RE-WRITING OLD NORSE MYTHOLOGY – SIRI PETTERSEN’S "ODINSBARN"

Authors

  • Cristina VIȘOVAN Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of Letters, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. E-mail: cristinas8@yahoo.com

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24193/subbphilo.2017.3.13

Keywords:

re-writing, Old Norse mythology, Odin, anthropogenic myth, Valhalla, Ragnarok, Huldra, Yggdrasil, Bivrost.

Abstract

Re-writing Old Norse Mythology – Siri Pettersen’s Odinsbarn. The article focuses on one of the contemporary Norwegian novels that re-write Old Norse mythology. It discusses the various myths or elements of the old mythology that are re-written in a new form, so that the author, Siri Pettersen, can create a mythopoeia which seems unfamiliar at first sight but which, on a deeper level, brings forth associations with the Old Norse mythology. The result is a fantastic world that has many of the characteristics of the world that we live in.

REZUMAT. Rescrierea mitologiei nordice - romanul lui Siri Pettersen – Odinsbarn. Articolul se concentrează asupra unuia dintre romanele norvegiene contemporane care rescriu mitologia nordică. El discută diferitele mituri sau elemente ale vechii mitologii care sunt rescrise într-o formă nouă, așa încât autoarea, Siri Pettersen, să poată crea o mythopoeia care, la prima vedere, pare nefamiliară dar care, la un nivel mai profund, trezește asocieri cu vechea mitologie nordică. Rezultatul este o lume fantastică care are multe dintre caracteristicile lumii în care trăim.

Cuvinte Cheie: rescriere, mitologie nordică, Odin, mitul antropogonic, Valhalla, Ragnarok, Huldra, Yggdrasil, Bivrost

Author Biography

Cristina VIȘOVAN, Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of Letters, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. E-mail: cristinas8@yahoo.com

Cristina Vișovan is a PhD student at Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Scandinavian Languages and Literatures Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She is working on a thesis about the influence of Nordic myhtology on contemporary Norwegian literature. E-mail: cristinas8@yahoo.com

References

Primary Sources

Edda. Die Lieder des Codex Regius Nebst Verwandten Denkmälern, Herausgegeben von Gustav Neckel, 5. verbesserte Auflage von Hans Kuhn. Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, 1983.

Pettersen, Siri. Odinsbarn. Gyldendal, 2013. (Child of Odin, translation from Norwegian)

Pettersen, Siri. Råta. Gyldendal, 2014. (Rotten, translation from Norwegian)

Sturluson, Snorri. Edda. Udgiven af Finnur Jónsson. Gads Forlag, 1926.

Translations

Faulkes, Anthony, translator. Sturluson,Snorri. Edda. Everyman,1995.

Larrington, Carolyne, translator. The Poetic Edda.Oxford UP, 1996.

Secondary Sources

Bekkebråten, Sjølie Elin. "Bøker er magiske portaler". Av en annen verden, avenannenverden.no/?p=5186. Accessed 25 June 2017. (”Books are magical portals”, translated from Norwegian)

Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane. The Nature of Religion. Harcourt, Inc., 1987.

Gamman, Jøran. “Odinsbarn”. Søgne og Sogndalen Budstikke, 30 October 2013, pp. 4-5,

http://www.ravneringene.no/content/47/Artikler-i-media, Accessed 25 June 2017. (“Child of Odin”, translation from Norwegian)

Gauer, Denis. “Writing and Re-writing. Re-inventing the Wheel. Compulsion or Curse?”. Alizés, revue angliciste de la réunion, volume 20, 2001, http://oracle-reunion.pagesperso-orange.fr/documents/310.html, Accesed 5 June 2017.

Hastrup, Kirsten. “Cosmology and Society in Medieval Iceland: a Social Anthropological Perspective on World View”. Island of anthropology. Studies in past and present Iceland. The Viking Collection, vol. 5, Odense UP, 1990, pp. 25-43.

Holtsmark, Anne. Norrøn mytologi. Tro og myter i vikingtiden. Det norske samlaget, 1970. (Old Norse Mythologi. Beliefs and myths in the Viking Age, translation from Norwegian)

Jackson, Rosemary. Fantasy: The Literature of Subversion. Methuen, 1981.

Jennbert, Kristina et. al. Plats och praxis. Studier av nordisk förkristen ritual. Vägar till Midgård 2, Lund, 2002. (Place and practice. Studies of Nordic Pre-Christian Ritual, translation from Norwegian)

Nordbø, Nina. "Norrønt ekko i norsk fantasi". NRK, www.nrk.no/kultur/bok/norront-ekko-i-norsk-fantasy-1.11249540. Accessed 18 June 2017. (”Old Norse Echoe in Norwegian Fantasy”, translation from Norwegian)

Olsen, Olaf. Hørg, hov og kirke. Historiske og arkæologiske vikingetidsstudier. Aarbøger for nordisk oldkyndighet, G. E. C. Gad, 1966. ( Horg, hov and Church. Historical and Archeological Viking Studies, translation from Norwegian)

Steinsland, Gro. Norrøn religion. Myter, riter, samfunn, Pax forlag, 2005. (Old Norse Religion. Myths, Rituals, Society, translation from Norwegian).

Søum, Veronika. ”Portrettet Siri Pettersen”. Ukeadressa, 22 March 2014, pp. 33-36. (“The Portrait Siri Pettersen”, translation from Norwegian) http://www.ravneringene.no/content/47/Artikler-i-media, Accessed 25 June 2017.

White, John J. Mythology in the Modern Novel: A Study of Prefigurative Techniques. Princeton UP, 1971.

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Published

2017-09-30

How to Cite

VIȘOVAN, C. (2017). RE-WRITING OLD NORSE MYTHOLOGY – SIRI PETTERSEN’S "ODINSBARN". Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Philologia, 62(3), 167–180. https://doi.org/10.24193/subbphilo.2017.3.13

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