Meeting the Other in Norse Myth and Legend (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781843840428)

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.

Author: John McKinnell
ISBN-10: 1843840421
ISBN-13: 9781843840428
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Language: English
Published: 05/15/2005
Pages: 302
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.32lbs
Size: 9.32h x 6.46w x 1.17d