Echoes of Valhalla

Echoes of Valhalla PDF Author: Jón Karl Helgason
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN: 1780237731
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Tolkien’s wizard Gandalf, Wagner’s Valkyrie Brünnhilde, Marvel’s superhero the Mighty Thor, the warrior heading for Valhalla in Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” and Donald Crisp’s portrayal of Leif Eriksson in the classic film The Viking—these are just a few examples of how Icelandic medieval literature has shaped human imagination during the past 150 years. Echoes of Valhalla is a unique look at modern adaptations of the Icelandic eddas (poems of Norse mythology) and sagas (ancient prose accounts of Viking history, voyages, and battles) across an astonishing breadth of art forms. Jón Karl Helgason looks at comic books, plays, travel books, music, and films in order to explore the reincarnations of a range of legendary characters, from the Nordic gods Thor and Odin to the saga characters Hallgerd Long-legs, Gunnar of Hlidarendi, and Leif the Lucky. Roaming the globe, Helgason unearths echoes of Nordic lore in Scandinavia, Britain, America, Germany, Italy, and Japan. He examines the comic work of Jack Kirby and cartoon work of Peter Madsen; reads the plays of Henrik Ibsen and Gordon Bottomley; engages thought travelogues by Frederick Metcalfe and Poul Vad; listens to the music of Richard Wagner, Edward Elgar, and the metal band Manowar; and watches films by directors such as Roy William Neill and Richard Fleischer, outlining the presence of the eddas and sagas in these nineteenth- and twentieth-century works. Altogether, Echoes of Valhalla tells the remarkable story of how disparate, age-old poetry and prose originally recorded in remote areas of medieval Iceland have come to be a part of our shared cultural experience today—how Nordic gods and saga heroes have survived and how their colorful cast of characters and adventures they went on are as vibrant as ever.

Echoes of Valhalla

Echoes of Valhalla PDF Author: Jón Karl Helgason
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN: 1780237731
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Get Book

Book Description
Tolkien’s wizard Gandalf, Wagner’s Valkyrie Brünnhilde, Marvel’s superhero the Mighty Thor, the warrior heading for Valhalla in Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” and Donald Crisp’s portrayal of Leif Eriksson in the classic film The Viking—these are just a few examples of how Icelandic medieval literature has shaped human imagination during the past 150 years. Echoes of Valhalla is a unique look at modern adaptations of the Icelandic eddas (poems of Norse mythology) and sagas (ancient prose accounts of Viking history, voyages, and battles) across an astonishing breadth of art forms. Jón Karl Helgason looks at comic books, plays, travel books, music, and films in order to explore the reincarnations of a range of legendary characters, from the Nordic gods Thor and Odin to the saga characters Hallgerd Long-legs, Gunnar of Hlidarendi, and Leif the Lucky. Roaming the globe, Helgason unearths echoes of Nordic lore in Scandinavia, Britain, America, Germany, Italy, and Japan. He examines the comic work of Jack Kirby and cartoon work of Peter Madsen; reads the plays of Henrik Ibsen and Gordon Bottomley; engages thought travelogues by Frederick Metcalfe and Poul Vad; listens to the music of Richard Wagner, Edward Elgar, and the metal band Manowar; and watches films by directors such as Roy William Neill and Richard Fleischer, outlining the presence of the eddas and sagas in these nineteenth- and twentieth-century works. Altogether, Echoes of Valhalla tells the remarkable story of how disparate, age-old poetry and prose originally recorded in remote areas of medieval Iceland have come to be a part of our shared cultural experience today—how Nordic gods and saga heroes have survived and how their colorful cast of characters and adventures they went on are as vibrant as ever.

Echoes of Valhalla

Echoes of Valhalla PDF Author: Mythic Minds
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Beyond the northlands echo tales of gods and monsters, epic quests and cataclysmic battles that have enthralled humankind for a thousand years. Echoes of Valhalla is an immersive chronicle of these fascinating myths that unveils Norse culture as fired by visions of Ragnarök where even the mighty gods march toward twilight yet find eternal life through undying fame. This definitive volume masterfully surveys Norse mythology's grand pantheon including Odin, keeper of cosmic wisdom and magical runes; hammer-wielding hero-god Thor defending mortals against giants, dragons and all chaotic creatures; ethereally lovely Freya who guides battle-slain heroes; Loki the shape-shifting trickster whose cunning know no bounds. We travel through strange, beguiling realms like majestic falcon-eyed Heimdall's watchtower to Niflheim where the monstrous dragon Nidhogg ceaselessly gnaws Yggdrasil-the colossal World Tree from which all creation sprang. Gripping too are the elegies and virtues enshrined by Norse ancestors in epic poems over centuries, all harbingers of an inevitable yet perpetually renewing cosmos. So come uncover glorious myths of creation and doomsday, cunning blood-feuds and courtships, fire and frost. For herein echoes of Valhalla sing an enchanting odyssey through the ages!

Echoes of Love

Echoes of Love PDF Author: Artemis Blank
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN:
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Introducing "Echoes of Love: Wisdom from the Halls of Valhalla" - a whimsical journey into the heart of Norse mythology's take on love and relationships. Join us as we step into the ethereal realm of Asgard, where gods and goddesses hold court on matters of the heart. In this captivating book, you will engage in witty and candid dialogues with the likes of Odin, Loki, Thor, Freyja, and Baldur, seeking guidance, solace, and perhaps a touch of divine intervention in their romantic endeavors. From Loki's mischievous jests to Odin's profound insights, each chapter offers a unique perspective on love, infused with sarcasm and humor befitting legendary beings. Whether you're navigating the aftermath of a breakup or simply curious about the love lives of gods and goddesses, this book promises to entertain, enlighten, and perhaps even exasperate you. So, grab your horn of mead and settle in for a delightful exploration of love, Norse style. After all, where better to seek relationship advice than from beings who have witnessed the ebb and flow of affection for eons?

The Medieval North and Its Afterlife

The Medieval North and Its Afterlife PDF Author: Siân Grønlie
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 1501516590
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
This book showcases the variety and vitality of contemporary scholarship on Old Norse and related medieval literatures and their modern afterlives. The volume features original new work on Old Norse poetry and saga, other languages and literatures of medieval north-western Europe, and the afterlife of Old Norse in modern English literature. Demonstrating the lively state of contemporary research on Old Norse and related subjects, this collection celebrates Heather O’Donoghue’s extraordinary and enduring influence on the field, as manifested in the wide-ranging and innovative research of her former students and colleagues.

Valhalla's Forge

Valhalla's Forge PDF Author: Richard Gable
Publisher: Page Publishing Inc
ISBN: 1640824502
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 755

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Book Description
Var-Tog, Kryton, Sondergaard, and Aldora, knights newly graduated from the Dragon's Gauntlet, have found themselves on quest within days after their graduation. Having left the elite training grounds of the Knight Marshals on their way to their first duty station at Fort Holdfast, they encounter a horrendous reptilian creature that seems to be unaffected by sword, ax, or spell. Ignoring all attempts to stop it, the creature seems bent on completing a quest of its own. Now the knights must find the legendary dwarven artifact, the Valhalla's Forge, with only an ancient poem for their clue, and actually make the weapons necessary to defeat the creature before further disaster befalls the countryside.

Imagining Heaven

Imagining Heaven PDF Author: Ellen W. Williams
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476690456
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
Over the centuries, humans have conjured images--the stuff of dreams, convictions, and ardent desire--to describe our afterlife. The vision of heaven can appear as simple as a place among the stars or as complex as a universe filled with a multitude of busy souls. Positioned at the intersection of art, religion, and culture, this book sheds new light on human creativity in its portrayal of the afterlife. Beginning with prehistoric burial objects that help with one's heavenly needs, it travels through history to probe ancient texts, examines enigmatic carvings, dissects the meaning of paintings, and discusses contemporary perspectives in film and media. The author demonstrates that humans around the world have always had the capacity to confront the "final frontier" in spirited, hopeful, and beautiful ways.

Valhalla: the Myths of Norseland

Valhalla: the Myths of Norseland PDF Author: Julia Clinton Jones
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Mythology, Norse
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description


Northern memories and the English Middle Ages

Northern memories and the English Middle Ages PDF Author: Tim William Machan
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526145375
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
This book provocatively argues that much of what English writers of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries remembered about medieval English geography, history, religion and literature, they remembered by means of medieval and modern Scandinavia. These memories, in turn, figured in something even broader. Protestant and fundamentally monarchical, the Nordic countries constituted a politically kindred spirit in contrast with France, Italy and Spain. Along with the so-called Celtic fringe and overseas colonies, Scandinavia became one of the external reference points for the forging of the United Kingdom. Subject to the continual refashioning of memory, the region became at once an image of Britain’s noble past and an affirmation of its current global status, rendering trips there rides on a time machine.

The Vikings Reimagined

The Vikings Reimagined PDF Author: Tom Birkett
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 1501513885
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
The Vikings Reimagined explores the changing perception of Norse and Viking cultures across different cultural forms, and the complex legacy of the Vikings in the present day. Bringing together experts in literature, history and heritage engagement, this highly interdisciplinary collection aims to reconsider the impact of the discipline of Old Norse Viking Studies outside the academy and to broaden our understanding of the ways in which the material and textual remains of the Viking Age are given new meanings in the present. The diverse collection draws attention to the many roles that the Vikings play across contemporary culture: from the importance of Viking tourism, to the role of Norse sub-cultures in the formation of local and international identities. Together these collected essays challenge the academy to rethink its engagement with popular reiterations of the Vikings and to reassess the position afforded to ‘reception’ within the discipline.

Handbook of Pre-Modern Nordic Memory Studies

Handbook of Pre-Modern Nordic Memory Studies PDF Author: Jürg Glauser
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 311043136X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 1152

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Book Description
In recent years, the field of Memory Studies has emerged as a key approach in the Humanities and Social Sciences, and has increasingly shown its ability to open new windows on Nordic Studies as well. The entries in this book document the work-to-date of this approach on the pre-modern Nordic world (mainly the Viking Age and the Middle Ages, but including as well both earlier and later periods). Given that Memory Studies is an ever expanding critical strategy, the approximately eighty contributors in this volume also discuss the potential for future research in this area. Topics covered range from texts to performance to visual and other aspects of material culture, all approached from within an interdisciplinary framework. International specialists, coming from such relevant fields as archaeology, mythology, history of religion, folklore, history, law, art, literature, philology, language, and mediality, offer assessments on the relevance of Memory Studies to their disciplines and show it at work in case studies. Finally, this handbook demonstrates the various levels of culture where memory had a critical impact in the pre-modern North and how deeply embedded the role of memory is in the material itself.