Egil, the Viking poet : new approaches to Egil's saga /

This engaging addition to the Toronto series, begun in 2005, creates new lines of inquiry regarding one of the most-read and well-studied Icelandic works, Egil's Saga. Scholars of Scandinavian studies will likely recognize the contributors (among them Margaret Clunies Ross, Gudrun Nordal, Tirfi Tulinius, Timothy Tangherlini). Their essays originate from "productive dissent," and together they attempt to redefine Egil's Saga as a stand-alone force in world literature. The book is divided into four sections. "Composition" presents two essays on Egil's form and construction, and "Identity" two essays on the saga's sense of self and self-description. "Emotions and Affiliations" comprises four essays, one that examines Egil's formative years, one that focuses on Egil in old age, another that looks at him as a middle-aged widower, and a fourth that employs graphs and triangles to investigate Egil's extensive social network. "Reception," the final section, offers an essay on various oral and written versions and their 17th-century receptions, an essay on the effects of the saga's poetic disgust (employing Kristeva's "abject"), and a selected bibliography by the creators of Egil's Saga's online bibliography (https://wikisaga.hi.is). Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Jeff Sundquist, Eastern Washington University