Meeting the other in Norse myth and legend
John McKinnell (Author)
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
1 online resource (ix, 291 pages) : PDF file(s).
9781846154140, 9781843840428, 1846154146, 1843840421
1117862387
Print version:
Part One. Aims, Methods and Sources
Introduction
Methods
Sources
Part Two. The Vanir
The Vanir patterns: ritual origins
Misalliance and the Summer King
The Goddess and her Lover
The Võlva
Part Three. The Æsir
Fighting the Giantess: Þórr
Þórr and the Bear's Son
Seducing the Giantess: "ðinn
Seduced by the Giantess: the Odinic Hero
The Helpful Giantess
Part Four. Encounters with the Dead
Consulting the Dead
The Dead Lover's Return
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 30 Oct 2017)