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Description of  Between the Worlds: Contexts, Sources, and Analogues of Scandinavian Otherworld Journeys (Reallexikon Der Germanischen Altertumskunde - ... Altertumskunde - Erg nzungsb nde)

The rich corpus of literary otherworld journeys that has survived from the Scandinavian - and especially the Icelandic - Middle Ages is in many respects tied to a space 'Between the Worlds'. Every otherworld journey quite literally engages with a space 'between the worlds' in the sense that it plays itself out between this world and a world beyond, an otherworld. Yet this is not all. Also in terms of its cultural context this branch of the literature of the medieval North takes up a position situated midway between a broad range of poles. Texts from the Christian period treat pre-Christian mythology allegedly pre-Christian material is studded with Christian motifs Scandinavian texts adapt the learning and literature of the European continent, Ireland, and the classical Mediterranean and Finnish narratives in turn appear to adapt Scandinavian narrative patterns. The volume presents a rich panorama of a broad range of very different - Scandinavian, Finno-Ugric, Greek, Latin, Celtic, Ancient Near Eastern, and archaeological - perspectives on the topic of the 'otherworld journey', which contextualises the motif of the otherworld journey in Old Norse-Icelandic literature in an unprecedented breadth. Read more