Old Norse Images of Women
eBook - PDF

Old Norse Images of Women

  1. 320 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Old Norse Images of Women

About this book

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.

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Yes, you can access Old Norse Images of Women by Jenny Jochens in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & European Medieval History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Contents
  2. Preface
  3. Introduction
  4. 1. The Germanic-Nordic Continuum
  5. DIVINE IMAGES
  6. 2. Ancient Female Figures
  7. 3. The Classical Nordic Pantheon: Goddesses and Gender
  8. HUMAN IMAGES
  9. 4. The Warrior Woman
  10. 5. The Prophetess/Sorceress
  11. 6. The Avenger
  12. 7. The Whetter: Brynhildr
  13. 8. The Nordic Whetter
  14. Conclusion
  15. Appendix One: Sources
  16. Appendix Two: Historiography of Norse Women–Paul-Henri Mallet and Laurits Engelstoft
  17. Abbreviations
  18. Notes
  19. Bibliography
  20. Index