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A comprehensive guide to a crucial aspect of Old Norse literature.
We cannot read literary works without making use of the concept of genre. In Old Norse studies, genre has been central to the categorisation, evaluation and understanding of medieval prose and poetry alike; yet its definition has been elusive and its implications often left unexplored.
This volume opens up fundamental questions about Old Norse genre in theory and in practice. It offers an extensive range of theoretical approaches, investigating and critiquing current terms and situating its arguments within early Scandinavian and Icelandic oral-literary and manuscript contexts. It maps the ways in which genre and form engage with key thematic areas within the literary corpus,noting the different kinds of impact upon the genre system brought about by conversion to Christianity, the gradual adoption of European literary models, and social and cultural changes occurring in Scandinavian society. A case-study section probes both prototypical and hard-to-define cases, demonstrating the challenges that actual texts pose to genre theory in terms of hybridity, evolution and innovation. With an annotated taxonomy of Old Norse genres and an extensive bibliography, it is an indispensable resource for contemporary Old Norse-Icelandic literary studies.
We cannot read literary works without making use of the concept of genre. In Old Norse studies, genre has been central to the categorisation, evaluation and understanding of medieval prose and poetry alike; yet its definition has been elusive and its implications often left unexplored.
This volume opens up fundamental questions about Old Norse genre in theory and in practice. It offers an extensive range of theoretical approaches, investigating and critiquing current terms and situating its arguments within early Scandinavian and Icelandic oral-literary and manuscript contexts. It maps the ways in which genre and form engage with key thematic areas within the literary corpus,noting the different kinds of impact upon the genre system brought about by conversion to Christianity, the gradual adoption of European literary models, and social and cultural changes occurring in Scandinavian society. A case-study section probes both prototypical and hard-to-define cases, demonstrating the challenges that actual texts pose to genre theory in terms of hybridity, evolution and innovation. With an annotated taxonomy of Old Norse genres and an extensive bibliography, it is an indispensable resource for contemporary Old Norse-Icelandic literary studies.
Price: $45.95
Pages: 389
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Inc.
Imprint: D.S.Brewer
Publication Date:
20 January 2026
Trim Size: 9.21 X 6.14 in
ISBN: 9781843847656
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
LITERARY CRITICISM / Medieval, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval, LITERARY CRITICISM / European / Scandinavian, Literature: history and criticism
[A]s the extensive listing of works cited indicates, consideration of genre is today a matter of interest to many leading scholars in the Old Norse field, and for anyone in that field concerned with the topic of genre this collection of essays is indeed vital reading.
— Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Assoc.
A marvellous addition to Old Norse scholarship and the debate about genre, with every chapter, without exception, written by one of our field's best minds. The editorial agency is strongly felt and unlike many edited compilations, this book succeeds in connecting all of its pieces: in many ways, a genre-defying achievement.
— Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Assoc.
A marvellous addition to Old Norse scholarship and the debate about genre, with every chapter, without exception, written by one of our field's best minds. The editorial agency is strongly felt and unlike many edited compilations, this book succeeds in connecting all of its pieces: in many ways, a genre-defying achievement.
Introduction - Massimiliano Bampi and Sif Rikhardsdottir
Genre - Massimiliano Bampi
Hybridity - Sif Rikhardsdottir
Terminology - Lukas Rösli
Form - Mikael Males
Orality, Textuality and Performance - Judy Quinn
Manuscripts and Codicology - Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir
The Body Politic - Hans Jacob Orning
Geography - Dale Kedwards
Time and Space - Torfi H. Tulinius
Memory - Pernille Hermann
The Human Condition - Stefanie Gropper
God(s) - Carolyne Larrington
Wisdom - Brittany Schorn
Skaldic poetry - Case study: The Poetry of Torf-Einarr Rognvaldsson of Orkney - Erin Goeres
Eddic poetry - Case study: Sólarljóð - Carolyne Larrington
Þættir - Case study: Stjörnu-Odda draumr - Elizabeth Ashman Rowe
Íslendingasogur - Case study: Vatnsdæla saga - Russell Poole
Byskupasögur and heilagra manna sögur - Case study - Kevin J. Wanner
Romance - Case Study - Jürg Glauser
Annotated Taxonomy of Genres
Genre - Massimiliano Bampi
Hybridity - Sif Rikhardsdottir
Terminology - Lukas Rösli
Form - Mikael Males
Orality, Textuality and Performance - Judy Quinn
Manuscripts and Codicology - Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir
The Body Politic - Hans Jacob Orning
Geography - Dale Kedwards
Time and Space - Torfi H. Tulinius
Memory - Pernille Hermann
The Human Condition - Stefanie Gropper
God(s) - Carolyne Larrington
Wisdom - Brittany Schorn
Skaldic poetry - Case study: The Poetry of Torf-Einarr Rognvaldsson of Orkney - Erin Goeres
Eddic poetry - Case study: Sólarljóð - Carolyne Larrington
Þættir - Case study: Stjörnu-Odda draumr - Elizabeth Ashman Rowe
Íslendingasogur - Case study: Vatnsdæla saga - Russell Poole
Byskupasögur and heilagra manna sögur - Case study - Kevin J. Wanner
Romance - Case Study - Jürg Glauser
Annotated Taxonomy of Genres