Monsters in Society : : Alterity, Transgression, and the Use of the Past in Medieval Iceland / / Rebecca Merkelbach.
Dragons, giants, and the monsters of learned discourse are rarely encountered in the Sagas of Icelanders, and therefore, the general teratological focus on physical monstrosity yields only limited results when applied to them. This, however, does not equal an absence of monstrosity – it only means t...
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Superior document: | Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DG Ebook Package English 2020 |
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Place / Publishing House: | Kalamazoo, MI : : Medieval Institute Publications, , [2019] ©2020 |
Year of Publication: | 2019 |
Language: | English |
Series: | The Northern Medieval World : On the Margins of Europe
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Online Access: | |
Physical Description: | 1 online resource (VIII, 245 p.) |
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Other title: | Frontmatter -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- 1. Monsters in Context -- 2. Revenants Reconsidered -- 3. Between Hero and Monster – Outlaws -- 4. Nature and Nurture – Berserkir -- 5. Walkers Between Worlds – Practitioners of Magic -- 6. The Social Perception of Monstrosity -- 7. Reading Monstrosity -- Conclusion: Writing a Monstrous Past -- Notes -- Abbreviations -- Bibliography -- Index |
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Summary: | Dragons, giants, and the monsters of learned discourse are rarely encountered in the Sagas of Icelanders, and therefore, the general teratological focus on physical monstrosity yields only limited results when applied to them. This, however, does not equal an absence of monstrosity – it only means that monstrosity is conceived of differently. This book shifts the view of monstrosity from the physical to the social, accounting for the unique social circumstances presented in the Íslendingasögur and demonstrating how closely interwoven the social and the monstrous are in this genre. Employing literary and cultural theory as well as anthropological and historical approaches, it reads the monsters of the Íslendingasögur in their literary and socio-cultural context, demonstrating that they are not distractions from feud and conflict, but that they are in fact an intrinsic part of the genre’s re-imagining of the past for the needs of the present. |
Format: | Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web. |
ISBN: | 9781501514227 9783110696288 9783110696271 9783110610765 9783110664232 9783110610369 9783110606348 |
DOI: | 10.1515/9781501514227 |
Access: | restricted access |
Hierarchical level: | Monograph |
Statement of Responsibility: | Rebecca Merkelbach. |