book Description
Monografie sestává ze dvou hlavních a dvou doplňkových částí. První část přináší nejstarší lingvistické, epigrafické a archeologické informace o raných uživatelích germánských jazyků. Druhá část shrnuje historie jednotlivých jazyků od jejich kmenové minulosti zaznamenané antickými autory a zachycené v raných epigrafických památkách přes jejich literární tradice až po současnost. Přílohy zprostředkovávají hlavní modely genealogické klasifikace germánštiny mezi ostatními indoevropskými větvemi i vlastních germánských jazyků; srovnávací fonetiku a morfologii starých germánských jazyků; několik delších textů antických a středověkých autorů; přehled starogermánských písem; lexikostatistickou klasifikaci starogermánských jazyků a fríských dialektů. Bibliografie je rozdělena do dvou sekcí: (1) primární prameny; (2) (převážně) diachronní studie.
Author: Emőd Veress
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031221664
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 382
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Book Description
This book examines the constitutional history of Transylvania, a region of Central Europe that has experienced a compelling series of historical events and been governed by a variety of ancient, medieval, and modern entities, as well as its own peoples, who from time to time have jointly or separately exercised their right to self-governance. The book’s main goal is to provide, for the first time in English, a comprehensive source for those interested in the variety of states, constitutional and public legal orders which have succeeded one another during Transylvania’s tumultuous history. It serves to underline the region’s uniqueness as a space where (for better or worse) several nationalities, multiple religions and varied cultures have had to find a way to get along, under the pressures of external state and constitutional orders. It seeks to show both the positive and the negative solutions found, which advanced or hindered this goal of organised coexistence.
Author: Herwig Wolfram
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520069831
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 644
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Book Description
Provides an overview on the formation of the Gothic tribes, their migrations, and the later history of the Ostrogothic and Visigothic settlements.
Author: Felix Dahn
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 941
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Book Description
Felix Dahn's epic trilogy, 'A Struggle for Rome', is a historical novel that delves into the power struggle and political intrigue of Ancient Rome. Set during the time of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy, Dahn masterfully weaves together a narrative filled with war, betrayal, and complex characters. Dahn's literary style is rich in detail, portraying the societal norms and conflicts of the time period accurately. The trilogy is a must-read for those interested in Roman history and political drama, as Dahn's vivid descriptions bring the ancient world to life. Each volume is a compelling read, filled with twists and turns that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Felix Dahn, a German jurist and historian, drew inspiration from his academic background to create 'A Struggle for Rome'. His expertise in Roman law and history is evident in the meticulous research that went into crafting the series. Dahn's passion for the subject matter shines through in his writing, making the trilogy a standout work in historical fiction. For history enthusiasts and fans of historical fiction, 'A Struggle for Rome' is a captivating literary journey into the heart of Ancient Rome's political turmoil. Dahn's masterful storytelling and attention to detail make this trilogy a must-read for anyone seeking a gripping tale of power and ambition in the ancient world.
Author: Girolamo Savonarola
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 249
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Book Description
Savonarola was a speaker rather than a writer. His was the eloquent ministry of the living word, rather than the calm apostolate of the lifeless pen. He was more at home when standing in the pulpit of the Duomo in Florence, facing the panting, throbbing crowd, numbering thousands, who, with itching ears and thirsting souls, drank in his every word, as though the words were dewdrops from heaven, than when sitting at the little table—which is still preserved in his lowly cell at San Marco—holding in his emaciated hand a nerveless, passionless pen. His great master-intellect and his large sympathetic heart seemed to long to pour out their rich pent-up treasures, freely and without stint, through the channel of his eloquent tongue; whereas the hand that would perpetuate his thoughts, by stamping them upon paper, at times seemed palsied. Out of the abundance of his heart his mouth preferred to speak. Still he wrote sometimes;—it was generally, however, under moral compulsion, being impelled to do so by circumstances which he could not control. He was accused of error by those, or to those at a distance; his advice was sought by others who were far away—defence or counsel had to be committed to paper. For a time he might not sway the masses, as he would, by the irresistible magic of his burning words; then we have the apostolate of the pen. He retired to the seclusion of his monastic cell, and wrote, as his zeal prompted, his message to his fellow-men. Many of his treatises—short ones for the most part—exist. We have his five books—we might call them chapters, they are so brief—on “The Simplicity of the Christian Life”; a treatise on “Humility”; an exposition of the “Our Father,” and another of the “Hail Mary”; commentaries on some of the Psalms; an explanation of the Mass, and of the ceremonies of the Holy Sacrifice; certain rules for good Christian living (composed when he was in prison), and a number of other letters and booklets. But perhaps the most notable, as well as the most useful, of his writings are the four little “Books,” as he calls them, which these words are to introduce to the English-reading public, and which he himself styles, in the Prologue or Introduction to the First Book, a defence of “the glorious Triumph of the Cross” over “the profane and foolish babble of worldly-wise Philosophers”. Of St. Philip Neri, the Apostle of Rome, who was ever staunch in his loyalty to the memory of the one who, for a time at least, was the Apostle of his own native Florence, it is said, that this was one of his favourite books. The Saint’s biographer, Cardinal Capecelatro, writes: “It is well known that Philip often read the writings of Savonarola, especiallyThe Triumph of the Cross, and that he used them for the instruction of his spiritual children. There are still preserved in the Vallicella, among the books which belonged to St. Philip, and which were given by him to the Congregation, five of Savonarola’s works.” The history and object of The Triumph of The Cross, which may be considered the most important of the works, if we may so call them, of the great Florentine Reformer, is given by Echard, the Continuator of Quetif, in his Scriptores Ordinis Prædicatorum.
