Seasons in the Literatures of the Medieval North

Name: Seasons in the Literatures of the Medieval North
Brand: D.S.Brewer
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By Langeslag, Paul S

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Description

To the cultures of medieval northwestern Europe, the annual changing of the seasons was a material and economic reality that strongly informed the labour, travel and ritual calendars. However, while there has been much research into the interplay between society and its physical surroundings as reflected in medieval literature, the seasonal aspect of this dynamic has hitherto been neglected. This book analyses the narrative and psychological functions of seasonal settings in the literatures of medieval England and Iceland from the eighth to the fourteenth century, including such important texts as Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Dealing with both the material realities and the figurative functions of the seasonal cycle, it interprets seasonal spaces in myth and literature as conventionalised environments, where society deals with outside threats and powers which manifest themselves in marginal landscapes. Informing its literary investigations with relevant concerns from economic history, patristic doctine and decision theory, this book offers a comprehensive new look at the pyschology of landscape and season in medieval literature; it also brings out beliefs concerning the seasons and their connections with the supernatural. P.S. Langeslag is a lecturer of Medieval English Studies at the University of Gottingen, Germany.

Product details

Number of Pages:: 260
Release Date:: 2015-09-17
Publication Date:: 2015-09-17
Publisher:: D.S.Brewer
Languages:: Original: English
ISBN10:: 1843844257
ISBN13:: 9781843844259
GPSR Manufacturer Reference:: [email protected]
Weight:: 558 g
Height:: 16.1 cm
Width:: 24 cm
Thickness:: 1.9 cm

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