1st Edition

Odin’s Ways A Guide to the Pagan God in Medieval Literature

By Annette Lassen Copyright 2022
368 Pages
by Routledge

368 Pages
by Routledge

368 Pages
by Routledge

This book is about the Old Norse god Odin. It includes references to all occurrences of Odin in the Old Norse/Icelandic texts, including Saxo’s Gesta Danorum , the eddic poems, Snorri’s Edda , and Ynglinga saga and analyses the high medieval reception and literary representations of Odin rather than the religious character of the god. This is the only existing study of Odin in all the... Read more

Foreword

1. Introduction

2. The Reception of Odin in Research

3. Excursus: The Vocabulary of ‘Myth’ in an Old Norse/Icelandic Context

4. Odin and the Roman gods in Early Latin Texts and Old Norse/Icelandic Translations

5. The Ecclesiastical explanations of Paganism

6. Odin in Various Old Norse/Icelandic Genres

7. Odin in the Contemporary Saga Sturlunga saga

8. Odin in the Courtly Romances (riddarasögur)

9. Odin in Kings’ Sagas (konungasögur)

10. Odin in the Legendary Sagas (fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda)

11. Odin in Skaldic Poetry

12. Odin in the Gesta Danorum

13. Odin in Ynglinga saga

14. Odin in Snorri’s Edda

15. Odin in the Eddic Poems

16. Conclusion

Biography

Annette Lassen, since 2021 associate professor at The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, has published articles and books on Old Norse mythology, sagas of Icelanders (The World of the Sagas of Icelanders, 2022 (in Danish 2017)), legendary sagas (Oldtidssagaernes verden, 2021), eddic poems and the early modern reception of Old Icelandic literature along with an edition of Hrafnagaldur Óðins / Forspjallsljóð (2011), scholarly anthologies on legendary sagas Fornaldarsagornas struktur och ideologi, 2003, Fornaldarsagaerne: Myter og virkelighed, 2009, Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda: Uppruni og þróun, 2012) and Völuspá (The Nordic Apocalypse: Aproaches to Völuspá and Nordic Days of Judgement, 2013). She has also published translations of the complete legendary sagas and sagas of Icelanders in Danish (Oldtidssagaerne, 2016-2019, Islændingesagaerne, 2014).