Kirsten Wolf - Böcker

Though infamous for their violent marauding, Vikings were but one part of the complex Scandinavian culture from which they emerged. This excellent and intimate study goes beyond the rumors of the fury of the Northmen, into the prosaic realities of the greater Scandinavian community, and is ideal for readers who want to discover the everyday details of living in this dynamic time and place. What were Viking families like? How were slaves treated? Were older people treated well, or regarded with contempt? Exactly how did they manage to travel from Baghdad to Greenland? Author Kirsten Wolf answers all of these questions and many more in this highly readable and informative resource volume, which will be a benefit and pleasure to the student and the general reader alike.For the reader's convenience, the work is organized into chapters covering all aspects life: domestic, economic, intellectual, material, political, recreational, and religious. It includes a historical timeline of Viking history, complementary pictures, illustrations, and maps, and a bibliography.

First published in 1993, Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia covers every aspect of the region during the Middle Ages, including rulers and saints, overviews of the countries, religion, education, politics and law, culture and material life, history, literature, and art. Written by a team of expert contributors, the encyclopedia offers those who lack command of the various Scandinavian languages a basic tool for the study of Medieval Scandinavia from roughly the Migration Period to the Reformation. With full-page maps, useful supplementary photos, cross-references and a comprehensive index, this work will be a valuable and absorbing volume for students of the Norse sagas, the Viking age, and Old English history and literature, and for anyone interested in the cultural and historical heritage of Scandinavia.

First published in 1993, Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia covers every aspect of the region during the Middle Ages, including rulers and saints, overviews of the countries, religion, education, politics and law, culture and material life, history, literature, and art. Written by a team of expert contributors, the encyclopedia offers those who lack command of the various Scandinavian languages a basic tool for the study of Medieval Scandinavia from roughly the Migration Period to the Reformation. With full-page maps, useful supplementary photos, cross-references and a comprehensive index, this work will be a valuable and absorbing volume for students of the Norse sagas, the Viking age, and Old English history and literature, and for anyone interested in the cultural and historical heritage of Scandinavia.

A Cultural History of Color in the Medieval Age covers the period 500 to 1400. The medieval age saw an extraordinary burst of color - from illuminated manuscripts and polychrome sculpture to architecture and interiors, and from enamelled and jewelled metalwork to colored glass and the exquisite decoration of artefacts. Color was used to denote affiliation in heraldry and social status in medieval clothes. Color names were created in various languages and their resonance explored in poems, romances, epics, and plays. And, whilst medieval philosophers began to explain the rainbow, theologians and artists developed a color symbolism for both virtues and vices.Color shapes an individual’s experience of the world and also how society gives particular spaces, objects, and moments meaning. The 6 volume set of the Cultural History of Color examines how color has been created, traded, used, and interpreted over the last 5000 years. The themes covered in each volume are color philosophy and science; color technology and trade; power and identity; religion and ritual; body and clothing; language and psychology; literature and the performing arts; art; architecture and interiors; and artefacts.Carole P. Biggam is Honorary Senior Research Fellow in English Language and Linguistics at the University of Glasgow, U.K. Kirsten Wolf is Professor of Old Norse and Scandinavian Linguistics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.Volume 2 in the Cultural History of Color set.General Editors: Carole P. Biggam and Kirsten Wolf

A Cultural History of Color in the Age of Enlightenment covers the period 1650 to 1800. From the Baroque to the Neo-classical, color transformed art, architecture, ceramics, jewelry, and glass. Newton, using a prism, demonstrated the seven separate hues, which encouraged the development of color wheels and tables, and the increased standardization of color names. Technological advances in color printing resulted in superb maps and anatomical and botanical images. Identity and wealth were signalled with color, in uniforms, flags, and fashion. And the growth of empires, trade, and slavery encouraged new ideas about color.Color shapes an individual’s experience of the world and also how society gives particular spaces, objects, and moments meaning. The 6 volume set of the Cultural History of Color examines how color has been created, traded, used, and interpreted over the last 5000 years. The themes covered in each volume are color philosophy and science; color technology and trade; power and identity; religion and ritual; body and clothing; language and psychology; literature and the performing arts; art; architecture and interiors; and artefacts.Carole P. Biggam is Honorary Senior Research Fellow in English Language and Linguistics at the University of Glasgow, U.K. Kirsten Wolf is Professor of Old Norse and Scandinavian Linguistics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.Volume 4 in the Cultural History of Color set.General Editors: Carole P. Biggam and Kirsten Wolf

