And Though this World with Devils Filled


Book Description

This book is mainly an English translation of Jón Magnússon's A Story of Sufferings. Magnússon, a seventeenth-century Lutheran priest in Iceland, endured intense physical and mental sufferings, which he attributed to the black magic of three alleged sorcerers. The two male sorcerers were tried, convicted, and burned to death, but the third (a woman) was acquitted. The work may have been written as material for appealing the acquittal of the woman to a higher court. This book also includes a historical introduction, a chronology of Jón Magnússon's life, and the rulings from the trials. Though hardly pleasant to read, A Story of Sufferings is a literary masterpiece in the original. It should be of interest to students of mystical religion and to historians of the witchcraft craze that plagued Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.




Antisemitism in the North


Book Description

Is research on antisemitism even necessary in countries with a relatively small Jewish population? Absolutely, as this volume shows. Compared to other countries, research on antisemitism in the Nordic countries (Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) is marginalized at an institutional and staffing level, especially as far as antisemitism beyond German fascism, the Second World War, and the Holocaust is concerned. Furthermore, compared to scholarship on other prejudices and minority groups, issues concerning Jews and anti-Jewish stereotypes remain relatively underresearched in Scandinavia – even though antisemitic stereotypes have been present and flourishing in the North ever since the arrival of Christianity, and long before the arrival of the first Jewish communities. This volume aims to help bring the study of antisemitism to the fore, from the medieval period to the present day. Contributors from all the Nordic countries describe the status of as well as the challenges and desiderata for the study of antisemitism in their respective countries.




The Princeton Handbook of World Poetries


Book Description

An authoritative and comprehensive guide to poetry throughout the world The Princeton Handbook of World Poetries—drawn from the latest edition of the acclaimed Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics—provides a comprehensive and authoritative survey of the history and practice of poetry in more than 100 major regional, national, and diasporic literatures and language traditions around the globe. With more than 165 entries, the book combines broad overviews and focused accounts to give extensive coverage of poetic traditions throughout the world. For students, teachers, researchers, poets, and other readers, it supplies a one-of-a-kind resource, offering in-depth treatment of Indo-European poetries (all the major Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, and Romance languages, and others); ancient Middle Eastern poetries (Hebrew, Persian, Sumerian, and Assyro-Babylonian); subcontinental Indian poetries (Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Urdu, and more); Asian and Pacific poetries (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Mongolian, Nepalese, Thai, and Tibetan); Spanish American poetries (those of Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Chile, and many other Latin American countries); indigenous American poetries (Guaraní, Inuit, and Navajo); and African poetries (those of Ethiopia, Somalia, South Africa, and other countries, and including African languages, English, French, and Portuguese). Complete with an introduction by the editors, this is an essential volume for anyone interested in understanding poetry in an international context. Drawn from the latest edition of the acclaimed Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics Provides more than 165 authoritative entries on poetry in more than 100 regional, national, and diasporic literatures and language traditions throughout the world Features extensive coverage of non-Western poetic traditions Includes an introduction, bibliographies, cross-references, and a general index




The Immediacy of Mystical Experience in the European Tradition


Book Description

This volume examines mystical experiences as portrayed in various ways by “authors” such as philosophers, mystics, psychoanalysts, writers, and peasant women. These “mystical authors” have, throughout the ages, attempted to convey the unsayable through writings, paintings, or oral stories. The immediate experience of God is the primary source and ultimate goal of these mystical expressions. This experience is essentially ineffable, yet all mystical authors, either consciously or unconsciously, feel an urge to convey what they have undergone in the moments of rapture. At the same time they are in the role of intermediaries: the goal of their self-expression – either written, painted or oral – is to make others somehow understand or feel what they have experienced, and to lead others toward the spiritual goal of human life. This volume studies the mystical experiences and the way they have been described or portrayed in West-European culture, from Antiquity to the present, from an interdisciplinary perspective, and approaches the concept of “immediate experience” in various ways.




Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies


Book Description

This one-volume Encyclopedia covers both the conceptual framework and history of translation. Organised alphabetically for ease of access, a team of experts from around the world has been gathered together to provide unique, new insights.




Preaching from Home


Book Description

This volume by Gracia Grindal introduces English-speaking readers to several significant yet unsung Lutheran women hymn writers from the sixteenth century to the present. After a brief introductory discussion of Elisabeth Cruciger, the first woman hymn writer of the Reformation, Grindal provides fascinating profiles of these talented Scandinavian women who "preached from home": Dorothe Engelbretsdatter, Birgitte Hertz Boye, Berthe Canutte Aarflot, Lina Sandell, Britt G. Hallqvist, and Lisbeth Smedegaard Andersen. Grindal not only gives a biographical account of each womanher life, her piety, her timesbut also offers sparkling new English translations of each writers key hymns. In the last chapter Grindal recounts her own inspiring journey as a Lutheran woman hymn writer. Her Preaching from Home will open the door to a world previously unknown to most North Americans.




California Gold


Book Description

California Gold offers a compelling cultural snapshot of a diverse California during the 1930s at the height of the New Deal, drawing on the career of folk music collector Sidney Robertson and the musical culture of often-unheard voices. Robertson—an intrepid young woman armed only with a map, her notebooks, and the recording equipment of the time—proposed and directed a New Deal initiative, the WPA California Folk Music Project, designed to survey musical traditions from a wide range of English-speaking and immigrant communities in Northern California. In California Gold, Catherine Hiebert Kerst explores Robertson's distinctive and modern approach to fieldwork and examines the numerous ethnographic documentary materials she generated with WPA project staff to capture a cross-section of the music that people were actively performing in their communities. Kerst highlights some of the most notable songs, images, and ephemera of the collection, capturing and contextualizing the diverse musical traditions that California immigrant communities performed during the New Deal era. Kerst also foregrounds the ethnographic insights and accomplishments of a significant woman folk music collector who has received less attention than she deserves.




Glorious Things


Book Description

It is possible to find hymns in which the most profound emotions are expressed. They are also essential to the literary history of the English speaking people. References to hymns are constant and quotatons from hymns in modern English usage are frequent. The ever popular presenter of Songs of Praise has now made her own selection of hymns in this charming and beautifully illustrated anthology. The selection is very personal as the author explains how each hymn has had a particular message or significance for her at key moments in her own life- sometimes these are moments of joy and happiness and sometimes at times of tragedy and sadness. Sally Magnusson also explains why she dislikes many hymns and why they are not included. Who is these days of political correctness for example can sing lustily words like `The rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate`. More pertinent to our day and age are hymns with phrases such as ` Change and decay in all around I see` and the celebrated hymn by Martin Luther which runs `A Firm Stronghold is our God`. In a reference to a number of hymns which do not appeal to her Sally Magnusson writes:`I can only take so much blood-stained imagery before lunch`. At all times, Sally Magnusson writes with great charm - a charm which those who watch Songs of Praise will recognise as being entirely her own. This is a perfect gift book.