Shapeshifters in Medieval North Atlantic Literature / / Luciana Mabel Cordo Russo, Santiago Francisco Barreiro.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter AUP eBook Package 2016-2018
• TeilnehmendeR: Barreiro, Santiago Francisco,; Cordo Russo, Luciana Mabel,
• Place / Publishing House: Amsterdam : : Amsterdam University Press, , [2018]; ©2018
• Year of Publication: 2018
• Language: English
• Series: The Early Medieval North Atlantic
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

Representations of shapeshifters are prominent in medieval culture and they are particularly abundant in the vernacular literatures of the societies around the North Sea. Some of the figures in these stories remain well known in later folklore and often even in modern media, such as werewolves, dragons, berserkir and bird-maidens. Incorporating studies about Old English, Norse, Latin, Irish, and Welsh literature, this collection of essays marks an important new contribution to the study of medieval shapeshifters. Each essay highlights how shapeshifting cannot be studied in isolation, but intersects with many other topics, such as the supernatural, monstrosity, animality, gender and identity. Contributors to this volume come from different intellectual traditions, embracing a multidisciplinary approach combining influences from literary criticism, history, philology, and anthropology.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction / Barreiro, Santiago / Cordo Russo, Luciana -- 1. Wundor wearð on wege 'a wonder happened on the way' / Borysławski, Rafał -- 2. The Big Black Cats of Vatnsdalr and Other Trolls / Jakobsson, Ármann -- 3. The Hoard Makes the Dragon / Barreiro, Santiago -- 4. Eigi í mannligu eðli / Merkelbach, Rebecca -- 5. The Cursed and the Committed / With Pedersen, Camilla -- 6. Unde sunt aues istae? / Disalvo, Santiago -- 7. Sin, Punishment, and Magic / Cordo Russo, Luciana -- Index