Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Origins of Drama in Scandinavia

The Origins of Drama in Scandinavia

Gunnell, Terry

Hardcover

Literary CriticismGeneral Poetry

ISBN10: 0859914585
ISBN13: 9780859914581
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Published: May 11 1995
Pages: 440
Weight: 2.17
Height: 1.00 Width: 7.00 Depth: 10.00
Language: English
A fresh look at early dramatic activity in Scandinavia, using archaeological, historical and literary evidence.

This book takes a new approach to the question of whether some form of drama existed in early Scandinavia. Dr Gunnell examines the dialogic poems of the Poetic Edda, preserved in manuscripts from the late thirteenth century, fromthe viewpoints of both performer and audience. He argues that in order to be fully understood by the audience, the poems must have been presented in some dramatic fashion, and not merely chanted. He substantiates his claims by exploring characteristics found only in the manuscripts of these dialogic poems and in contemporary manuscripts of dramatic works from England and Northern France, suggesting that even in the thirteenth century, the dialogic poems must have been regarded as dramatic works. The examination is accompanied by the most complete review to date of the evidence for some kind of ritual drama having existed in pagan Scandinavia, looking at archaeological evidence forthe use of masks and costumes, information contained in the sagas, and contemporary historical accounts.

TERRY GUNNELL is Professor of Folkloristics at the University of Iceland.

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