Frank, Roberta. Anglo-Scandinavian poetic relations

• Author: ank, Roberta
• Title: Anglo-Scandinavian poetic relations
• Published in: American Notes and Queries 3
• Place, Publisher: n/a
• Year: 1990
• Pages: 74-78
• E-text:
• Reference: Frank, Roberta. "Anglo-Scandinavian poetic relations." American Notes and Queries 3 (1990): 74-79.

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Annotation

The author reviews the findings of the last twenty-five years regarding the distinctive poetic relations between Anglo-Saxon England and Scandinavia. It seems, according to her, that the first skald whose verses survive probably had British relatives. Moreover, scholars agree that a sequence of metaphors in the Old English Exodus may be based on Old Norse shield-kennings. During the Viking Age, Old English poets seemed to have used skaldic verses. Finally, the instability of legendary lore caused Nordic legendary heroes to be re-invented in Old English poems. The field has long been subject to misconceptions originating in a Germanic bias, which hindered the identification of Nordic influence, but the recent changes in subject matter and style preferences have proven extremely revealing.

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