Old Norse-Icelandic Literature: A Critical Guide Book

Highly scholarly, second edition, collection of critical essays of Old Norse - Icelandic Lit. Do not look for the actual stories of gods or heroic sagas, but rather explanations of how these came to be, how they came to be re-told, what happened when the stories were put down on paper. My favorite essay concerned the impact of courtly literature and Christianity on the later period of Norse literature. Very interesting from a historical perspective. Definitely a college-level text, and I would recommend it as a valuable secondary source should I ever teach an advanced course on Norse myth and saga. It also comes in handy if you want to understand some of the Norse influence in the work of Tolkien or George RR Martin. That's right, GoT fans, an understanding of both Norse and Celtic myth will help you make predictions for Seasons 7 and 8!