Nordic Sagas as Children's Literature

Nordic Sagas as Children's Literature
Author: Velma Bourgeois Richmond
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 380
Release: 2023-08-23
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1476691630

This book examines translations of Icelandic sagas and the Victorian and Edwardian children's literature they inspired, some of which are canonical while others are forgotten. It covers authors like William Morris, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Thomas Gray, Walter Scott, H. Rider Haggard, W.H. Auden, John Greenleef Whittier and more. In lavish volumes and modest schoolbooks, British and American writers claimed Nordic heritage and explored Nordic traditions. The sagas offered a rich and wide-ranging source for these authors: Volsunga saga's Sigurd the dragon slayer; King Olaf's saga of opposing Nordic Gods and Christianity; Frithiof's model of headstrong youth beset with unfair opposition and lost love. Grettir and Njal tell of men who accepted fate and met conflict and enemies unflinchingly; Aslaug, Gudrida, Hallberga and Hervar exerted remarkable influence; and Eric the Red and Leif the Lucky provided Americans with a Nordic heritage of discovery.

The Monstrous Child

The Monstrous Child
Author: Francesca Simon
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2016-05-03
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0571330282

A stunning, operatic, epic drama, like no other. Meet Hel, an ordinary teenager - and goddess of the Underworld. Why is life so unfair? Hel tries to make the bets of it, creating gleaming halls in her dark kingdom and welcoming the dead who she is forced to host for eternity. Until eternity itself is threatened. Francesca's first and wonderful foray into teen.

Treasury of Norse Mythology

Treasury of Norse Mythology
Author: Donna Jo Napoli
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2015
Genre: Gods, Norse
ISBN: 1426320981

Illustrated stories of gods, goddesses, heroes and monsters come to life in this collection of Norse myths, including those of the thunder god Thor, the one-eyed god and Allfather Odin, and the trickster god Loki.

The Dragon's Hoard

The Dragon's Hoard
Author: Lari Don
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Total Pages: 64
Release: 2017-08-23
Genre: Magic
ISBN: 9781847806826

Meet the Vikings and enter their enchanting world full of warriors and battles, heroes and heroines, Berserkers, monsters and zombies, and of course, lots of magic. Illustrated throughout, these eleven amazing stories bring the Viking Sagas, tales they themselves told, to vivid life. A fantastic introduction to Viking mythology, these illustrated tales will have children captivated.

Children’s Literature in Hitler’s Germany

Children’s Literature in Hitler’s Germany
Author: Christa Kamenetsky
Publisher: Ohio University Press
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2019-06-17
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 082144672X

Between 1933 and 1945, National Socialists enacted a focused effort to propagandize children’s literature by distorting existing German values and traditions with the aim of creating a homogenous “folk community.” A vast censorship committee in Berlin oversaw the publication, revision, and distribution of books and textbooks for young readers, exercising its control over library and bookstore content as well as over new manuscripts, so as to redirect the cultural consumption of the nation’s children. In particular, the Nazis emphasized Nordic myths and legends with a focus on the fighting spirit of the saga heroes, their community loyalty, and a fierce spirit of revenge—elements that were then applied to the concepts of loyalty to and sacrifice for the Führer and the fatherland. They also tolerated select popular series, even though these were meant to be replaced by modern Hitler Youth camping stories. In this important book, first published in 1984 and now back in print, Christa Kamenetsky demonstrates how Nazis used children’s literature to selectively shape a “Nordic Germanic” worldview that was intended to strengthen the German folk community, the Führer, and the fatherland by imposing a racial perspective on mankind. Their efforts corroded the last remnants of the Weimar Republic’s liberal education, while promoting an enthusiastic following for Hitler.

Viking Myths and Sagas

Viking Myths and Sagas
Author: Rosalind Kerven
Publisher: Chartwell Books
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2017-09-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0785835555

Written in consultation with leading academics.

A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture

A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture
Author: Rory McTurk
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 584
Release: 2008-03-11
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 140513738X

This major survey of Old Norse-Icelandic literature and culturedemonstrates the remarkable continuity of Icelandic language andculture from medieval to modern times. Comprises 29 chapters written by leading scholars in thefield Reflects current debates among Old Norse-Icelandicscholars Pays attention to previously neglected areas of study, such asthe sagas of Icelandic bishops and the fantasy sagas Looks at the ways Old Norse-Icelandic literature is used bymodern writers, artists and film directors, both within and outsideScandinavia Sets Old Norse-Icelandic language and literature in its widercultural context

Beyond the Northlands

Beyond the Northlands
Author: Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2016
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0198701241

A trip to the furthest edgelands of the Viking world via the drama of the Old Norse sagas -- from the Arctic Circle to Constantinople, North America to Kievan Rus.

Bracelet of Bones

Bracelet of Bones
Author: Kevin Crossley-Holland
Publisher: Quercus
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2014-03-11
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1623651131

Crossley-Holland, a winner of the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Fiction Award, the Smarties Prize Bronze Medal, and the Tir Nan-Og Award, and numerous other distinctions, has written an absorbing fantasy novel for young adults with a formidable heroine. The Guardian praised Bracelet of Bones as "superb" Crossley-Holland writes "with a poet's eye and love of words, painting a vivid picture of the world his characters move through, whether it's the morning mist on the river or the smoke from a funeral pyre." One morning Solveig wakes to find her father, Viking mercenary Halfdan, has broken his promise to her by leaving to join the Viking Guard in Constantinople, without her. Deciding to follow him, Solveig sets off in a tiny boat and into an epic adventure, encountering Swedish traders, a ghost-ship and a Russian king, braving arrow-storms and witnessing a living sacrifice. Through it all, Solveig's belief in her father is unwavering. Will she ever reach Constantinople? And will her father be there? An imaginative and poignant novel that explores friendship and betrayal, the father-daughter relationship, the clash of religions and the journey from childhood to adulthood, Bracelet of Bones is a vivid adventure not to be missed.