"Undir ilmöndum laufum ok nýsprungnum blómstrum": Sensual Pleasure in Old Norse Arthurian Romance

2015 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Old Norse ◽  
Arthurian Romance ◽  
Sensual Pleasure

Quintessence of Truth and Beauty in the Writings of Rabindranath Tagore and Keats A Comparative Analysis

IJOHMN ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 52-68
Author(s):  
Swati Rani Debnath
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
John Keats ◽  
Spiritual Discipline ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
Rabindranath Tagore ◽  
Human Thought ◽  
Spiritual Perspective ◽  
Eye Opening ◽  
Sensual Pleasure ◽  
The Universe

In literary works, truth and beauty have been expressed in a varied number of ways by authors of all genres. Rabindranath Tagore and John Keats, two prominent writers from two languages have linked beauty and truth in philosophical manners in many of their writings. Beauty and truth are not separate entities; they flow from the same spring. Tagore views beauty as linked to eternal characteristics of nature and truth is associated with it. Keats sees beauty from spiritual perspective and according to him, realization of truth leads to the fulfillment of beauty. Readers of Tagore and Keats get eye-opening insights from the viewpoints that are followed by their expressions in regarding the tenets of truth and beauty. Truth and beauty fulfill each other in their harmonious existence in the universe. The authors make us realize that beauty does not emanate merely from sensual pleasure; it is an abstract idea, a spiritual understanding that originates from rhythmic attachment with truth. This article compares and contrasts philosophies of truth and beauty from the writings of Tagore and Keats. In doing so, the paper investigates the literary works of the two writers and explores how they have philosophized truth and beauty in the domain of human thought as well as in the realm of spiritual discipline.

Sigurðr, Þórr and Ragnarök and their Christian Counterparts

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 81-104
Author(s):  
Manu Braithwaite-Westoby
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Systematic Study ◽  
Old Norse ◽  
The Bible ◽  
In Christ ◽  
Stone Sculpture ◽  
Popular Subject ◽  
New Religion

Few scholars would deny that some Old Norse myths have Christian counterparts, a phenomenon first noticed by nineteenth-century archaeologists and antiquarians in their observations of Anglo-Scandinavian stone sculpture in northern England. It is strange, therefore, that despite this long tradition, there is no systematic study on the topic. While this ambition is unfortunately outside the scope of this article, it does seek to address a number of Old Norse myths/legends and place them in conjunction with their Christian counterparts. One of the most important myths for Anglo-Scandinavian craftsmen was probably Sigurðr, who has an obvious parallel in Christ. The apocalyptic narrative in Voluspa known as Ragnarök was also a very popular subject and has a clear cognate in the apocalyptic sections of the Bible. Þórr and the Miðgarðsormr, though less appealing to artists, strongly recalls accounts of the conflict between Christ and Satan or Leviathan. This article uses a theoretical methodology called ‘figural interpretation’ to examine the Old Norse myths and explore how they reflect certain myths from the new religion. While distinctly art historical in approach, this article also invokes some Old Norse texts where relevant, which may themselves have been influenced by Christian thinking.

A Handbook to Eddic Poetry: Myths and Legends of Early Scandinavia, ed. Carolyne Larrington, Judy Quinn, and Brittany Schorn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016, xii, 413 pp., 12 b/w ill.

Mediaevistik ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 366-366
Author(s):  
Albrecht Classen
Keyword(s):  
Old Norse ◽  
Entire Volume ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Critical Studies ◽  
Individual Contributions ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Made In ◽  
Scandinavian Literature

Eddic poetry constitutes one of the most important genres in Old Norse or Scandinavian literature and has been studied since the earliest time of modern-day philology. The progress we have made in that field is impressive, considering the many excellent editions and translations, not to mention the countless critical studies in monographs and articles. Nevertheless, there is always a great need to revisit, to summarize, to review, and to digest the knowledge gained so far. The present handbook intends to address all those goals and does so, to spell it out right away, exceedingly well. But in contrast to traditional concepts, the individual contributions constitute fully developed critical article, each with a specialized topic elucidating it as comprehensively as possible, and concluding with a section of notes. Those are kept very brief, but the volume rounds it all off with an inclusive, comprehensive bibliography. And there is also a very useful index at the end. At the beginning, we find, following the table of contents, a list of the contributors, unfortunately without emails, a list of translations and abbreviations of the titles of Eddic poems in the Codex Regius and then elsewhere, and a very insightful and pleasant introduction by Carolyne Larrington. She briefly introduces the genre and then summarizes the essential points made by the individual authors. The entire volume is based on the Eddic Network established by the three editors in 2012, and on two workshops held at St. John’s College, Oxford in 2013 and 2014.

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