Stories and Ballads of the Far Past (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Norse Myths: The Saga of Hromund Greipsson, The Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, The Faroese Ballad of Nornagest, The Danish Ballad of Angelfyr and Helmer...By Nora Kershaw
Length8h 12m
About this audiobook
Stories and Ballads of the Far Past gathers medieval northern narratives in lucid English prose and verse, presenting Icelandic saga material and Faroese balladry as living remnants of heroic tradition. Its style is deliberately restrained: Kershaw preserves the stark movement, laconic dialogue, fatalism, and genealogical density of the originals while supplying enough contextual framing to guide modern readers. The volume belongs to the early twentieth-century scholarly recovery of Old Norse and Germanic literature, when saga, myth, and oral song were being read as both art and cultural memory. Nora Kershaw, later Nora Kershaw Chadwick, was a distinguished scholar of early medieval literature whose work ranged across Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic traditions. Her philological training and interest in oral heroic poetry shaped this book's careful balance of fidelity and readability. Rather than treating the past as picturesque antiquarianism, she approached it as a coherent imaginative world, governed by kinship, honor, feud, and destiny. This book is recommended for readers interested in saga literature, folklore, medieval studies, and the deep roots of European narrative. It offers both an accessible entrance into the far northern past and a learned example of translation as cultural interpretation.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions.
- A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation.
- A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists.
- A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths.
- Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts.
- Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.2 (22)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon
GenreLiterary Classics
Length8 hrs 12 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMar 1, 2019
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Stories and Ballads of the Far Past (Annotated)
2Introduction
3Historical Context
4Synopsis (Selection)
5Preface
Show all chaptersShow less
6Part I. Sagas
7General Introduction
8The Tháttr of Nornagest
9The Tháttr of Sörli
10The Saga of Hromund Greipsson
11The Saga of Hervör and Heithrek
12The Combat at Samsø and Hjalmar's Death Song
13Part II. Ballads
14General Introduction
15Gríplur I
16The Faroese Ballad of Nornagest
17The Faroese Ballad of Hjalmar and Angantyr
18The Danish Ballad of Angelfyr and Helmer
19The Faroese Ballad of Arngrim's Sons
20The Faroese Riddle Ballad (Gátu Ríma)
21The Shetland Ballad of Hildina
22Analysis
23Reflection
24Memorable Quotes
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