 
              
    
            Format: Hardback
        
        
        
        
            Pages: 264
          
                              
            ISBN: 9789185509577
          
                              
            Pub Date: May 2012
          
                                                            
                                          Imprint: Nordic Academic Press
                                    
                              
            Illustrations: 10 b/w illus
          
                    
                Price:
      
                £32.95
            
  
          
          
          
                          In stock
                      
        
          Description:
      
      
        The Chronicle of Duke Erik' is a Swedish classic with resounding national status like the English Beowulf or Finnish Kalevala. Here, at last, it is made available to a wider international readership in an English version. Written in the fourteenth century, it is a fascinating tale with many levels of meaning, reflecting the ideals of politics and aesthetics typical of the Age of Chivalry. The narrator describes real characters and power struggles in medieval Sweden and seems anxious to let his version of events be heard. The translators' rendition of his resolute vocabulary and the pronounced rhythm of the original is intelligent and sensitive. The linguistic traits of form, assonance, and rhyme are skilfully reproduced. The rhyming verses are accompanied by a prose version and a commentary, which makes the text enjoyable reading for anyone with an interest in medieval texts and the classic works of chivalry. The Chronicle is a valuable source for the broad scholarly disciplines of comparative literature as well as poetics. It contains intriguing dichotomies between centre and periphery, male and female, and Christian and heathen, and offers a wealth of material for researchers of medieval, colonial, and political history.
      
      
       
    