A Cultural History of Color presents a history of 5000 years of color in western culture. The first systematic and comprehensive history, the work examines how color has been perceived, developed, produced and traded, and how it has been used in all aspects of performance - from the political to the religious to the artistic - and how it shapes all we see, from food and nature to interiors and architecture, to objects and art, to fashion and adornment, to the color of the naked human body, and to the way our minds work and our languages are created.Chapter titles are identical across each of the volumes. This gives the choice of reading about a specific period in one of the volumes, or following a theme across history by reading the relevant chapter in each of the six. The themes (and chapter titles) are: Color Philosophy and Science; Color Technology and Trade; Power and Identity; Religion and Ritual; Body and Clothing; Language and Psychology; Literature and the Performing Arts; Art; Architecture and Interiors; Artefacts.The six volumes cover: 1 – Antiquity (3,000 BCE to 500 CE); 2 – Medieval Age (500 to 1400); 3 – Renaissance (1400 to 1650); 4 – Age of Enlightenment (1650 to 1800); 5 – Age of Industry (1800 to 1920); 6 – Modern Age (1920 to the present).The page extent for the pack is approximately 1720pp. Each volume opens with Notes on Contributors and an Introduction and concludes with Notes, Bibliography, and an Index.The Cultural Histories SeriesA Cultural History of Color is part of The Cultural Histories Series. Titles are available as hardcover sets for libraries needing just one subject or preferring a tangible reference for their shelves or as part of a fully-searchable digital library. The digital product is available to institutions by annual subscription or on perpetual access via www.bloomsburyculturalhistory.com . Individual volumes for academics and researchers interested in specific historical periods are also available in print or digitally via www.bloomsburycollections.com .

This book explores 11 popular misconceptions about the Vikings. Each chapter looks at a particular misconception, examines how it became popular, discusses what we now believe to be the truth, and provides excerpts from primary source documents.When people think of the Vikings, they often envision marauding barbarians who lived violent lives. While a number of mistaken beliefs about the Vikings have become engrained in popular culture, they are not grounded in historical facts. This book examines popular misconceptions related to the Vikings and the historical truths that contradict the fictions.The book discusses 11 mistaken notions about the Vikings, with each fiction treated in its own chapter. Topics include whether the Vikings wore horned helmets, whether they were unhygienic, whether they had primitive weapons, whether they drank out of skull cups, and more. Each chapter examines how the misconception proliferated and discusses what we now believe to be the facts contradicting the fictions. Excerpts from primary source documents help readers to understand how the misconceptions came to be throughout history and provide evidence for the historical truths.

For three centuries, the Vikings changed the political world of northern and western Europe. This encyclopedia explores exactly how they did it in a highly readable and informative resource volume.How did the Vikings know when to strike? What were their military strengths? Who were their leaders? What was the impact of their raids? These and many more questions are answered in this volume, which will benefit students and general readers alike.This encyclopedia is devoted specifically to the topic of conflict, invasions, and raids in the Viking Age, this book presents detailed coverage of the Vikings, who are infamous for their violent marauding across Europe during the early Middle Ages. Featuring extracts of poetry and prose from the Viking Age, the book provides cultural context in addition to an in-depth analysis of Viking military practices.

Saints’ legends form a substantial portion of Old Norse–Icelandic literature, and can be found in more than four hundred manuscripts or fragments of manuscripts dating from shortly before the twelfth century to the 1700s.With The Legends of the Saints in Old Norse–Icelandic Prose, Kirsten Wolf has undertaken a complete revision of the fifty-year-old handlist The Lives of the Saints in Old Norse Prose. This updated handlist organizes saints’ names, manuscripts, and editions of individual lives with references to the approximate dates of the manuscripts, as well as modern Icelandic editions and translations. Each entry concludes with secondary literature about the legend in question. These features combine to make The Legends of the Saints in Old Norse–Icelandic Prose an invaluable resource for scholars and students in the field.

A Cultural History of Color presents a history of 5000 years of color in western culture. The first systematic and comprehensive history, the work examines how color has been perceived, developed, produced and traded, and how it has been used in all aspects of performance - from the political to the religious to the artistic - and how it shapes all we see, from food and nature to interiors and architecture, to objects and art, to fashion and adornment, to the color of the naked human body, and to the way our minds work and our languages are created. Chapter titles are identical across each of the volumes. This gives the choice of reading about a specific period in one of the volumes, or following a theme across history by reading the relevant chapter in each of the six. The themes (and chapter titles) are: Color Philosophy and Science; Color Technology and Trade; Power and Identity; Religion and Ritual; Body and Clothing; Language and Psychology; Literature and the Performing Arts; Art; Architecture and Interiors; Artefacts.The six volumes cover: 1 – Antiquity (3,000 BCE to 500 CE); 2 – Medieval Age (500 to 1400); 3 – Renaissance (1400 to 1650); 4 – Age of Enlightenment (1650 to 1800); 5 – Age of Industry (1800 to 1920); 6 – Modern Age (1920 to the present).The page extent for the pack is approximately 1760pp. Each volume opens with Notes on Contributors and an Introduction and concludes with Notes, Bibliography, and an Index.The Cultural Histories SeriesA Cultural History of Color is part of The Cultural Histories Series. Titles are available as hardcover sets for libraries needing just one subject or preferring a tangible reference for their shelves or as part of a fully-searchable digital library. The digital product is available to institutions by annual subscription or on perpetual access via www.bloomsburyculturalhistory.com . Individual volumes for academics and researchers interested in specific historical periods are also available in print or digitally via www.bloomsburycollections.com .

The Saints in Old Norse and Early Modern Icelandic Poetry is a complimentary volume to The Legends of the Saints in Old Norse–Icelandic Prose (UTP 2013). While its predecessor dealt primarily with medieval prose texts about the saints, this volume not only focuses on medieval poems about saints but also on Icelandic devotional poetry created during the early modern period. The handlist organizes saints' names, manuscripts, and editions of individual poems with references to approximate dates of the manuscripts, as well as modern Icelandic editions and translations. Each entry concludes with secondary literature about the poem in question. These features combine to make The Saints in Old Norse and Early Modern Icelandic Poetry an invaluable resource for scholars and students in the field.

Spend 24 hours immersed in the rich and fascinating everyday lives of the Vikings.Between the infamous Lindisfarne raid in 793 CE and the Norman conquest of 1066, the peoples we know now as the Vikings became one of the most far-ranging and influential civilizations in history. The Vikings are frequently portrayed as raiders, marauding across medieval Europe and Britain, but the culture and society of the medieval Nordic peoples was so much more diverse, multifaceted and influential than it is often depicted.In 24 Hours in the Viking World, author and Viking expert Kirsten Wolf chronicles an hour in the life of 24 individuals from every corner of Viking society over the course of a single day. From the warrior to the thrall, the shipbuilder to the farmer, the poet to the oracle, each chapter offers a snapshot of the world as it was in medieval Scandinavia, and an insight into how these people lived, loved, worked, fought and died.The latest entry in the bestselling 24 Hours series, 24 Hours in the Viking World presents an absorbing, grounded and tangible look at what it was really like to be alive during this pivotal era in history.Also available:24 Hours in Ancient Rome (9781789291278)24 Hours in Ancient Egypt (9781789293517)24 Hours in Ancient Athens (9781789293500)24 Hours in Ancient China (9781789296488)

Thrown back in time to the Viking Age, you have 30 days to adapt – or face the consequences.Part history, part practical guide, 30 Days in the Viking Age, is a lively and fascinating journey through the gritty reality of ancient Nordic life. Over 30 days, you will learn how to survive as an outsider dropped into the Viking world – finding food, shelter, work and allies in a world of warriors, traders and chieftains. Blending expert historical insights with an immersive narrative, expert author and Danish native Professor Kirsten Wolf guides you through the everyday life, dangers and customs of Viking society.30 Days in the Viking Age is structured around a 30 day format, offering easily digestible chapters and a fast-paced history read that is perfect for those interested in the Vikings, wider history fans and casual readers alike.This is history with a twist – engaging, informative and full of action.

A richly drawn account of a single day in the Viking world, chronicling an hour in the life of 24 individuals from every corner of Viking society. From the bestselling 24 Hours series.Between the infamous Lindisfarne raid in 793 CE and the Norman conquest of 1066, the peoples we know now as the Vikings became one of the most far-ranging and influential civilizations in history. The Vikings are frequently portrayed as raiders, marauding across medieval Europe and Britain, but the culture and society of the medieval Nordic peoples was so much more diverse, multifaceted and influential than it is often depicted.In 24 Hours in the Viking World, author and Viking expert Kirsten Wolf chronicles an hour in the life of 24 individuals from every corner of Viking society over the course of a single day. From the warrior to the thrall, the shipbuilder to the farmer, the poet to the oracle, each chapter offers a snapshot of the world as it was in medieval Scandinavia, and an insight into how these people lived, loved, worked, fought and died.The latest entry in the bestselling 24 Hours series, 24 Hours in the Viking World presents an absorbing, grounded and tangible look at what it was really like to be alive during this pivotal era in history.Also available:24 Hours in Ancient Rome (9781789291278)24 Hours in Ancient Egypt (9781789293517)24 Hours in Ancient Athens (9781789293500)24 Hours in Ancient China (9781789296488)

Thrown back in time to the Viking Age, you have 30 days to adapt – or face the consequences.Part history, part practical guide, 30 Days in the Viking Age, is a lively and fascinating journey through the gritty reality of ancient Nordic life. Over 30 days, you will learn how to survive as an outsider dropped into the Viking world – finding food, shelter, work and allies in a world of warriors, traders and chieftains. Blending expert historical insights with an immersive narrative, expert author and Danish native Professor Kirsten Wolf guides you through the everyday life, dangers and customs of Viking society.30 Days in the Viking Age is structured around a 30 day format, offering easily digestible chapters and a fast-paced history read that is perfect for those interested in the Vikings, wider history fans and casual readers alike.This is history with a twist – engaging, informative and full of action.

An examination of hagiographical traditions and their impact.Icelanders venerated numerous saints, both indigenous and from overseas, in the Middle Ages. However, although its literary elite was well acquainted with contemporary Continental currents in hagiographic compositions, theological discussions, and worship practices, much of the history of the learned European networks through which the Icelandic cult of the saints developed and partially survived the Lutheran Reformation remains obscure.The essays collected in this volume address this lacuna by exploring the legacies of the cult of some of the most prominent saints and holy men in medieval Iceland (the Virgin Mary along with SS Agnes of Rome, Benedict of Nursia, Catherine of Alexandria, Dominic of Caleruega, Michael the Archangel, Jón of Hólar, Þorlákr of Skálholt, Lárentíus of Hólar, and Guðmundr the Good), using evidence drawn from Old Norse-Icelandic and Latin hagiographic literature, homilies, prayers, diplomas, sacred art, place-names, and church dedications. By placing the medieval Icelandic cult of the saints within its wider European context, the contributions trace new historical routes of cultural transmission and define the creative processes of the accommodation and adaptation of foreign hagiographic sources and models in medieval and early modern Iceland. They provide a clear picture of an Icelandic hagiographic literature and culture that celebrates the splendour of the saints; they also show how an engaging literary genre, which became immensely popular on the island throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, was created.

For three centuries, the Vikings changed the political world of northern and western Europe. This encyclopedia explores exactly how they did it in a highly readable and informative resource volume.How did the Vikings know when to strike? What were their military strengths? Who were their leaders? What was the impact of their raids? These and many more questions are answered in this volume, which will benefit students and general readers alike.This encyclopedia is devoted specifically to the topic of conflict, invasions, and raids in the Viking Age, this book presents detailed coverage of the Vikings, who are infamous for their violent marauding across Europe during the early Middle Ages. Featuring extracts of poetry and prose from the Viking Age, the book provides cultural context in addition to an in-depth analysis of Viking military practices.