Geoffrey Chaucer, The House of Fame
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Book Series
Durham Medieval and Renaissance Texts
- Pages: 142 p.
- Size:150 x 230 mm
- Language(s):English, Old Norse
- Publication Year:2008
- € 15,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
- ISBN: 978-0-88844-561-2
- Paperback
- Temporarily Out of Stock
Summary
Probably composed at the height of the Viking Age,
Vafþrúðnismál recounts how one day
the mysterious and powerful god Óðinn visits the hall of
an ancient giant named Vafþrúðnir. There, with
their heads wagered over the outcome, the two engage in a wisdom
contest about how the world was created, who inhabits it, and what
will come of it when the gods and giants battle one last time at
the world-ending Ragnarok. The qualities that popular imagination
sees in the Vikings — bravery, courage, and cunning —
are the very qualities that the two adversaries display in their
deadly game. By the time the game ends, and the poem with it, the
reader has witnessed a vista not only of the terror and mystery of
medieval Scandinavia but of its beauty as well.