The best
Medieval Literary Criticism books:
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The best of Medieval Literary Criticism books by number of unique Reddit comments:
![Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; Pearl; [and] Sir Orfeo](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/5121GwFEIqL._SL500_.jpg)
Top Reddit reviews mentioning Medieval Literary Criticism books:
The John Ciardi one.
It keeps the original rhyming structure, which must have been really hard to do when translating from Italian to English. It isn't really rigid English like some of the other translations that can make your brain get tired after reading for a while. And most importantly it has notes for each chapter. Dante himself is the main character, and he writes in a bunch of actual people from in and around Italy during his lifetime, so reading the notes really helps understand a lot of the references to people/places/things in the book. I just read the notes before I read each chapter so I knew as I read it what was going on.
Viking Language 1 and 2 by Jesse L. Byock. Here's the first one:
https://www.amazon.com/Viking-Language-Learn-Norse-Icelandic/dp/1480216445
You can get audio recordings for the lessons on Amazon or iTunes as well.
The courses are by far the most modernized, user-friendly courses available. A close second would be 'A New Introduction to Old Norse,' which can be purchased here:
https://acmrs.org/publications/catalog/new-introduction-old-norse-part-i-ii-and-iii-discount-set
https://www.amazon.com/Tolkien-Maker-Middle-earth-Catherine-McIlwaine/dp/1851244859
You can still get it on Amazon. It's a little pricey but definitely worth it since you can't take pictures of the exhibit. It's not just images, it's got a lot of good text.
To me, this looks more like a phrase book than anything else. Which could certainly supplement your other studies, but I don’t love phrase books myself.
I took a crack at old Norse a while ago (I only stupore because I lost my study buddy) and I liked this
https://www.amazon.com/Viking-Language-Learn-Norse-Icelandic/dp/1480216445
I highly recommend The Latin Sexual Vocabulary by Adams. He gives a very thorough and academic review of everything "improper" in Latin. As an example, there's an entire chapter dedicated to the various words used for "butthole."
Yeah, thankfully the version I have is full of annotations explaining the symbolism and references.
I think this is the one I have (from Amazon). ISBN 978-0-451-20863-7
I honestly think I enjoyed Purgatorio more than Inferno, probably mostly because I love the idea of redemption and purification and the imagery of angels.
I use memrise as an instrument to build some vocab. When I have collected enough pretty words I'll raid this guy's book for me grammars:
http://www.amazon.com/Viking-Language-Learn-Norse-Icelandic/dp/1480216445/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Also, last time I checked this was weirdly not on the reading list:
The vast majority of Norse myths come from two books that are surprisingly accessible to modern audiences if you have a good translation. And as it so happens, they are also pretty cheap!
My recommendation is to get this version of the Poetic Edda (https://www.amazon.com/Poetic-Edda-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199675341/ref=mp_s_a_1_1) and this version of the Prose Edda (https://www.amazon.com/Edda-Everymans-Library-Snorri-Sturluson/dp/0460876163/ref=mp_s_a_1_1).
> Also, I’m told the stories of the pantheon involve…
I think it might help you to give these stories a read for yourself, specifically from the source texts. My recommendation is to get this version of the Poetic Edda (https://www.amazon.com/Poetic-Edda-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199675341/ref=mp_s_a_1_1) and this version of the Prose Edda (https://www.amazon.com/Edda-Everymans-Library-Snorri-Sturluson/dp/0460876163/ref=mp_s_a_1_1). Give those a read and I’d be interested to hear whether you are inspired to update your theory.
Loki is a particularly intriguing character who may be a hypostasis of Odin according to one theory, may be one of Odin’s brothers who assisted in the creation of mankind according to another, and may be related to common-class folklore about a tricky hero who upsets the order imposed by nobility according to yet another. It’s unclear why he is portrayed as a helpful character and friend to the other gods in certain myths, and as a downright murderous villain in others. I’m personally pretty skeptical about the idea that he could be adapted from Jesus, but far be it from me to discourage out-of-the-box thinking :)
My recommendation is to get this version of the Poetic Edda (https://www.amazon.com/Poetic-Edda-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199675341/ref=mp_s_a_1_1) and this version of the Prose Edda (https://www.amazon.com/Edda-Everymans-Library-Snorri-Sturluson/dp/0460876163/ref=mp_s_a_1_1). Both come in hardcover.
