Koch, Ludovica. Il corvo della memoria e il corvo del pensiero

• Author: Koch, Ludovica
• Title: Il corvo della memoria e il corvo del pensiero. Problemi dell’improvvisazione nella poesia degli scaldi
• Published in: Al di qua o al di là dell’umano
• Place, Publisher: Roma: Donzelli Editore
• Year: 1997
• Pages: 35-51
• E-text:
• Reference: Koch, Ludovica. “Il corvo della memoria e il corvo del pensiero. Problemi dell’improvvisazione nella poesia degli scaldi.” Al di qua o al di là dell’umano. Roma: Donzelli Editore, 1997, pp. 35-51.

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Annotation

This article is part of a volume that collects Ludovica Koch’s writings on the problems of analyzing and translating ‘distant’ literary works, while paying special attention is placed on the Nordic ‘crepuscular’ nature of literature. In this essay the artistry of the scalds is elucidated by exploiting the myth of Odin’s crows. The binary nature of composing scaldic poetry is examined by considering passages from Egil's saga, in which the poems Egil performs under deeply emotional circumstances reveal the uncontrolled and violent matter of scaldic poetry, while also displaying the artistry of the poet in overcoming the contrasting activity of Memory and Thought. Examples to the analysis are taken especially from the poems Arínbjarnarkviða and Sonatorrek.

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• Written by: Martina Ceolin
• Icelandic translation: