In History’s Vikings (2013-), the writer Michael Hirst wants to show the female empowerment of women in Viking culture and how this empowerment differs from women in medieval Christian culture....Show moreIn History’s Vikings (2013-), the writer Michael Hirst wants to show the female empowerment of women in Viking culture and how this empowerment differs from women in medieval Christian culture. This thesis first considers the medieval source material that Hirst adapted. This thesis analyses the characterisation of Lagertha (in the Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta Danorum) and Aslaug (in Ragnars saga Loðbrókar) and compares their portrayals with the idea of the medieval woman described by Eileen Power and Carolyne Larrington. Following this analysis, this thesis provides a close-reading of the first three seasons of Vikings and looks at the Viking female characters, subdivided into three groups: the warrior woman who wishes to become equal to men (Lagertha), the wife who desires independence (Aslaug) and the woman who wants power and uses manipulation to obtain this (Siggy). Secondly, this thesis analyses the empowerment of the Christian women (Judith, Kwenthrith and Gisla) and demonstrates how religion and social customs pose obstacles to their empowerment. Consequently, this thesis demonstrates that the creators of Vikings try to focus on the strong Viking female characters and give them more agency, which is juxtaposed to the Christian women who cannot achieve the same level of empowerment.Show less
This thesis provides a linguistic analysis of the corrections to the Old English gloss of five psalms (Psalms 5, 15, 25, 35 and 45) in the twelfth-century Eadwine Psalter. These corrections are...Show moreThis thesis provides a linguistic analysis of the corrections to the Old English gloss of five psalms (Psalms 5, 15, 25, 35 and 45) in the twelfth-century Eadwine Psalter. These corrections are especially prevalent in the first part of the Eadwine Psalter (Psalms 1-77) and derive from the tenth-century Regius Psalter. The corrections are analysed in order to determine whether they can be characterised in terms of their type, frequency and the degree to which they adhere to Old English, i.e. whether the corrector introduced any modernisations into the gloss. Besides showing that the corrected glosses in the Eadwine Psalter generally conform quite well to the corresponding glosses in the Regius Psalter, the results of the analysis demonstrate that the corrector has used relatively few lexical and morphological modernisations in his corrections. This may be seen as surprising for a corrector who was working in the early Middle English period. It is also clear that nouns and verbs are among the most heavily corrected word classes and that there are very few individual recurring lemmata among the corrections. Generally, the results conform to current scholarship on the Eadwine Psalter.Show less
This thesis examens the representations of Earl Godwine, earl of Wessex during the mid-eleventh century. The representations of the earl differ accordingly to the political agendas of their patrons...Show moreThis thesis examens the representations of Earl Godwine, earl of Wessex during the mid-eleventh century. The representations of the earl differ accordingly to the political agendas of their patrons. Emma of Normandy issued the Encomium Emmae Reginae which featured the earl in a negative light. Similarly, Earl Leofric thwarted the rising star of Earl Godwine via representation of him in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. In a countermovement, those who favored Godwine formed a more positive or neutral depiction of the earl alleged wrongdoings. All in all, the differences between the representations were motivated by political interests and therefore differ from one another.Show less
Since Tolkien was a noted philologist, his writing was inspired greatly by Old English poetry such as Beowulf and The Battle of Maldon. Taking into account Tolkien's comments on the portrayal of...Show moreSince Tolkien was a noted philologist, his writing was inspired greatly by Old English poetry such as Beowulf and The Battle of Maldon. Taking into account Tolkien's comments on the portrayal of heroism in these poems, this thesis presents a comparison between several heroes from Tolkien’s own fiction – Aragorn, Beren and Fëanor – and the Germanic heroic ethos.Show less
This thesis concerns itself with the role that Women played in Anglo Saxon society and mainly how their rights and responsibilities are represented in early law codes and how these changed over...Show moreThis thesis concerns itself with the role that Women played in Anglo Saxon society and mainly how their rights and responsibilities are represented in early law codes and how these changed over time. The main focus will be on differences between the law codes of Æthelread Aethelbert, Alfred and Ine and Cnut. Several articles have been written about the change of the legal status of women over the course of the Anglo-Saxon period. In light of these article I will analyse the Law Codes written by Aethelbert and his succesors as well as other legal documents from the Anglo-Saxon period to see if this is indeed the case.Show less
After a summary of Old English poetic techniques and the use of these in the Old English poems "Beowulf" and "Judith", this thesis will aim to determine how well these poetic techniques were used...Show moreAfter a summary of Old English poetic techniques and the use of these in the Old English poems "Beowulf" and "Judith", this thesis will aim to determine how well these poetic techniques were used by J.R.R. Tolkien in his long poems "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth" and "The Fall of Arthur", in order to determine which of these poems was written (mostly) last.Show less
At the end of the twentieth century, George R. R. Martin rose to success with his fantasy. Martin’s series shares a similar setting to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, but there is a...Show moreAt the end of the twentieth century, George R. R. Martin rose to success with his fantasy. Martin’s series shares a similar setting to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, but there is a difference in Martin’s work compared to that of traditional medievalist fantasy authors. Martin himself has stated on multiple occasions that he, just like Tolkien had done, based the setting of his books on medieval Britain and Europe. The critical acclaim the series has received partly seems to stem from the fact that Martin’s characters appeal to a broad audience. Many major characters of the books are clearly derived from character types present in medieval literature, but Martin has added certain qualities to them which make these characters more human, instead of being the same stock figures that characters from medieval literature mostly are. I will be researching why Martin’s characters appeal to such a broad audience while being based on traditional medievalist character roles by doing close reading of the text. I will also look at Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur to research how much Martin has been influenced by character roles from medieval literature, and how these roles were perceived in their own time, also by doing close reading. To this purpose I will be looking into two character roles, that of the king and of the queen. I will look into the characters of King Arthur Pendragon and King Robert Baratheon in the first chapter, and Queen Guinevere and Queen Cersei Lannister in the second chapter.Show less
The Old English poem Wulf and Eadwacer is famous for its ambiguity, mystery, and difficulty of interpretation. According to Elaine Treharne, “it is one of the most challenging Old English poems to...Show moreThe Old English poem Wulf and Eadwacer is famous for its ambiguity, mystery, and difficulty of interpretation. According to Elaine Treharne, “it is one of the most challenging Old English poems to translate satisfactorily.” There are various ways to interpret and translate Wulf and Eadwacer, and many different translations have already been published. Throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, translators have tried their best to create translations of Wulf and Eadwacer that reflect their opinions, serve their purposes, and appeal to their particular audiences. John Adams believes Wulf and Eadwacer must be seen as a riddle, and has translated it as such, while others, like Treharne, consider the poem a woman’s song. The choices that translators make show how they interpret the poem, and the examination in this thesis will show what might have influenced the translators to create their particular translation, and how their choices and interpretations of Wulf and Eadwacer have influenced their translations.Show less
