Storyworlds and Worldbuilding in Old Norse-Icelandic Literature

Hardback, Pages: 356 pages, Size:156 x 234 mm, Illustrations:5 b/w, 1 col., 1 tables b/w. , Language:English, *New. ISBN 9782503611648. The storyworlds of Old Norse-Icelandic literature are multifaceted and variable, ranging from the worlds of heroic poetry and popular romance to the recognizable narrative universe built by the Sagas of Icelanders. Despite this, they have rarely been explored, and narratological theories of storyworlds or fantasy scholarship have had little impact on the field. Yet given that every story creates its own storyworld, it can be assumed that Old Norse-Icelandic literary texts, too, build worlds ? and these worlds are diverse and complex, as shown by the contributors in this volume: they constantly engage with one another, exploring, shaping, and expanding, while also entering into a dialogue with the primary world from which they draw. This volume brings together scholars from different areas of Old Norse-Icelandic studies to explore questions related to not only the storyworlds of medieval Icelandic literature, but also those of legal and learned texts, and to the way that they are built. Together they inquire into the nature of these worlds, into their preservation and transmission in manuscripts, their transmediality, transnarrativity, and reception. In doing so, these inquiries showcase the breadth of new perspectives on medieval Icelandic literature made possible by the application of narratological theory in its study. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations 1. Introduction. Approaching Storyworlds and Worldbuilding in Old Norse-Icelandic Literature Rebecca Merkelbach Section 1: Building Worlds 2. Intrusive Dreams and Converging Worlds in the slendingas gur Alexander Wilson 3. Navigating Through the Storyworld(s): The Narrative Voice in the slendingas gur Stefanie Gropper 4. Truth and Lies in the Worldbuilding of the slendingas gur: Public, Individual, and Narratorial Voices in Eyrbyggja saga Andreas Schmidt Section 2: Placing Worlds 5. Centrality and Peripherality in the Storyworlds of the Old Norse Sagas Lucie Koreck 6. Narrated Space: The East and Its Inhabitants in Yngvars saga v fo?rla Annett Krakow 7. Becoming a Knight in a Polarised World: Modes of Spatial Representation in Sigur ar saga gla Michael Micci Section 3: Transnarrative Worlds 8. The Two Storyworlds of Ectors saga ok kappa hans Sabine Heidi Walther 9. The Storyworld/s of AM 162 c fol. Yoav Tirosh 10. Evil Customs and Manifold Injuries: Imagined Realms in Old Norse Laws Sean Lawing Section 4: Paranormal Worlds 11. Hobbled Shieldmaidens and Shapeshifting Kings: The Transfiguration of the Storyworld in B sa saga ok Herrau s Thomas Morcom 12. Fates, Faiths and Fauna: The Ins and Outs of Worldbuilding in Har ar saga ok H lmverja rmann Jakobsson and Yoav Tirosh 13. The Storyworld and its Parasites: Unearthing Horror Modes in the ?Post-Classical? Icelandic Sagas Thomas Spray