ENGL/MDVL 347
Viking Mythology
TTh 9:30-10:45 am
Spring 2013
MECH 218
Visiting Professor Craig R. Davis
Office hours by appointment, HUM 323
[email protected]
Graduate Assistant Douglas VanBenthuysen
Office Hours MWF 9:30-10:30, HUM 244, and after class till 11:30
(505) 615-5810 | [email protected]
Graduate Assistant Justin Brock
Office hours M 1-2, TTh 11-12 and by appointment, HUM 464
[email protected]
Course documents will be available at www.unm.edu/~doug
We will read eddic poems and prose sagas recalling traditions of the old Norse gods and their
cults during the Viking Age (ca. 800-1050 AD), as these were preserved in 13th-century Icelandic
texts, but also in Latin, Arabic, Old High German, Old Swedish and Old English manuscripts and
runic inscriptions. We will explore the world-view and value system of this unique religion, from
the creation of the world by damaged gods of dubious ancestry to their defeat at the end of time
by forces older, wiser and immeasurably more powerful than they. We will examine relations,
often violent but sometimes comic or friendly, between groups of highly intelligent, vulnerable
beings, both living and dead, male and female, animal and human, god and giant, Æsir and
Vanir—a crowded universe full of trolls, elves, witches, dwarfs, valkyries, berserks,
shapeshifters, and various social classes of human being. Readings will include the Germania of
Tacitus, ibn Fadlan’s Rûsiyyah, Beowulf, the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson, selections from the
Poetic Edda, Völsunga Saga, The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, the Vínland Sagas, The Saga of
Gisli, in addition to two films in Icelandic: Útlaginn ‘The Outlaw’ and Hrafninn Flygur ‘The
Raven Flies’. Requirements: reading journal, midterm, final, final critical essay/research project.
Jan 17 The Viking Diaspora and Cultural Roots of Scandinavian Myth and Religion:
Old European, Indo-European, Early Germanic Traditions
Jan 22 Tribal Germany and Common Germanic Culture: Tacitus, Germania 35-62
24 First Eyewitness Account of a Viking Ship-Funeral: Ahmed ibn Fadlân, Rûsiyyah (pdf)
29 Anglo-Saxon Pagan Traditions: Beowulf, lines 1-85, and Liuzza, pp. 173-83; Snorri’s
Heimskringla, pp. 170-71; presentation on Old English by Douglas VanBenthuysen
31 Beowulf, lines 86-1062: The Haunting of Heorot; Grettissaga (in Liuzza pp. 163-66)
Feb 5 Beowulf, lines 1063-2199: A Mother from Hell; Grettissaga (in Liuzza pp. 166-69)
7 Beowulf, lines 2200-3182: Wyrd and the World-Serpent; Snorri’s Gylfaginning 86-88
12 Snorri’s Prologue and Gylfaginning 23-50, The List of Rig in the Poetic Edda 246-52
14 Odin: Sayings of the High One in the Poetic Edda 14-38; Snorri, Skaldskaparmal 97-103
19 Thor and Tyr: Gylf. 50-80; in Poetic Edda: Hymir’s Poem 78-83, Thrym’s Poem 97-101
21 Snow day
26 Baldr: Gylfaginning 80-86; Baldr’s Dreams in the Poetic Edda 243-45
28 Loki: Loki’s Quarrel in the Poetic Edda 84-96; Snorri’s Skaldskaparmal 103-22;
presentation by Justin Brock on gender theory and Norse mythology
Mar 5 Vafthrudnir’s Sayings 39-49, Grimnir’s Sayings 50-60, All-Wise’s Sayings 109-13, and
The Lay of Fafnir 157-65 in the Poetic Edda
7 Ragnarök: The Seeress’s Prophecy in the Poetic Edda 3-13
SPRING BREAK
Mar 19 Midterm examination: short identification essays
21 Saga of the Volsungs 35-72
26 Saga of the Volsungs 72-109
28 Saga of King Hrolf Kraki 1-41
Apr 2 Saga of King Hrolf Kraki 41-78
4 Eirik the Red’s Saga 626-31, 653-74; presentation by Douglas VanBenthuysen
9 Hrafnkel’s Saga 436-62
11 The Saga of Gisli 496-529
16 Útlaginn ‘The Outlaw’(1982)
18 The Saga of Gisli 529-57
23 Hrafninn Flygur ‘The Raven Flies’ (1984)
25 Hrafninn Flygur
30 Final Examination
May 2 Final paper consultations
Term paper and reading journal due 5 pm, Monday, May 6
Requirements of the course:
(1) faithful close reading of assignments, attendance and participation in class discussion
(2) keeping a daily reading journal: 1/2 page of notes in electronic format, dated, including:
(a) titles and authors (if known) of reading selections
(b) main characters, essential plot or implied situation
(c) main theme, conflict, question, problem, or issue
(d) your response or questions, interesting details or key quotations
(3) one in-class midterm examination: short identification essays
(4) one in-class final examination: short identification essays
(5) one 7-8 page critical essay or research paper with 2-3 secondary references