Author : William H. Norman
Release : 2021-07-29
Genre : Literary Criticism
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Book Rating : 805/5 ( reviews)

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Barbarians in the Sagas of Icelanders - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Barbarians in the Sagas of Icelanders write by William H. Norman. This book was released on 2021-07-29. Barbarians in the Sagas of Icelanders available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. This book explores accounts in the Sagas of Icelanders of encounters with foreign peoples, both abroad and in Iceland, who are portrayed according to stereotypes which vary depending on their origins. Notably, inhabitants of the places identified in the sagas as Írland, Skotland and Vínland are portrayed as being less civilized than the Icelanders themselves. This book explores the ways in which the Íslendingasögur emphasize this relative barbarity through descriptions of diet, material culture, style of warfare and character. These characteristics are discussed in relation to parallel descriptions of Icelandic characters and lifestyle within the Íslendingasögur, and also in the context of a tradition in contemporary European literature, which portrayed the Icelanders themselves as barbaric. Comparisons are made with descriptions of barbarians in classical Roman texts, primarily Sallust, but also Caesar and Tacitus, showing striking similarities between Roman and Icelandic ideas about barbarians.