Download or read book Heroic Epic and Saga written by Felix J. Oinas and published by Bloomington : Indiana University Press. This book was released on 1978 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Heroic Saga and Classical Epic in Medieval Ireland written by Brent Miles and published by DS Brewer. This book was released on 2011 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An examination of the ways in which works of Classical literature influenced and were received by the native Irish tradition. Original, innovative work which elucidates a number of individual narratives; but more significantly, by placing these texts in their proper intellectual context, the author demonstrates how the world of learning in eleventh- andtwelfth-century Ireland really worked. He illuminates a world of medieval education and scholarship; he tells us (as no-one has done previously) what medieval Irish classicism was all about. Dr Máire ni Mhaonaigh, St John's College, University of Cambridge. The puzzle of Ireland's role in the preservation of classical learning into the middle ages has always excited scholars, but the evidence from the island's vernacular literature - as opposed to that in Latin - for the study of pagan epic has largely escaped notice. In this book the author breaks new ground by examining the Irish texts alongside the Latin evidence for the study of classical epic in medieval Ireland, surveying the corpus of Irish texts based on histories and poetry from antiquity, in particular Togail Troi, the Irish history of the Fall of Troy. He argues that Irish scholars' study of Virgil and Statius in particularleft a profound imprint on the native heroic literature, especially the Irish prose epic Táin Bó Cúailnge ("The Cattle-Raid of Cooley"). BRENT MILES is a Fellow in Early and Medieval Irish, University College Cork.
Download or read book The Epic Hero written by Dean A. Miller and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2003-05-22 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Selected by Choice Magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title From Odysseus to Aeneas, from Beowulf to King Arthur, from the Mahâbhârata to the Ossetian "Nart" tales, epic heroes and their stories have symbolized the power of the human imagination. Drawing on diverse disciplines including classics, anthropology, psychology, and literary studies, this product of twenty years' scholarship provides a detailed typology of the hero in Western myth: birth, parentage, familial ties, sexuality, character, deeds, death, and afterlife. Dean A. Miller examines the place of the hero in the physical world (wilderness, castle, prison cell) and in society (among monarchs, fools, shamans, rivals, and gods). He looks at the hero in battle and quest; at his political status; and at his relationship to established religion. The book spans Western epic traditions, including Greek, Roman, Nordic, and Celtic, as well as the Indian and Persian legacies. A large section of the book also examines the figures who modify or accompany the hero: partners, helpers (animals and sometimes monsters), foes, foils, and even antitypes. The Epic Hero provides a comprehensive and provocative guide to epic heroes, and to the richly imaginative tales they inhabit.
Download or read book Wayward Heroes written by Halldor Laxness and published by Archipelago. This book was released on 2016-11-01 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Drawing on historical events, including King Olaf’s reign in Norway and the burning of Chartres Cathedral, Laxness revises and renews the bloody sagas of Icelandic tradition, producing not just a spectacular historical novel but one of coal-dark humor and psychological depth.” – Publishers Weekly First published in 1952, Halldór Laxness’s Wayward Heroes offers an unlikely representation of modern literature. A reworking of medieval Icelandic sagas, the novel is set against the backdrop of the medieval Norse world. Laxness satirizes the spirit of sagas, criticizing the global militarism and belligerent national posturing rampant in the postwar buildup to the Cold War. He does that through the novel’s main characters, the sworn brothers Þormóður Bessason and Þorgeir Hávarsson, warriors who blindly pursue ideals that lead to the imposition of power through violent means. The two see the world around them only through a veil of heroic illusion: kings are fit either to be praised in poetry or toppled from their thrones, other men only to kill or be killed, women only to be mythic fantasies. Replete with irony, absurdity, and pathos, the novel more than anything takes on the character of tragedy, as the sworn brothers’ quest to live out their ideals inevitably leaves them empty-handed and ruined.
Download or read book Two Sagas of Mythical Heroes written by Jackson Crawford and published by Hackett Publishing. This book was released on 2021-10-19 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inherited through the line of the berserker Angantýr and his war-loving daughter Hervor, the ever-lethal, shining sword Tyrfing and its changes of hands frame the uncanny story of The Saga of Hervor and Heiđrek. A second heroic saga, Hrólf Kraki and His Champions, recounts the daring deeds of the members and entourage of the ancient Danish house of Skjoldung. Passed down orally in pre-Christian Norse times, transmitted in writing in medieval Iceland, and here wielded by the hand of Jackson Crawford, the tales told in this volume retain their sharp edges and flashes of glory that never fail to slay.
