Ballads of the North, Medieval to Modern

Published by Medieval Institute Publications 2019

Ballads of the North, Medieval to Modern

Essays Inspired by Larry Syndergaard

Edited by: Sandra Ballif Straubhaar and Richard Firth Green

In the series Festschriften, Occasional Papers, and Lectures

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110661934

Overview
Contents

About this book

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This volume is intended as a belated but heartfelt thank-you and Gedenkschrift to the late Larry Syndergaard (1936-2015), long-time professor of English at Western Michigan University and Fellow of the Kommission für Volksdichtung (International Ballad Commission). Larry’s contributions down the decades to ballad studies--particularly Scandinavian and Anglophone--included dozens of papers and articles, as well as his supremely useful book, English Translations of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballads. As David Atkinson and Thomas A. McKean of the Kommission have written (May 2015): “Larry... was a sound scholar with a penetrating mind which he used to support, encourage and befriend others, rather than show off his own knowledge. He will be remembered for his contributions to international balladry, especially for providing a bridge between the English- and Scandinavian-language ballads.” Larry’s particular fascination with the vernacular ballads of the northern medieval world are reflected in this collection; topics here range from plot elements such as demonic whales, otherworldly antagonists, and mer-people to thematic issues of genre, religion and sexual mores. As a tribute to the global influence of Larry’s scholarship and the broad academic interest in medieval ballads, the essays in this volume were contributed by twelve international scholars of narrative song based in Europe, North America and Australia.

Author information

Sandra Ballif Straubhaar, University of Texas at Austin, USA; Richard Firth Green, Ohio State University, Columbus, USA.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments and Tabula Commemorativa Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
“Both Me and Mine He Causd to Dine” Sandra Ballif Straubhaar and Richard Firth Green Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Bibliographical Note Publicly Available Download PDF	xix
Part I: The Ballad Genre
1. Swedish Ballad Authenticity and Its Gatekeepers James Massengale Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. The Relationship of the Anomalous Ballad Þorgeirs rímur [Stjakarhöfða] to Áns rímur bogsveigis Shaun F. D. Hughes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
3. Hervör, Hervard, Hervik: The Metamorphosis of a Shieldmaiden Sandra Ballif Straubhaar Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
Part II a: Traditional Ballads in Context: Motifs and Themes
4. Uncanny Cetology in the Sagas and Later West-Scandinavian Balladry Sarah Harlan-Haughey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	73
5. If You Go Down to the Woods Today … Fateful Locations in the Ballad Landscapes of Three Kingdoms Tom Pettitt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
6. “His Hawk, His Hound, and Lady Fair”: Social Symbols and Ballad Metaphors James Moreira Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
7. Balladry and Social Mores: An Exploration of Attitudes to Sexual Relations in Songsters, Broadsides, and Oral Tradition David Gregory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
Part II b: The Traditional Ballad in Context: Individual Ballads
8. The Agnete Ballad of Denmark: Cultural Tool or Protest Song? Lynda Taylor Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	159
9. From Sir Eglamour to “Old Bangum”: The Travels of a Ballad Hero Richard Firth Green Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
Part III: The Afterlife of the Traditional Ballad
10. Writing Romances for Amateur Singers: A Nineteenth-Century Danish Example Hans Kuhn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	195
11. The Secret Lives of Ballads: Fan Fiction as Folk Space Sally Ann Schutz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
12. A Game of Crows: Poe, Plagiarism, and the Ballad Tradition Jennifer Goodman Wollock Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
Notes on the Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Medieval Institute Publications
Audience: Medievalists, Scholars of Old Norse and German Studies
Pages
- Main content: 270
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 12
Keywords: Ballads; Larry Syndergaard; Traditional narrative stanzaic poetry; Romances; Scandinavian / Icelandic Literature

eBook

Published: April 15, 2019
ISBN: 9783110661934

Hardcover

Published: April 15, 2019
ISBN: 9781580443630