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(UMass) GER 365: Scandinavian Mythology A reading and discussion in English of the major works of poetry and prose which retell or reflect traditions of the early Norse divinities and their cults. These myths project on a cosmic scale the key cultural conflicts-personal, institutional and philosophical-of the societies which imagined them. From its Old European and Indo-European roots, Nordic culture created a highly distinctive complex of values and views of the world as it responded to Celtic, Greco-Roman, Slavic, and Saami belief systems, Roman and Byzantine Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. We will explore how these old myths and religious practices served as a focal point of cultural continuity, appropriation and change to produce a world of stark contrasts: an unusually dark theory of history, an ironic, even comic view of human nature, and paradoxical constructions of sexual, ethnic and other forms of social identity. We will trace the development of Scandinavian mythology from its earliest extant forms and cognates in translations from Sanskrit, Old Persian, Greek, Latin, Common Germanic, Gothic, Old Saxon, Old English, Old High German, Arabic, and (predominantly) Old Icelandic. The main literary texts will include Tacitus' Germania, Ibn Fadlan's Risala, Beowulf, the Poetic Edda, Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda and Ynglinga Saga, Egil's Saga, The Saga of the Volsungs, The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, and Gisli's Saga (also to be viewed in its film version, Útlaginn "The Outlaw," with English subtitles). Course requirements: scrupulous daily reading and participation in class, a midterm (identifications), a term paper (8-10 pages), and a final examination (identifications and essay). Ger 365 satisfies requirements of the Smith College English, Medieval Studies and Comparative Literature majors. |
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