Northern Myths and Legends

1
Northern Myths and Legends

• Indo-European and Germanic Peoples Other
  groups Celts, Finns, Saami, Slavs, Skraelings
• Prehistory and History of Germanic Tribes
• Chieftains, warrior-farmers, and slaves
• Heroic cultural identity
• Völkerwanderung as their Age of Legend
• Oral Literature and Lore (verse ballads)
• Art forms, cultural means of representation
• Germanic Mythology and Ritual

2
Northern Myths and Legends

• History and Legend
• Transformation of Oral to Written Literature
• Pagan to Christian world view
• Public to private consumption of literature
• Familial/Tribal to Courtly context of literature
• Flexible narration to fixed and polished text
• Personal History to impersonal, factual history
• Massive changes in the understanding and
  expectations of literature.

3
Northern Myths and Legends

• Myth
• The World of the Gods, the Cosmos, the Beginnings
  and Endings of all Things
• Legend
• The World of Heroes, of Kingdoms and Dynasties,
  Superhuman Deeds and Events
• Saga
• The World of Men, of Families and Settlements,
  Feuds and Marriages, Battles and Voyages

4
Northern Myths and Legends

• Medieval History (1100-1400)
• New Society, new culture, new religion
• Old Cultural Traditions still important!
• Germanic Legends adapted as Literary Epics for
  new audiences
• Volsunga Saga Icelandic, local, prose
• Nibelungenlied German, courtly, verse

5
Northern Myths and Legends

• Early Modern Period (1400 1600)
• New Society, new culture, new religion!
• Printing Press (1450) new understanding of
  literature and its social role and value.
• Folklore can also generate legends, but of a very
  different kind
• Faust and Eulenspiegel simple prose, bourgeois
  audience, contemporary concerns, moral utility
  now important!

6
Northern Myths and Legends

• Romantic Period (1790 1850)
• German Cultural Identity and Nationalism
• German Language and Literature
• Brothers Grimm and Folklore Studies
• Fairy Tales as the Voice of the People Lower
  Class uncorrupted by foreign influences, reflect
  ancient cultural traditions and values, preserve
  unique German lore in changing social and
  political environment.

7
Northern Myths and Legends

• Romantic Period (cont.)
• German Nationalism (Bismark, 1871)
• Cultural Focus and National Identity
• Political Use of Legend and Myth
• Hermann, the Germanic Hero!
• Richard Wagner and The Ring Cycle
• Nazi Appropriation of Legendary Material in the
  Third Reich.

8
Northern Myths and Legends

• Modern Period
• New society, new culture, new media!
• Entertainment and Escapist Fantasy
• The Hobbit and Shire innocence and virtue.
• Conan the Barbarian sex and violence.
• New Media allow new forms of presentation of
  ancient cultural material comic books,
  animation, silent and feature films, board games,
  and interactive computer games.

9
Northern Myths and Legends

• Review Session on Final Class Day
• Monday, 27 April 2009
• 100 150 p.m. in Rm. 105
• Final Exam
• Thursday, 30 April 2009
• 130 400 p.m. in Rm. 105