Old Norse Images of Women / / Jenny Jochens.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn eBook Package Archive 1898-1999 (pre Pub)
• VerfasserIn: Jochens, Jenny,
• Place / Publishing House: Philadelphia : : University of Pennsylvania Press, , [2016]; ©1996
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Edition: Reprint 2016
• Language: English
• Series: The Middle Ages Series
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (328 p.)

Working from the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda, and Old Norse prose narratives and laws, Jenny Jochens argues for an underlying cultural continuum of a pagan pantheon and a set of heroic figures shared by the Germanic tribes in Europe, Britain, Scandinavia, and Iceland from A.D. 500 to 1500. Old Norse Images of Women explores the female half of this legacy, which involves images both divine and human. In a society marked by sharp gender divisions, women were frequently portrayed as one of four conventional types. The warrior woman was exemplified by the valkyrie, sheildmaiden, or maiden king. The wise woman was a prophetess or sorceress. The avenger is best seen in Gudrun, whose focus of revenge shifted from husband to brothers. Last, there were the whetters or inciters, who appear both in the Continental setting as Brynhildr and as ubiquitous figures in medieval Icelandic literature, ranging from Norwegian queens to humble milkmaids.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1. The Germanic-Nordic Continuum -- 2. Ancient Female Figures -- 3. The Classical Nordic Pantheon: Goddesses and Gender -- 4. The Warrior Woman -- 5. The Prophetess/Sorceress -- 6. The Avenger -- 7. The Whetter: Brynhildr -- 8. The Nordic Whetter -- Conclusion -- Appendix One: Sources -- Appendix Two: Historiography of Norse Women–Paul-Henri Mallet and Laurits Engelstoft -- Abbreviations -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index