Media

Conversation with the Reykjavik Grapevine

31/10/202009/09/2021 by Matthew Roby

This week I met with Jess Distill from the Reykjavík Grapevine to discuss my research on the medieval Icelandic sagas. See our conversation about witches, ghosts, and other trollish creatures in time for Halloween!

Facebook

Matthew Roby's Old Norse Blog is at University of King's College, Halifax.

3 days ago

Last night was the book launch of the Broadview Press Anthology of Medieval Arthurian Literature, an exciting new collection that demonstrates the staggering geographical, cultural, and linguistic diversity of Arthuriana. I read from my own contribution to the anthology, excerpts from the Old Norse-Icelandic “Merlínússpá” (Prophecy of Merlin). “Merlínússpá” was originally translated by the Icelandic monk Gunnlaugr Leifsson in the early thirteenth century. Gunnlaugr took the Latin prose “Prophecies of Merlin” from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain and not only rendered them into the Old Norse language but also acculturated them fully into the Old Norse-Icelandic poetic tradition. His text is replete with kennings and references to figures from Norse pagan myth and legend, such as Óðinn, Fenrir, and Völundr. He also arranged the prophecies into the same alliterative verse form as found in several Eddic poems, including “Völuspá” (The Seeress’s Prophecy), a work that charts pagan universal history from creation to Ragnarök, and one to which “Merlínússpá” makes several clear allusions. In my own translation, I attempted to retain this alliterative form to give readers a better sense of the content and style Gunnlaugr’s text. I am grateful to the amazing editors, Kathy Cawsey and Elizabeth Edwards, for inviting me to contribute to this anthology, which will no doubt become the new standard teaching text for Arthurian literature courses throughout Canada and beyond! ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook

Conversation with the Reykjavik Grapevine

You may like

Saga Stories with the Reykjavík Grapevine: Grettis saga

Saga Stories with the Reykjavík Grapevine: Berserks and Zombies in Eyrbyggja saga