The vast majority of Norse myths come from two books that are surprisingly accessible to modern audiences if you have a good translation. And as it so happens, they are also pretty cheap!
My recommendation is to get this version of the Poetic Edda (https://www.amazon.com/Poetic-Edda-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199675341/ref=mp_s_a_1_1) and this version of the Prose Edda (https://www.amazon.com/Edda-Everymans-Library-Snorri-Sturluson/dp/0460876163/ref=mp_s_a_1_1).
This Poetic Edda and this Prose Edda
The Poetic Edda translated by Carolyne Larrington, 2014 and the Prose Edda translated by Anthony Faulkes, 1995 ;)
The vast majority of Norse mythology (including all of the myths you will ever encounter in popular media) is contained in two books: the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda.
The Poetic Edda is a collection of poetry about gods and heroes that was largely composed during the pagan era. The Prose Edda is a medieval scholarly work that recounts ancient myths in an effort to educate people on the references found in pagan poetry. You can read modern retellings, but these invariably alter the source material in ways the original composers of the ancient poetry did not intend. I highly recommend reading the actual sources rather than any modern retellings. Specifically:
This version of the Poetic Edda and this version of the Prose Edda.
You’re graduating, friend. Time to read the two books all these stories actually came from:
Well you're asking in r/norsemythology so I'm going to recommend you get him the two main sources of Norse Mythology: the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda.
A must have book, not only for alchemy study but to understand the nature of symbols itself, in my opinion, is <em>Dictionary of Symbols</em>, by Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant.
You will probably find everything you need right here: J.N. Adams, The Latin Sexual Vocabulary. Or read some Catullus and Martial...
"Tolkien: Maker of Middle-Earth" is a book that, I believe, was created to accompany the exhibit that went around in London and NYC in the Before Times. I was lucky enough to see it in New York with his original artwork. Amazing stuff.
The translation by Professor Crawford is very readable. I also recommend professor Crawford’s you tube channel.
May The Gods Be With You.
Al
Mine has a red cloth cover and a plastic vinal cover over that. It was published by the Penguin Group. 2002
This is the one:
Maybe this?
Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1851244859/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_1R72QDZ18B73HE87TY5Q?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
It was published to go along with the Tolkien collection exhibits at Bodleian and the Morgan Library.
I am currently reading aversion translated by John Ciardi, and it’s easier to understand than I expected. There are some phrases that are more flowery or oblique, but I just read them carefully.
The start of every Canto has a summary of what you’re about to read, the text of the Canto, then footnotes that explain references in the text or idioms of the region & time. I haven’t even needed to read the summaries because the translation is easy enough to understand. I’m barely into the Inferno, but if you’re looking for accessible, I can recommend this one.
ALL CAPS EVERYTHING IS REALLY HARD TO READ.
ALSO, "BLUE IS THE FAVORITE COLOR AMONG HUMANS WORLDWIDE" - WHAT KIND OF FACT IS THAT? ACTUALLY WTF IS UP WITH ALL THOSE "FACTS"?
This graphic sucks. Get a color psychology / symbols book instead.
For Runes I used Viking Language 1: Learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas
And I recommend Njal’s Saga, Egil’s Saga, or The Saga of the Volsungs as places to start.
Also be sure to check out Dr. Jackson Crawford’s YouTube channel for discussions on both topics.
Jackson Crawford is always good.
For further reading Asatru for Beginners by Dr Mathias Nordvig is great. He's got a PHD in Norse Mythology and he's native Danish. He was actually raised Heathen. Very good book.
Jackson Crawford's translations are pretty well regarded and generally considered one of the go-tos
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1624663567/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_suksFb1FY2CC5
Also go and check out r/heathenry for some good resources as well!