MICEL FOLCLAND BIBLIOGRAPHY X
Working on a new version of the bibliography and sharing it here. These books are recommended—or warned against—by members of the group and other medievalists. Please write with any additions you suggest!
RELIGION
Ewing, Þor. Viking Myths—Stories of the Norse Gods and Goddesses
Read the eddas if possible rather than a retelling of Norse myths, but Ewing’s efforts are good efforts.
Van Liere, Frans. An Introduction to the Medieval Bible
An interesting look at the medieval Bible, physically, religiously and literarily.
ADDENDUM: Just bought…
Burfield, Brian. Medieval Military Medicine.
A realistic view of medieval læchdoms used in the middle ages to deal with wounds and injuries from military violence of the time.
Liège, Egrert. The Well-Laden Ship.
A collection of short entries of interest to medieval culture.
Naismith, Rory, Making Money in the Early Middle Ages.
Excellent overview of minted moneys—making, using and more—in the early middle ages.
Van Liere, Frans. An Introduction to the Medieval Bible
An interesting look at the medieval Bible, physically, religiously and literarily.
Williamson, Craig (translator). The Complete Old English Poems.
What it says, in one convenient volume.
MICEL FOLCLAND BIBLIOGRAPHY VIIII
Working on a new version of the bibliography and sharing it here. These books are recommended—or warned against—by members of the group and other medievalists. Please write with any additions you suggest!
REFERENCE
Carnes, Mark (ed.). Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies
A collection of articles contrasting the view of history presented by cinema and by reality.
Cowley, David. How We’d Talk If The English Had Won in 1066
A list of words that have fallen out of the English language because of words introduced after the Norman invasion.
Cowley, David. 1066—Words We’d Wield If We’d Won
Another list of words that have fallen out of the English language because of words introduced after the Norman invasion.
Evans, Bryan. Plain English: A Wealth of Words
A collection of words with an Old English source.
Fraser, George MacDonald. The Hollywood History of the World
A contrast of the view of history presented by cinema and by reality, written by the author of the Flashman books and the screenwriter of the Richard Lester “Three Musketeers” and “Four Musketeers.”
Harty, Kevin J. The Vikings on Film: Essays on Depictions of the Nordic Middle Ages
The subject of Norse on films is examined in several essays.
Love, Matt. Learn Old English with Leofwin
A simplistic and effective book dealing with the learning of Old English.
Mohr, Melissa. Holy Shit: A Brief History of Swearing
An overview of discussion from acient times until the present, with n excellent look at swearing in the early middle ages and why those words we call Anglo-Saxon cuss words are not. Not Suitable for Work, Young Folks or Prudes.
Sharpe, Ian Stewart, Arngrimur Vidalin and Josh Gillingham. Old Norse for Modern Times
Light-hearted list of Old Norse translations of modern terms, such as “Welcome to my man cave” (“Kom Þú Fagnandi I karlhelli varn”)
Videen, Hana. The Wordhord: Daily Life in Old English
A collection of strange, delightful and unexpectedly apt words from the origins of English, which illuminates the lives, beliefs and habits of our linguistic ancestors. These are the roots of our own modern, they will make certain you’ll never see English in the same way again.
Walker, Damian. Reconstructing Hnefatafl
An interesting and useful book on reconstructing hnesfatafl from what has ben found and what can be interpreted.
Zoëga, Geir T. A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic
Excellent reference book, translating Old Norse to English.
MICEL FOLCLAND BIBLIOGRAPHY VIIIb
Working on a new version of the bibliography and sharing it here. These books are recommended—or warned against—by members of the group and other medievalists. Please write with any additions you suggest!
Nicol, Alexandra (editor). Domesday Book: Facsimiles with Introduction
Complete translation of the Domesday Book, William’s detailed list of the farms and goods of England, which owed as much to Anglo-Saxon as to Norman England.
Pollington, Stephen. Leechcraft: Early English Charms, Plant-Lore and Healing
Essays and translations of Old English leechbooks. The subject of medicine in the early middle ages is fascinating, often misunderstood and a fun subject. Imedicine of the period can be a combination of the humorous, the gross, the superstitious and the practical, and Pollington provides as usual a great overview, with not enough illustrations but a number of modern translations of period works.
