Egil, the Viking Poet: New Approaches to 'Egil's Saga'
© 2015
Egil, the Viking Poet focuses on one of the best-known Icelandic sagas, that of the extraordinary hero Egil Skallagrimsson. Descended from a lineage of trolls, shape-shifters, and warriors, Egil’s transformation from a precocious and murderous child into a raider, mercenary, litigant, landholder, and poet epitomizes the many facets of Viking legend.
The contributors to this collection of essays approach Egil’s story from a variety of perspectives, including psychology, philology, network theory, social history, and literary theory. Strikingly original, their essays will appeal not only to dedicated students of Old Norse-Icelandic literature but also to those working in the fields of Viking studies, comparative ethnology, and folklore.
Product Details
- Series: Toronto Old Norse-Icelandic Series (TONIS)
- World Rights
- Page Count: 256 pages
- Dimensions: 6.3in x 0.9in x 9.3in
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Reviews
‘This engaging addition to the Toronto series, begun in 2005, creates new lines of inquiry regarding on of the most-read and well-studied Icelandic works.’
J. Sundquist
Choice Magazine vol 54:02:2016‘Egil, the Viking Poet is a scrupulously edited and cohesive volume that ought to be as warmly received by those who have long studied Egils saga Skallagrimssonar and the medieval Icelandic sagas, as by students and others newly interested in this rich body of medieval vernacular narrative.’
Emily Lethbridge
Journal of English and Germanic Philology vol 116:04:2017‘I’ve no doubt that it will become essential reading for those with an interest in the Sagas of Icelanders and in Viking and Old Norse Studies, and it provides an exemplary model for future text-focused collections to follow.’
Tom Birkett
Saga-Book: Periodical of Viking Society vol 41:2017“The variety and originality of the approaches offered in Egil, the Viking Poet will catch the interest not only of those involved in the study of Old Norse–Icelandic literature, or in neighbouring disciplines, such as Viking studies, medieval studies generally, and folkloristics, but also those engaged in the study of literary theory and reception studies, as well as of literature in relation to history, anthropology, psychology, sociology, and philosophy.”
Rory McTurk, Professor Emeritus of Icelandic Studies, University of Leeds“Egil, the Viking Poet will be a very useful addition to the library of any scholar of Old Norse–Icelandic literature and a necessary inclusion on any reading list where Old Norse and saga literature are taught.”
Daniel Anlezark, Department of English, University of Sydney -
Author Information
Laurence de Looze is a professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the University of Western Ontario.
Jón Karl Helgason is a professor in the Department of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Iceland.
Russell Poole is a professor emeritus of the Department of English at the University of Western Ontario and the managing editor of the journal Viking and Medieval Scandinavia.
Torfi H. Tulinius is a professor in the Department of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Iceland. -
Table of contents
1. Introduction: Egil, The Viking Poet: New Approaches to Egil’s Saga (Russell Poole)
COMPOSITION
2. The Construction of Egil’s Saga (Torfi H. Tulinius)
3. Ars metrica and the Composition of Egil’s Saga (Guðrún Nordal)
IDENTITY
4. The Concept of the Self in Egil’s Saga: A Ricoeurean Approach (Laurence de Looze)
5. Self-description in Egil’s Poetry (Margaret Clunies Ross)
EMOTIONS AND AFFILIATIONS
6. Emotions and Moral Issues in a Dysfunctional Saga Family (Ármann Jakobsson)
7. Elegy and Old Age in Egil’s Saga (Alison Finlay)
8. *Konutorrek: A Husband’s Lament (Oren Falk)
9. Facebook for Vikings: Social Network Analysis and Egil’s Saga (Timothy R. Tangherlini)
RECEPTION
10. Egil Strikes Again: Textual Variation and the Seventeenth-Century Reworkings of Egil’s Saga (Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir)
11. Bloody Runes: The Transgressive Poetics of Egil’s Saga (Jón Karl Helgason)
12. A Selected Bibliography from the Online Annotated Bibliography of Egil’s Saga (Álfdís Þorleifsdóttir, Katelin Parsons, and Jane Appleton)
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Subjects and Courses
