The Cambridge History of Old Norse-Icelandic Literature

Heather O'Donoghue is Professor Emeritus of Old Norse at Linacre College, Oxford. She has published widely on the reception of Old Norse-Icelandic literature and the narratology of Old Norse sagas. She recently completed a monograph on Beowulf and is current President of the Viking Society for Northern Research. Eleanor Parker teaches medieval English literature at Brasenose College, Oxford. She is the author of Dragon Lords: The History and Legends of Viking England (2018), Conquered: The Last Children of Anglo-Saxon England (2022) and Winters in the World: A Journey Through the Anglo-Saxon Year (2022).

• Introduction; Part I. Contexts: 1. History: Iceland from the settlement to 1400 CE Haki Antonsson; 2. Manuscripts and textual culture Emily Lethbridge; 3. Poetic language, form and metre R. D. Fulk; 4. Theoretical approaches Torfi H. Tulinius; 5. Reception Verena Höfig; 6. Landscape and material culture Jane Harrison; Part II. The Distant Past: 7. Mythological poetry Judy Quinn; 8. Heroic poetry Carolyne Larrington; 9. Fornaldarsögur Annette Lassen; Part III. The Saga Age: 10. Íslendingasögur Margaret Clunies Ross; 11. Poets' sagas Alison Finlay; 12. Prosimetrum in the Íslendingasögur Heather O'Donoghue; 13. Court poetry Diana Whaley; Part IV. The New Christian World: 14. Conversion and literature Christopher Abram; 15. Saints' lives Siân Grønlie; 16. Christian poetry Kirsten Wolf; 17. Homilies and Christian instruction Jonas Wellendorf; 18. Biskupa sögur Ásdís Egilsdóttir; Part V. Beyond Iceland: 19. Kings' sagas Erin Michelle Goeres; 20. Diaspora sagas Judith Jesch; 21. Riddarasögur Sif Ríkharðsdóttir; 22. Rímur M. J. Driscoll; Part VI. Compilations: 23. The Prose Edda Kevin J. Wanner; 24. Samtíðarsögur Ármann Jakobsson; 25. Learned literature Guðrún Nordal; 26. Grágás and the legal culture of Commonwealth Iceland William Ian Miller.

'The Cambridge History of Old Norse-Icelandic Literature offers readers comprehensive and authoritative essays on the principal genres, concepts, and contexts connected with this extraordinary medieval literature. Written by leading experts in the field, the book's twenty-six essays are divided into six sections, reflecting a broadly chronological arrangement (Contexts, The Distant Past, The Saga Age, The New Christian World, Beyond Iceland, and Compilations). The topics of the individual chapters range widely from, for example, 'Theoretical Approaches' to 'Landscape and Material Culture' to 'Diaspora Sagas' to 'Homilies and Christian Instruction', and in addition to treatments of the better-known saga genres this reference work also examines such critically important topics as legal culture and 'Rímur'. Elegantly written, with generous references to the scholarly literature, The Cambridge History of Old Norse-Icelandic Literature seems destined to hold a prominent place on the 'ready-reference' shelf of every medievalist's library.' Stephen A. Mitchell, Harvard University