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Full-Text Articles in Education
The Icelandic Sagas As A Subject For Undergraduate Study, John P. Sexton
The Icelandic Sagas As A Subject For Undergraduate Study, John P. Sexton
English Faculty Publications
While medieval studies has dramatically expanded its scope and the texts taught as part of its subject over the past few decades, the study of Icelandic saga literature is still a fringe discipline, particularly in North American academe. Rarer still is undergraduate exposure to the sagas, despite their appeal as texts and the rich possibilities they offer to students trained in Anglo-Saxon literature (or at least Beowulf) and familiar with Norse myth and legend through Tolkien or Marvel comics. The insular nature of the culture from which the literature springs is a contributing factor, of course—there is the undeniable …
In Praise Of The Saints: Introducing Medieval Hagiography Into The British Literature Survey, John P. Sexton
In Praise Of The Saints: Introducing Medieval Hagiography Into The British Literature Survey, John P. Sexton
English Faculty Publications
Despite increased interest in hagiographic writing among scholars of early literature in the last few decades, serious study of saints’ lives in the undergraduate classroom remains rare. To some degree, this is a result of poor representation in the leading anthologies,[1]but another contributing factor has been the perception of a distinction between hagiographic and other medieval writing it terms of genre or of literary value. Such distinctions, however, are modern inventions, and do not accurately reflect the medieval reader or writer’s view. Nor is the inclusion of the literature alongside the expected “great works” difficult or jarring; a …