Originally published between 1988 and 2008, these twelve essays cover a wide range of mythological and heroic poems and have been revised and updated to reflect the latest scholarship.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Essays

1. ‘V¿luspá and the Feast of Easter’

2. ‘On Heiðr and Gullveig’*

3. ‘The Evolution of Hávamál’*

4. ‘Hávamál B: a Reconstructed Poem of Sexual Intrigue’*

5. ‘Wisdom from Dead Relatives: the Ljóðatal Section of Hávamál’*

6. ‘The Paradox of Vafþrúðnismál’*

7. ‘Motivation and Meaning in Lokasenna’*

8. ‘Myth as Therapy: the Function of Þrymskviða’

9. ‘V¿lundarkviða: Origins and Interpretation’*

10. ‘Female Reactions to the death of Sigurðr’

11. ‘Two Sex Goddesses: Þorgerðr H¿lgabrúðr and Freyja in Hyndluljóð’*

12. ‘The Trouble with Father: Hervararkviða and the adaptation of traditional story-patterns’*

Bibliography and Abbreviations

Index

By John McKinnell
Edited by Donata Kick and John D. Shafer