Meeting the Other in Norse Myth and LegendDS Brewer, 2005 - 291 síður Close examination of the significant theme of other-worldly encounters in Norse myth and legend, including giantesses, monsters and the Dead. A particular, recurring feature of Old Norse myths and legends is an encounter between creatures of This World [gods and human beings] and those of the Other [giants, giantesses, dwarves, prophetesses, monsters and the dead]. Concentrating on cross-gendered encounters, this book analyses these meetings, and the different motifs and situations they encompass, from the consultation of a prophetess by a king or god, to sexual liaisons and return from the dead. It considers the evidence for their pre-Christian origins, discusses how far individual poets and prose writers were free to modify them, and suggests that they survived in medieval Christian society because [like folk-tale] they provide a non-dogmatic way of resolving social and psychological problems connected with growing up, succession from one generation to the next, sexual relationships and bereavement. |
Efni
The Vanir | 51 |
11 | 93 |
The Æsir | 109 |
Þórr and the Bears | 129 |
Óðinn | 159 |
the Odinic Hero | 173 |
The Helpful Giantess | 194 |
The Dead Lovers Return | 218 |
Afterword | 232 |
248 | |