North, Richard. Pagan words and Christian meanings.: Difference between revisions
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==Annotation== | ==Annotation== | ||
This book focuses on the semantic connections between Old English and Old Icelandic, using words which express similar ideas to help understand the pre-Christian pagan religion of Britain. Using six examples from the prose and poetry of Iceland, where isolation enabled a later period of conversion, as well as a brief comparison with Homeric literature, North discusses the manner in which poetic and prosaic analogues are understood in extant Old English writings. In the first half of the book, he focuses on poetry to explain the ideas of mind and soul in the pre-Christian culture. The second half of this book details the reinterpretation and reinvention of pagan concepts through Christian prose. | |||
While ''Brennu-Njáls saga'' uses thematic motifs to illustrate pagan beliefs, in the same manner that other sagas did, North examines Gunnar and Njáll as two differing embodiments of the virtuous pagan archetype (pages 164-175). Gunnar is shown, in life, to be a passive person with somewhat delicate sensibilities and enormous self-restraint, allowing him to see violence in a morally Christian manner. On the occasion that he must engage in violence, he does so in a sudden outburst, rather than something planned. In death, he takes on a cheerfully violent demeanor in his grave-mound which is radically different to his living self. The pagan-Christian connection is also demonstrated through the connection between Gunnar’s family fylgja and Hallur’s conversion request of a guardian angel. Njáll, Mörður, and Höskuldur are used as parallels with the Æsir through their actions, rather than merely being given morally admirable traits. In this way, the characters become myth, which allowed them to be perceived as morally upstanding pagans. Njáll, although a Christian convert early on, is compared to Óðinn, while Höskuldur could be Baldur (and, to some extent, Christ), and Mörður considered as Loki. | |||
==Lýsing== | ==Lýsing== | ||
Texta vantar | Texta vantar | ||
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==References== | ==References== | ||
[[Njála,_110| Chapter 110]]: ''' „ eggjar einart Skarphéðin ''': “Skarphéðinn kills his adoptive brother at the prompting of Mörður, just as Höður at Loki‘s instigation blindly kills Baldur.” (p. 174) | |||
==Links== | ==Links== | ||
* ''Written by:'' | * ''Written by:'' Raenelda Rivera | ||
* ''Icelandic/English translation:'' | * ''Icelandic/English translation:'' | ||
[[Category:Egils saga]][[Category:Egils saga:_Articles]][[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]] | [[Category:Egils saga]][[Category:Egils saga:_Articles]][[Category:Njáls saga]][[Category:Njáls saga:_Articles]][[Category:Authors]][[Category:All entries]] | ||
Latest revision as of 11:30, 5 June 2019
- Author: North, Richard
- Title: Pagan words and Christian meanings
- Place, Publisher: Amsterdam: Rodopi
- Year: 1991
- E-text:
- Reference: North, Richard. Pagan words and Christian meanings. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1991.
- Key words:
Annotation
This book focuses on the semantic connections between Old English and Old Icelandic, using words which express similar ideas to help understand the pre-Christian pagan religion of Britain. Using six examples from the prose and poetry of Iceland, where isolation enabled a later period of conversion, as well as a brief comparison with Homeric literature, North discusses the manner in which poetic and prosaic analogues are understood in extant Old English writings. In the first half of the book, he focuses on poetry to explain the ideas of mind and soul in the pre-Christian culture. The second half of this book details the reinterpretation and reinvention of pagan concepts through Christian prose. While Brennu-Njáls saga uses thematic motifs to illustrate pagan beliefs, in the same manner that other sagas did, North examines Gunnar and Njáll as two differing embodiments of the virtuous pagan archetype (pages 164-175). Gunnar is shown, in life, to be a passive person with somewhat delicate sensibilities and enormous self-restraint, allowing him to see violence in a morally Christian manner. On the occasion that he must engage in violence, he does so in a sudden outburst, rather than something planned. In death, he takes on a cheerfully violent demeanor in his grave-mound which is radically different to his living self. The pagan-Christian connection is also demonstrated through the connection between Gunnar’s family fylgja and Hallur’s conversion request of a guardian angel. Njáll, Mörður, and Höskuldur are used as parallels with the Æsir through their actions, rather than merely being given morally admirable traits. In this way, the characters become myth, which allowed them to be perceived as morally upstanding pagans. Njáll, although a Christian convert early on, is compared to Óðinn, while Höskuldur could be Baldur (and, to some extent, Christ), and Mörður considered as Loki.
Lýsing
Texta vantar
See also
References
Chapter 110: „ eggjar einart Skarphéðin : “Skarphéðinn kills his adoptive brother at the prompting of Mörður, just as Höður at Loki‘s instigation blindly kills Baldur.” (p. 174)
Links
- Written by: Raenelda Rivera
- Icelandic/English translation:
