Seven Viking Romances (Penguin Classics) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140444742 ISBN 13: 9780140444742

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 1985

Synopsis

Combining traditional myth, oral history and re-worked European legend to depict an ancient realm of heroism and wonder, the seven tales collected here are among the most fantastical of all the Norse romances. Powerfully inspired works of Icelandic imagination, they relate intriguing, often comical tales of famous kings, difficult gods and women of great beauty, goodness or cunning. The tales plunder a wide range of earlier literature from Homer to the French romances - as in the tale of the wandering hero Arrow-Odd, which combines several older legends, or Egil and Asmund, where the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops is skilfully adapted into a traditional Norse legend. These are among the most outrageous, delightful and exhilarating tales in all Icelandic literature.

About this title

About the Author:

Paul and Sarah Edwards are the bestselling coauthors of numerous books, including Finding Your Perfect Work, The Best Home Businesses for the 21st Century, and Making Money in Cyberspace. They provide millions of people with informative and inspirational advice on self-employment through their radio and television shows, their online venues, and their popular newspaper and magazine columns.

From the Inside Flap:

These medieval Viking romances, including Arrow-Odd and King Gautrek, inhabit some of the most enjoyable and exotic regions of the Icelandic imagination.

They tell of famous kings, difficult gods and women of great beauty, goodness or cunning; but although they paint the traditional colourful picture of the Viking warrior making raids in his dragon-headed longboat, these stories are not concerned, like Hrafnkel's Saga or Njal's Saga, for example, to point a moral or to set down the glories of Icelandic history or geography. Instead the narrators, witty and well-read, plundered sources from Homer to French romance, and incorporated local myths, legends and heroic tales in a bid to entertain us, capture our imagination and make us laugh.

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About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 1985
• ISBN 10: 0140444742
• ISBN 13: 9780140444742
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304