A store of common sense : gnomic theme and style in Old Icelandic and Old English wisdom poetry /

A Store of Common Sense is the first comparative study in English of Old Icelandic and Old English wisdom poetry. It examines problems of form, unity, and coherence, and how the genre responds to social change, both reflecting and shaping the thinking of the communities which originate it. Carolyne...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Larrington, Carolyne
Format:	eBook
Language:	English
Language Notes:	English.
Published:	Oxford : New York : Clarendon Press ; Oxford University Press, 1993.
Series:	Oxford English monographs.
Subjects:	Didactic poetry, English (Old) > History and criticism. Comparative literature > English and Old Norse. Comparative literature > Old Norse and English. Gnomic poetry, English (Old) > History and criticism. Old Norse poetry > History and criticism. Civilization, Anglo-Saxon, in literature. Civilization, Medieval, in literature. Poésie didactique anglaise (vieil anglais) > Histoire et critique. Poésie gnomique anglaise (vieil anglais) > Histoire et critique. Poésie vieux norroise > Histoire et critique. Civilisation anglo-saxonne dans la littérature. Civilisation médiévale dans la littérature. Didactic poetry, English (Old) Gnomic poetry, English (Old) Old Norse poetry. Oudengels. Oudnoords. Leerdichten. Old English poetry Old Norse poetry Electronic books. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Online Access:	Connect to the full text of this electronic book

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Summary:	A Store of Common Sense is the first comparative study in English of Old Icelandic and Old English wisdom poetry. It examines problems of form, unity, and coherence, and how the genre responds to social change, both reflecting and shaping the thinking of the communities which originate it. Carolyne Larrington analyses the differences between the pagan wisdom of Norse, ranging through everyday practical advice, rune magic, and spells, and the Christian, socially oriented ideals of Old English wisdom poetry, strongly rooted in Christian concepts of 'natural' order and hierarchy in God's Creation. Close reading in primary texts, both runic and magical, lays bare the skilful, structural integration of pragmatic, social wisdom with other kinds of knowledge. The book explores the possibility of Christian influence on Norse texts and demonstrates the impact of Christian learning on the ancient pagan genre. The existence of a gnomic 'key' in Norse and English narrative verse is also shown. Far from being platitudinous moralizing, the wisdom poems of the two literatures reveal themselves as comic, ironic, dramatic, and grandiose by turns, exploring a gamut of themes unequal led in any other genre of the period.
Physical Description:	1 online resource (xi, 243 pages)
Format:	Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002.
Bibliography:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-238) and index.
ISBN:	9780191671210 0191671215