Echoes of Valhalla
Echoes of Valhalla

Author: Jón Karl Helgason

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2017-06-15

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 1780237731

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Tolkien’s wizard Gandalf, Wagner’s Valkyrie Brünnhilde, Marvel’s superhero the Mighty Thor, the warrior heading for Valhalla in Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” and Donald Crisp’s portrayal of Leif Eriksson in the classic film The Viking—these are just a few examples of how Icelandic medieval literature has shaped human imagination during the past 150 years. Echoes of Valhalla is a unique look at modern adaptations of the Icelandic eddas (poems of Norse mythology) and sagas (ancient prose accounts of Viking history, voyages, and battles) across an astonishing breadth of art forms. Jón Karl Helgason looks at comic books, plays, travel books, music, and films in order to explore the reincarnations of a range of legendary characters, from the Nordic gods Thor and Odin to the saga characters Hallgerd Long-legs, Gunnar of Hlidarendi, and Leif the Lucky. Roaming the globe, Helgason unearths echoes of Nordic lore in Scandinavia, Britain, America, Germany, Italy, and Japan. He examines the comic work of Jack Kirby and cartoon work of Peter Madsen; reads the plays of Henrik Ibsen and Gordon Bottomley; engages thought travelogues by Frederick Metcalfe and Poul Vad; listens to the music of Richard Wagner, Edward Elgar, and the metal band Manowar; and watches films by directors such as Roy William Neill and Richard Fleischer, outlining the presence of the eddas and sagas in these nineteenth- and twentieth-century works. Altogether, Echoes of Valhalla tells the remarkable story of how disparate, age-old poetry and prose originally recorded in remote areas of medieval Iceland have come to be a part of our shared cultural experience today—how Nordic gods and saga heroes have survived and how their colorful cast of characters and adventures they went on are as vibrant as ever.

The Making of the Middle Ages
The Making of the Middle Ages

Author: Marios Costambeys

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Published: 2007-04-01

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 184631416X

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Liverpool’s contribution to the modern construction of the middle ages is here recognized for the first time. From the eighteenth century to the twenty-first, scholars from Merseyside have made pioneering advances in fields as diverse as Celtic philology and manuscript collecting, each in their own way contributing to our steadily deepening understanding of the real middle ages, and to the widening use to which images of the middle ages have been put. Merseyside presents in microcosm the different building blocks of the modern middle ages. In addition to its local focus, this book therefore also examines some of the most significant aspects of the modern study of the middle ages in the round. It offers fresh perspectives, from leading experts in their fields, on medieval Celtic languages, on English poetic literature, on heroes, on pageantry, on mystery plays, and on the effect of nationalist perspectives on the writing of medieval history. Tracing the burgeoning appreciation, in Merseyside and beyond, of the period in which the city was founded, this collection of essays is a fitting commemoration of Liverpool’s octocentenary.

Edward Elgar and His World
Edward Elgar and His World

Author: Byron Adams

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2011-11-14

Total Pages: 449

ISBN-13: 1400832101

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Edward Elgar (1857-1934) is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating, important, and influential figures in the history of British music. He rose from humble beginnings and achieved fame with music that to this day is beloved by audiences in England, and his work has secured an enduring legacy worldwide. Leading scholars examine the composer's life in Edward Elgar and His World, presenting a comprehensive portrait of both the man and the age in which he lived. Elgar's achievement is remarkably varied and wide-ranging, from immensely popular works like the famous Pomp and Circumstance March no. 1--a standard feature of American graduations--to sweeping masterpieces like his great oratorio The Dream of Gerontius. The contributors explore Elgar's Catholicism, which put him at odds with the prejudices of Protestant Britain; his glorification of British colonialism; his populist tendencies; his inner life as an inspired autodidact; the aristocratic London drawing rooms where his reputation was made; the class prejudice with which he contended throughout his career; and his anguished reaction to World War I. Published in conjunction with the 2007 Bard Music Festival and the 150th anniversary of Elgar's birth, this elegant and thought-provoking volume illuminates the greatness of this accomplished English composer and brings vividly to life the rich panorama of Victorian and Edwardian Britain. The contributors are Byron Adams, Leon Botstein, Rachel Cowgill, Sophie Fuller, Daniel M. Grimley, Nalini Ghuman Gwynne, Deborah Heckert, Charles Edward McGuire, Matthew Riley, Alison I. Shiel, and Aidan J. Thomson. Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.

Nordic Sagas as Children's Literature
Nordic Sagas as Children's Literature

Author: Velma Bourgeois Richmond

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2023-08-25

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 1476649782

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This book examines translations of Icelandic sagas and the Victorian and Edwardian children's literature they inspired, some of which are canonical while others are forgotten. It covers authors like William Morris, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Thomas Gray, Walter Scott, H. Rider Haggard, W.H. Auden, John Greenleef Whittier and more. In lavish volumes and modest schoolbooks, British and American writers claimed Nordic heritage and explored Nordic traditions. The sagas offered a rich and wide-ranging source for these authors: Volsunga saga's Sigurd the dragon slayer; King Olaf's saga of opposing Nordic Gods and Christianity; Frithiof's model of headstrong youth beset with unfair opposition and lost love. Grettir and Njal tell of men who accepted fate and met conflict and enemies unflinchingly; Aslaug, Gudrida, Hallberga and Hervar exerted remarkable influence; and Eric the Red and Leif the Lucky provided Americans with a Nordic heritage of discovery.

The Oxford Dictionary of Music
The Oxford Dictionary of Music

Author: Michael Kennedy

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2013-08-15

Total Pages: 971

ISBN-13: 0199578540

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Now available in paperback and with over 10,000 entries, the Oxford Dictionary of Music (previously the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music) offers broad coverage of a wide range of musical categories spanning many eras, including composers, librettists, singers, orchestras, important ballets and operas, and musical instruments and their history. The Oxford Dictionary of Music is the most up-to-date and accessible dictionaryof musical terms available and an essential point of reference for music students, teachers, lecturers, professional musicians, as well as music enthusiasts.