2023 Spring SCANDIN 60 001 LEC 001

Spring 2023

SCANDIN 60 001 - LEC 001

Heroic Legends of the North

Kate Heslop

Jan 17, 2023 - May 05, 2023
Tu, Th
02:00 pm - 03:29 pm
Class #:23134
Units:4

Instruction Mode: In-Person Instruction

Offered through Scandinavian

Current Enrollment

Total Open Seats: 3
Enrolled: 37
Waitlisted: 0
Capacity: 40
Waitlist Max: 3
No Reserved Seats

Hours & Workload

3 hours of instructor presentation of course materials, and 9 hours of outside work hours.

Final Exam

MON, MAY 8TH
11:30 am - 02:30 pm
Dwinelle 182

Other classes by Kate Heslop

Course Catalog Description

Exploration of the heroic narratives of the Northern Middle Ages with a focus on both the hero and the heroic ethos in a period or radical cultural, social and religious change and on a particular body of literature, the Scandinavian versions of Germanic heroic narrative. Required of majors.

Class Description

What is courage? What makes a man or woman honorable? Can communities manage the destructive powers of envy, greed and jealousy? When does a warrior’s violence cross the line into monstrosity? The heroic legends of the North – tales of gods, valkyries, kings, slaves, dragons, and outlaws, written down among the volcanoes and glaciers of Iceland during the High Middle Ages – grapple with these and other fundamental human questions. They also open a window on a period of radical historical change, from the pagan warrior societies of the Viking Age, to the Christian, literate, centralized kingdoms of medieval Scandinavia. In this course, we will read these narratives in the historical, social and medial context of Viking Age and medieval Scandinavia, and investigate how premodern societies use narrative to remember their pasts and shape their futures. Students will acquire analytical tools for interpreting narratives and works of visual art from distant times and places, and for exploring the resonances of heroic legends in modern media (e.g. music, film, TV, graphic novels, games). The class meets for three hours per week of lecture and discussion. Scandinavian 60 fulfils one of the requirements for the major in Scandinavian. Texts The Poetic Edda, trans. by Carolyne Larrington, revised edition (Oxford: 2014). ISBN 978-0199675340. The Saga of King Hrolf kraki, trans. by Jesse Byock (Penguin: 1998). ISBN 978-0140435931. The Saga of Grettir the Strong, trans. by Bernard Scudder (Penguin: 2005). ISBN 978-0140447736. Further texts will be provided on bCourses.

Class Notes

Prerequisites: none. The course and all readings are in English.

Rules & Requirements

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills

Meets Arts & Literature, L&S Breadth

Reserved Seats

Current Enrollment

No Reserved Seats

Textbooks & Materials

See class syllabus or https://calstudentstore.berkeley.edu/textbooks for the most current information.

Textbook Lookup

Guide to Open, Free, & Affordable Course Materials

eTextbooks

Associated Sections

None