Society and Politics in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla


Book Description

"Carries the historical reinterpretation of the sagas a big step forward."--Jesse L. Byock, author of "The Saga of the Volsungs"




The Heimskringla


Book Description

A collection of sagas about the Norwegian kings.




King Harald's Saga


Book Description

This compelling Icelandic history describes the life of King Harald Hardradi, from his battles across Europe and Russia to his final assault on England in 1066, less than three weeks before the invasion of William the Conqueror. It was a battle that led to his death and marked the end of an era in which Europe had been dominated by the threat of Scandinavian forces. Despite England's triumph, it also played a crucial part in fatally weakening the English army immediately prior to the Norman Conquest, changing the course of history. Taken from the Heimskringla - Snorri Sturluson's complete account of Norway from prehistoric times to 1177 - this is a brilliantly human depiction of the turbulent life and savage death of the last great Norse warrior-king.




Song of the Vikings


Book Description

“A wonderfully evocative biography of the . . . 13th century Icelandic writer and chieftain” who wrote the immortal stories of Thor, Odin, Valhalla, and Ragnarök (Guardian, UK). Much like Greek and Roman mythology, Norse myths are still with us. Famous storytellers from JRR Tolkien to Neil Gaiman have drawn their inspiration from the long-haired, mead-drinking, marauding and pillaging Vikings. But few of us know much about the creator of these immortal heroes: a thirteenth-century Icelandic chieftain by the name of Snorri Sturluson. Like Homer, Snorri was a bard, writing down and embellishing the folklore and pagan legends of medieval Scandinavia. Unlike Homer, Snorri was a man of the world—a wily political power player, one of the richest men in Iceland who came close to ruling it, and even closer to betraying it. In Song of the Vikings, award-winning author Nancy Marie Brown brings Snorri Sturluson’s story to life in a richly textured narrative that draws on newly available sources.




Christianization and the Rise of Christian Monarchy


Book Description

This 2007 text is a comparative, analysis of one of the most fundamental stages in the formation of Europe. Leading scholars explore the role of the spread of Christianity and the formation of new principalities in the birth of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Bohemia, Hungary, Poland and Rus' around the year 1000. Drawing on history, archaeology and art history, and emphasizing problems related to the sources and historiographical debates, they demonstrate the complex interdependence between the processes of religious and political change, covering conditions prior to the introduction of Christianity, the adoption of Christianity, and the development of the rulers' power. Regional patterns emerge, highlighting both the similarities in ruler-sponsored cases of Christianization, and differences in the consolidation of power and in institutions introduced by Christianity. The essays reveal how local societies adopted Christianity; medieval ideas of what constituted the dividing line between Christians and non-Christians; and the connections between Christianity and power.




European Monarchy


Book Description

Aus dem Inhalt: E. Fr�zouls: De la maiestas populi Romani � la majest� imp�riale � B. Bedos-Rezak: Ritual in the Royal Chancery: Text, Image, and the Representation of Kingship in Medieval French Diplomas (700-1200) � S. Bagge: Kingship in Medieval Norway. Ideal and Reality � D. Sadler: The King as Subject, the King as Author: Art and Politics of Louis IX � G. Klaniczay: Representations of the Evil Ruler in the Middle Ages � G. Melville: H�rauts et h�ros � M.D. Birnbaum: Matthias Corvinus in Humanist and Popular Perspective � M.S. Flier: The Iconography of Royal Procession: Ivan the Terrible and the Muscovite Palm Sunday Ritual � L. M. Bryant: Politics, Ceremonies, and Embodiments of Majesty in Henry II's France � H. Weber: Das �Toucher Royal� in Frankreich zur Zeit Heinrichs IV. und Ludwigs XIII. � D. J. Sturdy: The Royal Touch in England � A. Wolf: Ein �Comic� fuer den Kaiser � A. Gu�ry: L'Image perdue des Rois de France (XVIIIe-XXe si�cle) � D. E. Barclay: Ritual, Ceremonial, and the �Invention� of a Monarchical Tradition in Nineteenth-Century Prussia.




Writing Battles


Book Description

Battles have long featured prominently in historical consciousness, as moments when the balance of power was seen to have tipped, or when aspects of collective identity were shaped. But how have perspectives on warfare changed? How similar are present day ideologies of warfare to those of the medieval period? Looking back over a thousand years of British, Irish and Scandinavian battles, this significant collection of essays examines how different times and cultures have reacted to war, considering the changing roles of religion and technology in the experience and memorialisation of conflict. While fighting and killing have been deplored, glorified and everything in between across the ages, Writing Battles reminds us of the visceral impact left on those who come after.




Political Culture in the Latin West, Byzantium and the Islamic World, c.700–c.1500


Book Description

This comparative study explores three key cultural and political spheres – the Latin west, Byzantium and the Islamic world from Central Asia to the Atlantic – roughly from the emergence of Islam to the fall of Constantinople. These spheres drew on a shared pool of late antique Mediterranean culture, philosophy and science, and they had monotheism and historical antecedents in common. Yet where exactly political and spiritual power lay, and how it was exercised, differed. This book focuses on power dynamics and resource-allocation among ruling elites; the legitimisation of power and property with the aid of religion; and on rulers' interactions with local elites and societies. Offering the reader route-maps towards navigating each sphere and grasping the fundamentals of its political culture, this set of parallel studies offers a timely and much needed framework for comparing the societies surrounding the medieval Mediterranean.




Fagrskinna


Book Description

This work includes the first complete translation of a 13th-century vernacular history of Norway from the ninth to the 12th centuries. This translation preserves many of the metrical features of this complex verse form, which are explained in the commentary.




Edda


Book Description

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.