The Reality of the Fantastic: The Magical, Political and Social Universe of Late Medieval Saga Manuscripts

The reality of the fantastic combines a 'new philological' close study of a fifteenth-century Icelandic manuscript compilation of fifteen fornaldarsogur and riddarasogur, AM 343a 4to, with an historically-based analysis of the manuscript's various contents, demonstrating how fictions that are in many respects non-realistic can be made to yield up insights into the real-world concerns and interests of a group of fifteenth-century Icelanders. Both the methodology of this study and its conclusions should interest readers from diverse fields, including literature, history and manuscript studies. (Series: The Viking Collection, Vol. 23) [Subject: Icelandic Studies, Medieval Studies, History, Literature, Literary Studies, Manuscript Studies]