Download or read book Heroic Identity in the World of Beowulf written by Scott Gwara and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2009-01-31 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Readers of Beowulf have noted inconsistencies in Beowulf's depiction, as either heroic or reckless. Heroic Identity in the World of Beowulf resolves this tension by emphasizing Beowulf's identity as a foreign fighter seeking glory abroad. Such men resemble wreccan, "exiles" compelled to leave their homelands due to excessive violence. Beowulf may be potentially arrogant, therefore, but he learns prudence. This native wisdom highlights a king's duty to his warband, in expectation of Beowulf's future rule. The dragon fight later raises the same question of incompatible identities, hero versus king. In frequent reference to Greek epic and Icelandic saga, this revisionist approach to Beowulf offers new interpretations of flyting rhetoric, the custom of "men dying with their lord," and the poem's digressions.
Download or read book The Viking on Stamford Bridge written by Brent Jordan and published by . This book was released on 2020-11-21 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born upon the deathbed of his Valkyrie mother, raised beneath the unyielding hand of his Berserker grandfather, a boy, one day to be known as RIGSEN, is set upon the path to achieve his destiny of the greatest Viking warrior of all time.The boy, only nine-years-old, survives alone in the harsh Viking world after the death of his grandfather. When he has grown to a stalwart man of nineteen, he meets the love of his life, Sassa, and in their love they have two splendid daughters.Life is good for the small family until one day Norway's King Harald Hardrada comes to Trondheim gathering an army to invade England and usurp the English throne. The man is torn: he is loath to leave his family, yet he knows the only way to gain the favor of the gods and be with the ones he loves for eternity in the afterlife is to become a hero worthy of Valhalla. It is an excruciating decision, but the man leaves his family to go to war.Armed with his grandfather's legendary battleaxe, the man quickly distinguishes himself in battle against the Saxons of England, but it is not until a small contingent of the Norwegian army is caught by surprise by the whole of the fifteen-thousand man English army does the true scale of his heroic legend rise: The man takes to a narrow bridge to stand against the charge of the English to allow his countrymen to retreat to the far side of the river. Trapped on the bridge alone facing an entire army, it seems the man's fate is sealed: a quick death and the massacre of his countrymen. Yet the man does not fall...Based on the true story of the greatest one man stand in history.
Download or read book The Chaos Gate written by Jeff Pantanella and published by . This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The arrival of an unlikely traveler to the Abyssal ice world of Gathos creates a tear in the Amaranthine Barrier, allowing an unspeakable evil to enter the Mortal Realm and unleash a world of horror on humankind. Only one man can stop the madness, but the demigod, Aetenos, has vanished and hasn't been seen for over a hundred years.Kasai Ch'ou and his mentor, blind Master Choejor, must flee the burning Monastery of Ordu in a desperate attempt to escape the wicked creatures of nightmare who have overrun the holy sanctuary. The two fugitives must reach the city of Gethem and warn the Grandmaster of the Seventh Heaven before the remaining monasteries of Aetenos fall to the same deadly fate.But to reach Gethem, they must travel across the dangerous wilderness and through dark forests, prowled by preternatural beasts and haunted by witches. Meanwhile, other sinister forces vie for power to overthrow the king and plunge the land into darkness. A new hero must rise, or all is lost.The Chaos Gate is the first book in a dark fantasy series featuring unwilling heroes, crafty devils, capricious witches, and terrifying demons. If you like fast-paced, action adventures, with high court intrigue and highly imaginative worlds, you'll love the first installment in Jeff Pantanella's page-turning Ever Hero Saga.
Download or read book The Heracliad written by Richard Bertematti and published by . This book was released on 2014-07 with total page 698 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ""Nothing without Heracles!" was a popular saying among the ancient Greeks. Heracles, known better by his Roman name Hercules, was the subject of more poetry, prose and art than any other ancient god or hero. Astoundingly, not a single epic work about the legendary hero has come down to us ... until now!."--Cover.
Download or read book The Steel Remains written by Richard K. Morgan and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2009-01-20 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A dark lord will rise. Such is the prophecy that dogs Ringil Eskiath—Gil, for short—a washed-up mercenary and onetime war hero whose cynicism is surpassed only by the speed of his sword. Gil is estranged from his aristocratic family, but when his mother enlists his help in freeing a cousin sold into slavery, Gil sets out to track her down. But it soon becomes apparent that more is at stake than the fate of one young woman. Grim sorceries are awakening in the land. Some speak in whispers of the return of the Aldrain, a race of widely feared, cruel yet beautiful demons. Now Gil and two old comrades are all that stand in the way of a prophecy whose fulfillment will drown an entire world in blood. But with heroes like these, the cure is likely to be worse than the disease.
