tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post5448345633127382421..comments2024-03-19T07:31:11.465+00:00Comments on Poul Anderson Appreciation: SvipdagKetlanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588156788583883454noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-18592307359931981332017-07-10T07:18:32.774+01:002017-07-10T07:18:32.774+01:00Dear Mr. Stirling,
I agree that makes sense. Fre...Dear Mr. Stirling, <br /><br />I agree that makes sense. Free lance warriors like Hengist, Horsa, Svipdag, etc., were mercenaries offering their services to "ring givers" willing to take them on. And skalds, scops, wandering "praise singers" also did their bit to preserving Germanic cultural links. That would explain how bits from Ostrogothic history or legends ended up in Icelandic sagas.<br /><br />Sean Sean M. Brookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13973738112230622557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-47586289319827579322017-07-09T08:44:49.458+01:002017-07-09T08:44:49.458+01:00I suspect that such movement, and the associated m...I suspect that such movement, and the associated mobile poets (scops, skalds) or "praise-singers" were important for a long time in preserving cultural links between the various parts of the Germanic-speaking area. Hence you get details from the Ostrogothic kingdom in the Ukraine ending up in Icelandic sagas.S.M. Stirlinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18091131550027851275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-47696152909074514052017-07-09T08:43:37.313+01:002017-07-09T08:43:37.313+01:00One thing Poul shows well there is how professiona...One thing Poul shows well there is how professional warriors in the ancient Germanic world were a mobile class -- moving around to attach themselves to famous chiefs or kings, "ring-givers". In "Burnt Finnsburg" and "Beowulf" the (very incomplete) saga that details the lives of the legendary founders of England, Hengist and Hrosa, were wanderers of that sort. They served several lords, then made Europe too hot for them and ended up in Kent serving the post-Roman British king Vortigern as mercenaries before turning on him.S.M. Stirlinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18091131550027851275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-54612347141333381302016-06-23T03:04:16.246+01:002016-06-23T03:04:16.246+01:00Kaor, Paul!
At first I was surprised by the bit y...Kaor, Paul!<br /><br />At first I was surprised by the bit you quoted from HROLF KRAKI'S SAGA about Svipdag using caltrops. I had thought that was a Medieval invention till i looked it up and found out it goes back to about 331 BC. So, I'm not surprised knowledge of caltrops spread from the Greeks and Romans to the barbarians.<br /><br />SeanSean M. Brookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13973738112230622557noreply@blogger.com