Between Two Armies: The Place of the Duel in Epic Culture

Predný obal
BRILL, 1999 - 235 strán (strany)
Epic poetry depicts single combat between champions as a substitute for pitched battle. By analyzing poetic representations of warfare, this study reconstructs the circumstances under which the duel emerges as a mechanism for avoiding catastrophic battlefield losses. Thus the duel proves to be the pivotal element in a complex system of practices and institutions that define "epic culture." Individual chapters focus on the dynamics of battle, the protocols of dueling, the roles of champion, king, and queen, and the talesinger's function in presenting these relations to epic-cultural audiences. Offering new insights into the "Nibelungenlied," "Beowulf," the "Iliad" and "Odyssey," "Hildebrandslied" and the Bible, this volume will appeal particularly to medievalists, classicists, historians, and cultural theorists interested in epic poetry, ancient warfare, and Dark Age culture.

Vyhľadávanie v obsahu knihy

Obsah

Working Assumptions
1
The Duel in Legend Lore and Chronicle
27
An Economy of Lives
46
The Duel and Its Protocols
79
The Champion and His Quest
109
The King and His Gifts
136
The Queen and Her Lovers
165
Hiltibrant and the Problems of FreeAgency
200
The TaleSingers Function
216
The Lay of HiltibrantA Translation
225
Works Cited
227
Index
231
Autorské práva

Iné vydania - Zobraziť všetky

Časté výrazy a frázy

Odkazy na túto knihu

O tomto autorovi (1999)

Victor M. Udwin, Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, University of California at Berkeley, is Associate Professor of German and Comparative Literature at the University of Tulsa. He has published articles on the phenomenology of reading and autopoiesis and poetry.

Bibliografické informácie