1384.21 - Eddic Poetry (BA)


Course number
1384.21
Title
Eddic Poetry (BA)
ECTS
10
Prerequisites
Students must have completed the required core components of the BA in Faroese or hold an equivalent qualification. Admission may also be granted based on alternative prerequisites.
Purpose
This course introduces students to Norse Eddic poetry – its age, origin, preservation, style and metre. We will engage in close reading of the Eddic poem Völuspá studying its linguistic aspects and interpreting it. Other Eddic poetry will be included as appropriate. We will also discuss and describe the cultural background to the composition of Eddic poetry.
Content
Eddic poetry can be grouped in two categories by contents: mythological poetry (gudakvæði) and heroic poetry (hetjukvæði). Most of our knowledge about the ancient belief in the Norse deities (asetro) is derived from mythological Eddic poetry. Snorri draws on them as his main source about this faith in his Edda. The jewel of the Eddic poems is Völuspá, the mightiest of all the mythological poems. Most researchers agree that it was composed in Iceland shortly before the year 1000, the year Icelanders were Christened. The subject is presented as a vision that appears to a volva (a seeress). She sees the whole world of giants, gods and men from their first origin to the end of days, which the Norse termed Ragnarök, when gods and men alike would perish and the world would be destroyed. Destiny, to which the gods must submit, is not blind, but fair. The gods have committed misdeeds, and the world is spoiled. Earth is purified through fire and water, and one omnipotent god takes power over reborn Earth. The poet is doubtlessly influenced by Christian imaginaries in this, but otherwise the poem as a whole is heathen, and although the author describes the gods with practically human shortcomings and faults, he still respects them. The gods fight as heroes to their last breath against evil and dark forces. We will read Völuspá closely along with academic works and articles about it.
Learning and teaching approaches
Lectures and student presentations.
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete the course can demonstrate ability to: ● read and understand Völuspá in its original language ● explain the challenges of interpreting Völuspá ● interpret the entire poem of Völuspá ● explain the preservation of the poem and the most important manuscripts ● explain the age and geographical origin of the Eddic poems ● place Völuspá in the context of oral tradition ● relate Völuspá to the memory of the Viking Era, heathen times and other Medieval Icelandic literature
Assessment method
Take home assignments during the course, as well as a 4-hour final written exam.
Examination
External
Marking scale
7-
Bibliography
Published versions and commentary The Codex Regius of the Poetic Edda — Konungsbók eddukvæða, GKS 2365 4to. Edited by Guðvarður Már Gunnlaugsson, Haraldur Bernharðsson, and Vésteinn Ólason. Editiones Arnamagnæanæ Series Electronicæ 3. Copenhagen and Reykjavík: The Arnamagnæan Institute Copenhagen, The Árni Magnússon Institue for Icelandic Studies, Mál og menning, 2019. De gamle Eddadigte. Udgivne og fortolkede af Finnur Jónsson. København: Gads forlag, 1932. Gering, Hugo & B. Sijmons. 1927. Kommentar zu den Lidern der Edda. Die Lieder der Edda 3. Kommentar. Halle (Saale): Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses. Eddadigte 1. Vǫluspá, Hávamál. Udgivet af Jón Helgason. Nordisk filologi A4. København: Munksgaards forlag, 1964. Eddukvæði 1. Goðakvæði. Jónas Kristjánsson og Vésteinn Ólason gáfu út. Íslenzk fornrit. Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 2014. Eddukvæði. Gísli Sigurðsson sá um útgáfuna. Reykjavík: Mál og menning, 2014. Die Lider der Edda herausgegeben und erklärt von B. Sijmons. Die Lieder der Edda 1. Text. Halle and der Saale: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses, 1906. Norrœn fornkvæði … Sæmundar Edda hins fróða. Udgiven av Sophus Bugge. Oslo Universitetsforlaget, 1965 [photographic reprint of the 1867 edition] von See, Klaus, Beatrice La Farge & Katja Schulz. 2019. Kommentar zu den Lidern der Edda 1. Heidelberg: Winter. Völuspá. Sigurður Nordal gaf út. Önnur útgáfa. Reykjavík: Helgafell, 1952. Translations — often with introduction and commentary Den poetiske Edda. Oversættelse, indledning og kommentarer ved Rolv Stavnem. Copenhagen: U Press, 2018. Den ældre Edda og eddica minora 1. Oversatte og forsynede med indledning og kommentar af Martin Larsen. Copenhagen: Einar Munksgaard, 1943. The Poetic Edda 2: Mythological Poems. Edited with translation, introduction and commentary by Ursula Dronke. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. The Poetic Edda. Translated with an introduction and explanatory notes by Lee M. Hollander. Second edition revised. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1962. The Poetic Edda. Translated with an introduction and notes by Carolyne Larrington. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Dictionaries Poetic language Sveinbjörn Egilsson & Finnur Jónsson. