Paranormal Encounters in Iceland 1150-1400

This anthology of international scholarship offers new critical approaches to the study of the many manifestations of the paranormal in the Middle Ages. The guiding principle of the collection is to depart from symbolic or reductionist readings of the subject matter in favor of focusing on the paranormal as human experience and, essentially, on how these experiences are defined by the sources. The authors work with a variety of medieval Icelandic textual sources, including family sagas, legendary sagas, romances, poetry, hagiography and miracles, exploring the diversity of paranormal activity in the medieval North. This volume questions all previous definitions of the subject matter, most decisively the idea of saga realism, and opens up new avenues in saga research.https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/mip_nmw/1004/thumbnail.jp

King Arthur and the Kennedy Assassination: The Allure and Absence of Truth in the Icelandic Sagas

ABSTRACT: Scholars and readers have long been interested in the historical validity of the saga literature. This study addresses how the notion that the sagas had historical value was rationalized throughout the 20th century and goes on to explore how some late 20th-century questions about historical validity, well-known in the humanities at large but rarely asked in saga studies, might cast some light on the possibilities and impossibilities of finding historical truths in the sagas

Enabling Love: Dwarfs in Old Norse-Icelandic Romances

Page range: 183-20

The Troll Inside You: Paranormal Activity in the Medieval North

What do medieval Icelanders mean when they say “troll”? What did they see when they saw a troll? What did the troll signify to them? And why did they see them? The principal subject of this book is the Norse idea of the troll, which the author uses to engage with the larger topic of paranormal experiences in the medieval North. The texts under study are from 13th-, 14th-, and 15th-century Iceland. The focus of the book is on the ways in which paranormal experiences are related and defined in these texts and how those definitions have framed and continue to frame scholarly interpretations of the paranormal. The book is partitioned into numerous brief chapters, each with its own theme. In each case the author is not the least concerned with how the paranormal functions within medieval society and in the minds of the individuals who encounter and experience it and go on to narrate these experiences through intermediaries. The author connects the paranormal encounter closely with fears and these fears are intertwined with various aspects of the human experience, including gender, family ties, and death. The Troll Inside You hovers over the boundaries of scholarship and literature. Its aim is to prick and provoke but above all to challenge its audience to reconsider some of their preconceived ideas about the medieval past

Paranormal Activity in the Medieval North

What do medieval Icelanders mean when they say “troll”? What did they see when they saw a troll? What did the troll signify to them? And why did they see them? The principal subject of this book is the Norse idea of the troll, which the author uses to engage with the larger topic of paranormal experiences in the medieval North. The texts under study are from 13th-, 14th-, and 15th-century Iceland. The focus of the book is on the ways in which paranormal experiences are related and defined in these texts and how those definitions have framed and continue to frame scholarly interpretations of the paranormal. The book is partitioned into numerous brief chapters, each with its own theme. In each case the author is not the least concerned with how the paranormal functions within medieval society and in the minds of the individuals who encounter and experience it and go on to narrate these experiences through intermediaries. The author connects the paranormal encounter closely with fears and these fears are intertwined with various aspects of the human experience, including gender, family ties, and death. The Troll Inside You hovers over the boundaries of scholarship and literature. Its aim is to prick and provoke but above all to challenge its audience to reconsider some of their preconceived ideas about the medieval past

The Troll Inside You: Paranormal Activity in the Medieval North

What do medieval Icelanders mean when they say “troll”? What did they see when they saw a troll? What did the troll signify to them? And why did they see them? The principal subject of this book is the Norse idea of the troll, which the author uses to engage with the larger topic of paranormal experiences in the medieval North. The texts under study are from 13th-, 14th-, and 15th-century Iceland. The focus of the book is on the ways in which paranormal experiences are related and defined in these texts and how those definitions have framed and continue to frame scholarly interpretations of the paranormal. The book is partitioned into numerous brief chapters, each with its own theme. In each case the author is not the least concerned with how the paranormal functions within medieval society and in the minds of the individuals who encounter and experience it and go on to narrate these experiences through intermediaries. The author connects the paranormal encounter closely with fears and these fears are intertwined with various aspects of the human experience, including gender, family ties, and death. The Troll Inside You hovers over the boundaries of scholarship and literature. Its aim is to prick and provoke but above all to challenge its audience to reconsider some of their preconceived ideas about the medieval past

The Lion, the Dream, and the Poet: Mental Illnesses in Norway’s Medieval Royal Court

This article investigates the representation of mental illnesses in the context of Norway’s medieval royal court using the kings’ saga Morkinskinna. The text naturally applies its own contemporaneous terminology that demands close scrutiny, but greater focus is placed upon the responses mental illnesses elicit in this context, which include curiosity, incomprehension, fear, hopelessness, sorrow, sensitivity, attentiveness, compassion, and successful or unsuccessful attempts at treatment. Overall, the narrative invokes mental illnesses to advance certain of its broader interests concerning the roles, duties, and the relationship between medieval Norwegian kings and their subjects.This article investigates the representation of mental illnesses in the context of Norway’s medieval royal court using the kings’ saga Morkinskinna. The text naturally applies its own contemporaneous terminology that demands close scrutiny, but greater focus is placed upon the responses mental illnesses elicit in this context, which include curiosity, incomprehension, fear, hopelessness, sorrow, sensitivity, attentiveness, compassion, and successful or unsuccessful attempts at treatment. Overall, the narrative invokes mental illnesses to advance certain of its broader interests concerning the roles, duties, and the relationship between medieval Norwegian kings and their subjects.This article investigates the representation of mental illnesses in the context of Norway’s medieval royal court using the kings’ saga Morkinskinna. The text naturally applies its own contemporaneous terminology that demands close scrutiny, but greater focus is placed upon the responses mental illnesses elicit in this context, which include curiosity, incomprehension, fear, hopelessness, sorrow, sensitivity, attentiveness, compassion, and successful or unsuccessful attempts at treatment. Overall, the narrative invokes mental illnesses to advance certain of its broader interests concerning the roles, duties, and the relationship between medieval Norwegian kings and their subjects