English Poetry and Old Norse Myth: A History

257 Pages·2014·1.81 MB·English

by  Heather O'Donoghue

ENGLISH POETRY AND
OLD NORSE MYTH

English Poetry and
Old Norse Myth
A History
HEATHER O’DONOGHUE
1
1
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Acknowledgements
This book is greatly indebted to previous scholars who have documented
the impact of Old Norse literature and culture in various periods. As will
be evident from what follows, without the work of Ethel Seaton, Frank
Farley, Margaret Clunies Ross, Margaret Omberg, and Andrew Wawn,
I could hardly have even begun my own. In addition, three young schol-
ars—Tom Birkett, Eleanor Parker, and Josie O’Donoghue—gave so gen-
erously of their expertise and time that without their help with this book
I could hardly have finished it. I am deeply grateful to them all.

Contents
Introduction 1
Prologue—Earliest Contacts: Medieval Poetry and
Old Norse Myth 16
1. Antiquarians and Poets: The Discovery of Old Norse
Myth in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 28
2. Preromantic Responses: Gray, Blake, and the
Northern Sublime 65
3. Parallel Romantics: The Alternative Norse-Influenced
Tradition 104
4. Paganism and Christianism: The Victorians and
Their Successors 148
Epilogue—New Images: Contemporary Poetry and
Old Norse Myth 200
Bibliography 215
Index 231