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis—Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog. 2nd edition. Copenhagen: Det kongelige nordiske oldskriftselskab, 1931. Gering, Hugo. 1903. Vollständiges Wörterbuch zu den Liedern der Edda. Halle an der Saale. Norse Cleasby, Richard and Gudbrand Vigfusson. 1874. An Icelandic–English Dictionary. Clarendon, Oxford. [Reprinted 1957; also available as an online version.] Fritzner, Johan. 1889–96. Ordbog over Det gamle norske sprog 1–3. [2nd ed. 1954.] Oslo: Tryggve Juul Møller forlag. + 1972. 4. Rettelser og tillegg ved Finn Hødne¬bø. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. [Also available online.] Heggstad, Leiv, Finn Hødnebø and Erik Simensen. 2008. Norrøn ordbok. 5th edition. Oslo: Det norske samlaget. [413 Heg] Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog/A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose 1–3 [a–em] + Registre/Indices. Copenhagen: Den arnamagnæanske kommission, 1989–2004. + online edition: https://onp.ku.dk/ Grammar books Iversen, Ragnvald. 1973. Norrøn grammatik. 7th edition revidert ved E.F. Halvor­sen. Oslo: Aschehoug. Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I. Altisländische und alt­norwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berück­sichtigung des Urnordischen. Download Altnordische Grammatik I. Altisländische und alt­norwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berück­sichtigung des Urnordischen.Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte 4. Halle (Saale): Verlag von Max Niemeyer. General overview of Eddic Poetry Gísli Sigurðsson. 2007. “Vǫluspá.” In Realleksikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 35, ed Rosemarie Müller et al., 524–533. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Hallberg, Peter. 1993. “Eddic Poetry.” In Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia, ed. by Phillip Pulsiano & Kirsten Wolf, 149–152. New York: Garland. Holtsmark, Anne. “Eddadiktning.” In Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder 3, ed. Jakob Benediktsson & Magnús Már Lárusson, 480–488. Reykjavík: Bókaverzlun Ísafoldar, 1958. McKinnell, John. 1993. “Vǫluspá.” In Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia, ed. by Phillip Pulsiano & Kirsten Wolf, 713–715. New York: Garland. Russom, Geoffrey. 1993. “Eddic Meters.” In Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia, ed. by Phillip Pulsiano & Kirsten Wolf, 148–149. New York: Garland. Other academic literature Gísli Sigurðsson. 1990. “On the Classification of Eddic Heroic Poetry in View of the Oral Theory.” Poetry in the Scandinavian Middle Ages, 245-255. Spoleto: Centro Italiano di studi sull'alto medioevo. Gísli Sigurðsson. 2008. “Orality Harnessed: How to Read Written Sagas from an Oral Culture?” In Oral Art Forms and their Passage into Writing, ed. Else Mundal and Jonas Wellendorf, 20-28. Museum Tusculanum Press: University of Copenhagen. Gísli Sigurðsson. 2012. “Poet, Singer of Tales, Storyteller, and Author.” Modes of Authorship in the Middle Ages, ed. Slavica Rankovic, 227-235. Toront: Pontificial Institute of Medieval Studies. Gísli Sigurðsson. 2013. “Past Awareness in Christian Environments: Source-Critical Ideas about Memories of the Pagan Past.” Scandinavian Studies 85/3 (2013): 400-410. Gísli Sigurðsson. 2013. “Völuspá as the Product of an Oral Tradition: What does that Entail?” In The Nordic Apocalypse: Approaches to Völuspá and Nordic Days of Judgement, eds. Terry Gunnell and Annette Lassen, 45-62. Brepols. Gísli Sigurðsson. 2014. “Snorri's Edda: The Sky described in Mythological Terms.” In Nordic Mythologies: Interpretations, Intersections and Institutions, ed. Timothy R. Tangherlini, pp. 184-198. Berkeley, Los Angeles: North Pinehurst Press. Gísli Sigurðsson. 2018. “Orality. Handbook of Pre-Modern Nordic Memory Studies, ed. Jürg Glauser, Pernille Hermann and Stephan A. Mitchell, 391-391. De Gruyter. Gísli Sigurðsson. 2018. “Skyscape.” In Handbook of Pre-Modern Nordic Memory Studies, eds. Jürg Glauser, Pernille Hermann and Stephan A. Mitchell, 555-561. De Gruyter. Gísli Sigurðsson. 2020. “The Eddas and Sagas of Iceland.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature (Published 17 December 2020): https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.013.1215 Haraldur Bernharðsson. 2007. “Old Icelandic ragnarök and ragnarökkr.” In Verba Docenti: Studies in historical and Indo-European linguistics presented to Jay H. Jasanoff by students, colleagues, and friends, ed. Alan Nussbaum, 25–38. Ann Arbor/New York: Beech Stave Press. Meulengracht Sørensen, Preben, & Gro Steinsland. 2001. Vølvens spådom. Høst. [Faroese translation by Anfinn Johansen.] Quinn, Judy. 1990 “Völuspá and the Composition of Eddic Verse.” In Poetry in the Scandinavian Middle Ages, 303-320. Spoleto: Centro Italiano di studi sull'alto medioevo. Vésteinn Ólason. “The Codex Regius — A Book and Its History.” In: The Codex Regius of the Poetic Edda — Konungsbók eddukvæða, GKS 2365 4to. Edited by Guðvarður Már Gunnlaugsson, Haraldur Bernharðsson, and Vésteinn Ólason, 217–256. Editiones Arnamagnæanæ Series Electronicæ 3. Copenhagen and Reykjavík: The Arnamagnæan Institute Copenhagen, The Árni Magnússon Institue for Icelandic Studies, Mál og menning, 2019.
Contact
Zakaris Svabo Hansen