Download or read book Heroic Epic and Saga written by Felix J. Oinas and published by . This book was released on with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Divine Fist written by Jeff Pantanella and published by . This book was released on 2020-11 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The soul harvest has begun, and war rages across the Three Kingdoms. The smell of human souls seeping through the Chaos Gate awakens an ancient evil and destroyer of worlds. If the Ever Hero cannot close the portal in time, the Mortal Realm is doomed.The lines between good and evil are blurred. Still, the harsh reality of the Great Balance is made clear when Kasai and Desdemonia travel to the Seven Heavens in hopes of salvation, only to be accused of consorting with evil and imprisoned. Now, they must stand in judgment for treason before the Archangel, Raguel. If found guilty, the Chancellor Pinnacle will gladly sentence them to death.There is but one way for Kasai to prove his innocence and save his soul, he must destroy Sekka. If he fails, his soul is lost, and he forfeits not only the lives of his friends but also countless souls of the Three Kingdoms. The Divine Fist is the third book in the Ever Hero epic fantasy series. If you enjoy an engaging story, pitting the underdog against overwhelming odds, with dark powers turning would-be heroes into puppets, and sinister plans that will throw worlds into conflict, you'll love the third installment in Jeff Pantanella's page-turning Ever Hero Saga.Buy The Divine Fist now and continue to enjoy this exciting new series today!
Download or read book Playing the Hero written by Ann Dooley and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Playing the Hero is a unique example of more contemporary literary methodologies – post-structuralist, feminist, historicist and beyond – being used to illuminate the Irish saga world.
Download or read book Shahnameh written by Abolqasem Ferdowsi and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-03-08 with total page 1041 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive translation by Dick Davis of the great national epic of Iran—now newly revised and expanded to be the most complete English-language edition A Penguin Classic Dick Davis—“our pre-eminent translator from the Persian” (The Washington Post)—has revised and expanded his acclaimed translation of Ferdowsi’s masterpiece, adding more than 100 pages of newly translated text. Davis’s elegant combination of prose and verse allows the poetry of the Shahnameh to sing its own tales directly, interspersed sparingly with clearly marked explanations to ease along modern readers. Originally composed for the Samanid princes of Khorasan in the tenth century, the Shahnameh is among the greatest works of world literature. This prodigious narrative tells the story of pre-Islamic Persia, from the mythical creation of the world and the dawn of Persian civilization through the seventh-century Arab conquest. The stories of the Shahnameh are deeply embedded in Persian culture and beyond, as attested by their appearance in such works as The Kite Runner and the love poems of Rumi and Hafez. For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Download or read book The Art and Thought of the Beowulf Poet written by Leonard Neidorf and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2023-01-15 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Art and Thought of the Beowulf Poet, Leonard Neidorf explores the relationship between Beowulf and the legendary tradition that existed prior to its composition. The Beowulf poet inherited an amoral heroic tradition, which focused principally on heroes compelled by circumstances to commit horrendous deeds: fathers kill sons, brothers kill brothers, and wives kill husbands. Medieval Germanic poets relished the depiction of a hero's unyielding response to a cruel fate, but the Beowulf poet refused to construct an epic around this traditional plot. Focusing instead on a courteous and pious protagonist's fight against monsters, the poet creates a work that is deeply untraditional in both its plot and its values. In Beowulf, the kin-slayers and oath-breakers of antecedent tradition are confined to the background, while the poet fills the foreground with unconventional characters, who abstain from transgression, display courtly etiquette, and express monotheistic convictions. Comparing Beowulf with its medieval German and Scandinavian analogues, The Art and Thought of the Beowulf Poet argues that the poem's uniqueness reflects one poet's coherent plan for the moral renovation of an amoral heroic tradition. In Beowulf, Neidorf discerns the presence of a singular mind at work in the combination and modification of heroic, folkloric, hagiographical, and historical materials. Rather than perceive Beowulf as an impersonally generated object, Neidorf argues that it should be read as the considered result of one poet's ambition to produce a morally edifying, theologically palatable, and historically plausible epic out of material that could not independently constitute such a poem.
Download or read book Song of the Nibelungs written by and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2008-01-08 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It portrays the existential struggles and downfall of an entire people, the Burgundians, in a military conflict with the Huns and their king."--Jacket.
Download or read book Traditions of Heroic and Epic Poetry Characteristics and techniques written by John Bryan Hainsworth and published by MHRA. This book was released on 1980 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
