Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. Old Icelandic Literature and Society
  • Cited by 21
      • Show more authors
      • You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Select format
    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      15 October 2009
      21 September 2000
      ISBN:
      9780511552922
      9780521631129
      9780521110259
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511552922
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.615kg, 352 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (229 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.52kg, 352 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Literature, European and World Literature: General Interest, Anglo Saxon and Medieval Literature
      Series:
      Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature (42)
    You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Selected: Digital
    Add to cart View cart Buy from Cambridge.org
    Subjects:
    Literature, European and World Literature: General Interest, Anglo Saxon and Medieval Literature
    Series:
    Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature (42)
    Information

    Book description

    From the period of settlement (870–930) to the end of the fourteenth century, Icelanders produced one of the most varied and original literatures of medieval Europe. This is the first book to provide a comprehensive account of Old Icelandic literature within its social setting and across a range of genres. An international team of specialists examines the ways in which the unique social experiment in Iceland, a kingless society without an established authority structure, inspired a wealth of innovative writing composed in the Icelandic vernacular. Icelanders explored their uniqueness through poetry, mythologies, metrical treatises, religious writing, and through saga, a new literary genre which textualised their history and incorporated oral traditions in a written form. The book shows that Icelanders often used their textual abilities to gain themselves political and intellectual advantage, not least in the period when the state's freedom came to an end.

    Reviews

    ‘… it works as a sound new slant on [Old Icelandic literature] from a contemporary academic perspective. All those working in the field will want to take account of it.’

    Heather O’Donoghue Source: The Times Literary Supplement

    ' … the book provides a well-grounded and interesting introduction to Old Icelandic literature, with the bonus of multiple signposts towards new directions in Old Norse scholarship.'

    Source: Modern Language Review

    Refine List

    Actions for selected content:

    Select all | Deselect all
    • View selected items
    • Export citations
    • Download PDF (zip)
    • Save to Kindle
    • Save to Dropbox
    • Save to Google Drive

    Save Search

    You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

    Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
    Cancel
    ×

    Contents

    Contents

    Metrics

    Altmetric attention score

    Full text views

    Total number of HTML views: 0
    Total number of PDF views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    Book summary page views

    Total views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    * Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

    Usage data cannot currently be displayed.

    Accessibility standard: Unknown

    Why this information is here

    This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

    Accessibility Information

    Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.