Essays on Eddic Poetry

John McKinnell is an emeritus professor of Medieval Literature at Durham University. Donata Kick is an independent scholar with a PhD in medieval studies from Durham University.John D. Shafer holds a PhD from Durham University. He is a teaching associate in the School of English at the University of Nottingham.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionEssays1. ‘VǫluspÁ and the Feast of Easter’2. ‘On HeiÐr and Gullveig’*3. ‘The Evolution of HÁvamÁl’*4. ‘HÁvamÁl B: a Reconstructed Poem of Sexual Intrigue’*5. ‘Wisdom from Dead Relatives: the LjÓÐatal Section of HÁvamÁl’*6. ‘The Paradox of VafÞrÚÐnismÁl’*7. ‘Motivation and Meaning in Lokasenna’*8. ‘Myth as Therapy: the Function of ÞrymskviÐa’9. ‘VǫlundarkviÐa: Origins and Interpretation’*10. ‘Female Reactions to the death of SigurÐr’11. ‘Two Sex Goddesses: ÞorgerÐr HǫlgabrÚÐr and Freyja in HyndluljÓÐ’*12. ‘The Trouble with Father: HervararkviÐa and the adaptation of traditional story-patterns’* Bibliography and AbbreviationsIndex