Landscape of Desire: Partial Stories of the Northern Medieval World Book

Not what I was expecting, but far from being a disappointment.

Here's what I was expecting: a collection of stories that were part of a Scandinavian mythology which is otherwise unknown to me. Here's what I got: a discussion about the Scandinavian territories and how the stories (as well as the authors who sought these places about twenty years ago) could be identified in this remote region of the world.

When I first read the introduction, I was wary of what I would encounter, which surely could not be scholarly research (despite the fact that both Overing and Osborn are both respected medievalists). But what is presented is simultaneously pure conjecture and fully researched, and this odd combination of experience and scholarship was incredibly pleasant to read.

I felt most comfortable reading the first chapter, because this one literally is placing Beowulf in a physical context (and I've read Beowulf the poem enough times to be familiar with the places they referenced and explored). I was more lost with the second chapter because I really know nothing about Icelandic sagas, but I was still able to follow along given the epic conventions shared between Beowulf and the Icelandic sagas; in particular, I got the most out of the chapter's ending because it made explicit comparisons between those works. The third chapter was intriguing because it summed up the ways in which Overing and Osborn were able to take part in the epics they love by being in places that (perhaps mythically, perhaps not) are directly associated with the poem and stories respectively.

Fair warning: This book contains jargon associated with literary criticism, so it can be a daunting read for those who are unfamiliar with the lingo. Also, the reading can get murky if you're not already familiar with Beowulf and the Icelandic epics (as I found out the hard way), since neither are summed up at any point; it's assumed that you know them before delving in to the book, and only the relevant adventures/characters are referenced in the appropriate places (ironically enough).

Good as a continuing discussion of how epics can related to life today. Also an interesting dialectic on the relationship between literal space and how a person's relationship to it can affect her relationship to a text set within it.