Ross, James B. & Mary M. McLaughlin (eds.). The Portable Medieval Reader
A rich and varied collection of period writings.
Swanton, Michael (trans). Anglo-Saxon Prose Swanton (Everyman Paperback Classics)
A collection of prose work from Old English.
Theophilis. On Diverse Arts
Has done great things for numerous people in metalworking and such.
Thorsson, Ornolfur (ed.). The Sagas of the Icelanders
A collection of translations by various persons of sagas and þaettir, with valuable notes and appendixes. The sagas are indispensable reading, and this is a rich and meaty collection. The names of the actual editors are hidden, and the name of novelist Jane Smiley—the author of the depressing The Greenlanders and author of the preface—is displayed more prominently than the name of the editor.
Tolkien, J. R. R, and Peter Grybauskas. The Battle of Maldon: Together with the Homecoming of Beorhtnoth
The first-ever standalone edition of one of Tolkien’s most important poetic dramas. Tolkien considered The Battle of Maldon “the last surviving fragment of ancient English heroic minstrelsy.” It would inspire him to compose, during the 1930s, his own dramatic verse-dialogue, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son, which imagines the aftermath of the great battle when two of Beorhtnoth’s retainers come to retrieve their duke’s body. Leading Tolkien scholar, Peter Grybauskas, presents for the very first time J.R.R. Tolkien’s own prose translation. Grybauskas includes Tolkien’s lecture, “The Tradition of Versification in Old English,” and he argues that, Beowulf excepted, The Battle of Maldon may well have been “the Old English poem that most influenced his fiction,” most dramatically The Lord of the Rings.
Tolkien, J. R. R., and Christopher Tolkien. Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary.
A prose translation of something that long intrigued Tolkien. Includes a translation of “Selling Spell” and some additional poetry from the Beowulf translation.
Whitelock, Dorothy (trans.). Anglo-Saxon Wills
Wills are often the best judge of everday life since the things passed down are often objects from everyday life.
Article on a Reenacting Reliquary
The first drat for an illustrated article on the Reliquary of Sanct Sigulf: https://www.academia.edu/105328533/The_Reliquary_of_Sanct_Sigulf
MICEL FOLCLAND BIBLIOGRAPHY VIIIa
Working on a new version of the bibliography and sharing it here. These books are recommended—or warned against—by members of the group and other medievalists. Please write with any additions you suggest!
PRIMARY
Bede. Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Seventh-century historical opus by an English monk. Pretty good!
Evensen, Erik. Gods of Asgard
A graphic novel version of the Eddas, stylistically done and true to the source. Not your father’s Mighty Thor!
Cockayne, Oswald (editor and translater). Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England
Three volumes translating several Anglo-Saxon leechbooks in the mid-1860s, including the Leechbook of bald, the herbarium of Apuleius Barbarus , Dioscorides Pedanius and Sextus Placitus. Archaic translations, sometimes a bit prudish but still very useful.
Crawford, Jackson. The Poetic Edda
Recent translation by a marvelous scholar…who rewrote “Star Wars” as an Icelandic saga and made it work!
Crawford, Jackson. The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes. The Saga of the Volsungs: With the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok. Two Sagas of Mythical Heroes: Hervor and Heidrek and Hrólf Kraki and His Champions
Wonderful translations available not only in individual books but collected in a hardbound boxed collection.
Crawford, Jackson. The Wanderer’s Havamal
Newly translated and annotated, with facing original Old Norse text sourced directly from the Codex Regius manuscript.
Delanty, Greg (ed.). The Word Exchange: Anglo-Saxon Poems in Translation
A collection of newly translated Old English poetry of various types and subjects.
Gaiman, Neil. Norse Mythology
A fairly standard translation written by a prominent popular fiction author. Adapted and collected in a comic book series with remarkable illustrations but absolute;y no sense eof accuracy.
Garbaty, Thomas J. Medieval English Literature
History good. Text in original & translation. Good for learning period English
Geoffrey of Monmouth. History of the Kings of Britain
The fantastic history of Britain, often referred to but little read, source of the Arthurian legends and a damned fun read. Translated by Sebastian Evans.
Heaney, Seamus (Trans.). Beowulf
An essential early English epic, which remains exciting and interesting today. Available in many translations, this is a recent one that is recommended.
folo1
The Anglo-Scandinavian Chronicles 