Echoes of Valhalla: The Afterlife of the Eddas and Sagas

Description

Tolkien's wizard Gandalf, Wagner's Valkyrie Brunnhilde and Marvel's superhero the Mighty Thor: these are just a few examples of how Icelandic medieval literature has shaped the human imagination during the past 150 years. Echoes of Valhalla shows how disparate, age-old poems and prose from medieval rural Iceland have become a part of our shared cultural experience today - how the eddas and sagas themselves live on, as well as the colourful characters and adventures they describe. The book will appeal to the wide audience interested in Viking mythology and history, as well as films, books, music, graphic novels and tv series such as Game of Thrones.

Jon Karl Helgason is Professor of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Iceland.

Echoes of Valhalla effectively underlines the ways in which many of our favorite modern narratives are interwoven with enduring ancient Nordic threads. --Terry Gunnell, University of Iceland"