Monsters in Society: Alterity, Transgression, and the Use of the Past in Medieval Iceland

Rebecca Merkelbach

Published by Medieval Institute Publications 2020

Monsters in Society

Alterity, Transgression, and the Use of the Past in Medieval Iceland

Rebecca Merkelbach

In the series The Northern Medieval World

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501514227

Overview
Contents

About this book

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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.

Author / Editor information

Rebecca Merkelbach, University of Tübingen, Germany.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
1. Monsters in Context Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Revenants Reconsidered Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
3. Between Hero and Monster – Outlaws Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	51
4. Nature and Nurture – Berserkir Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	101
5. Walkers Between Worlds – Practitioners of Magic Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	125
6. The Social Perception of Monstrosity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
7. Reading Monstrosity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
Conclusion: Writing a Monstrous Past Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	213
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	237

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Medieval Institute Publications
Audience: Medievalists, Scholars of Scandinavian Studies
Pages
- Front matter: 8
- Main content: 245
Keywords: Sagas; Medieval Iceland; Monstrosity; Monster Studies; Íslendingasögur

eBook

Published: November 5, 2019
ISBN: 9781501514227

Hardcover

Published: November 5, 2019
ISBN: 9781501518362