Norse Heroic Poetry (Classroom Talk)

Norse heroic poetry, preserved in the Poetic Edda or in sagas. A talk given to Prof. Natalie Van Deusen's Norse mythology class at the University of Alberta on October 5, 2021.
Jackson Crawford, Ph.D.: Sharing real expertise in Norse language and myth with people hungry to learn, free of both ivory tower elitism and the agendas of self-appointed gurus. Visit jacksonwcrawford.com/ (includes bio and linked list of all videos).
Jackson Crawford’s Patreon page: / norsebysw
Visit Grimfrost at www.grimfrost.com?aff=183
Latest FAQs: vimeo.com/375149287 (updated Nov. 2019).
Jackson Crawford’s translation of Hávamál, with complete Old Norse text: www.hackettpublishing.com/the... or www.amazon.com/Wanderers-Hava...
Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Poetic Edda: www.hackettpublishing.com/the... or www.amazon.com/Poetic-Edda-St...
Audiobook: www.audible.com/pd/The-Poetic...
Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Saga of the Volsungs: www.hackettpublishing.com/the... or www.amazon.com/Saga-Volsungs-...
Audiobook: www.audible.com/pd/The-Saga-o...
Music © I See Hawks in L.A., courtesy of the artist. Visit www.iseehawks.com/
Logos by Elizabeth Porter (snowbringer at gmail).

[@walkerealy8985]

'one of my best friends is a paleontologist and no one thinks he wants to be a dinosaur.' wow that was perfect

[@ThePykeSpy]

If only my University's history institute had a Scandinavia department. I would've loved for a guest lecture from the man himself. But, at the very least, we have this.

[@jmolofsson]

Having followed Crawford's lectures for a _long_ time, I don't know how long, this has been the one with the most rewarding content. The _form_ of the mountain lectures is without doubt more accessible and cohesive. But the ideas presented here were very enlightening to me. Lots of pennies dropped, thanks to the analogies (e.g. "gravitation" combining Harry Potter, Gandalf, Luke Skywalker...), not only pennies about _Germanic_ oral traditions, but about oral tradition in general, reminding also of the history of the Old Testament, that I happened to study briefly at university in my youth. I remember hints from my late father-in-law, who was born in Karelia and brought up a lot closer to oral traditions than myself. Now, finally, I start to get an understanding for how stories were told before being compiled in writing, made more coherent than they could be, and needed to be, while told in the evenings as entertainment, sometimes as a competition between story-tellers.

[@beepboop204]

Thank you for the consistently quality free content

[@ArneTW]

or free quality content?

[@beepboop204]

@@ArneTW as long as we agree that, in no particular order, thanks are in order for the content that is (1) consistently of quality and (2) consistently free

[@melissahdawn]

You have a Wikipedia page, what an honor! (someone spent time devoted to writing about you for all mankind to learn )

[@Shindashi]

The smile in the thumbnail seems so unusual for you xD

[@SeaYakRanch]

It like a magic trick smile 😊

[@MrClarissacain]

He just seems happier and more relaxed since giving up the academic ratrace. Eh might just be perception bias but im glad to see him smile more too

[@MisterTipp]

Any chance for a video about Dalrunes and rune usage in Scandinavia after the 1500s?

[@user-eq8ww1gr6v]

WIkipedia page of Jackon's Norse Star Wars fanfic. THANK YOU Professor Van Deusen!!!

[@user-eq8ww1gr6v]

Thank you so much for sharing this content. It's great seeing how you present material for a college class. I selfishly would love to see/hear a semester of your teaching, anything, you are very engaging.

[@Account.for.Comment]

Loving your lectures on Wondrium. Very happy to see you there. Though, I wonder why don' t you tell in a more chronological way. I read the Eddas before and it is much easier to follow when it started from Voluspa, where you get the broad view, and progress from there. Are there English translations for the sagas where Odin' s sacrificing the king and the one where he gift his foster-son long life and fame while Thor hated that guy for some reasons and curse him to have no lands? I really found these stories to be intriguing and realized how much stories felt differently when the gods took a supporting role when they are not parts of the Volsung.

[@kylemartin8682]

Love the video! Kinda wanted to give you my answer to y I’m so deeply in trenches in the Viking subject and culture, I was Iceland in November standing on the top of of a volcano with 70kph winds watching 20’white caps pound the beach and was amazed that the curiosity of ppl from Scandinavia that they would risk there lives for 3 months at a time in a longship just to see what’s on the other side. I feel like ppl that charismatic should be studied and better understood kinda like the Egyptian and there pyramids or the Roman Empire and there coliseum.

[@cloud819]

Excellent interview.

[@timothycochran4463]

I really hope he makes a compilation of the Legendary Sagas (fornaldarsögur).

[@OmnivorousReader]

Ah, yes, the white neonazis. The bane of the Viking reenactor. I also get people assuming I have Norse ancestry. I don't, at all. I just find ancient cultures interesting, especially the pre Christian ones. I like history, archaeology and a friend one day put a spear in my hand and said "hit that log'. It was fun, this is a hobby, there is heaps to learn and it is fun. It does not HAVE to mean anything more than that.

[@charlesbourgoigne2130]

The comic book analogy is really good. No wonder Stan Lee used the norse myths for his comics

[@matthewflatt9741]

My girlfriend got me one of your books for christmas havent gotten to read it yet but I'll be getting more as time goes by

[@pattycakesxo1758]

Hahaha your response to your intro.💛

[@kadoawakusu8423]

What books would you recommend a student when it comes to learning the old norse language like elder fruthark

[@chrisredfield3607]

For much of the 20th century the modern man prided himself on abandoning and questioning traditions. I'm happy to see that impulse has been recognized to be foolish in the 21st.

[@troelspeterroland6998]

I must say I am quite baffled by how vocal those nativist/fascist groups with a viking obsession have become in parts of The Western World. After this discussion I understand better why Jackson Crawford occasionally feels the need to distance himself from them.

[@jmolofsson]

About the reconstructed Old Norse: To me as a Scanian, it's easier to understand Crawford's pronunciation than modern Icelandic.

[@arnipeturarnason9847]

I, as an Icelander, don't notice it, it's just like listening to someone with aa foreign accent

[@jmolofsson]

@@arnipeturarnason9847 May it be so that Crawford speaks slower and/or more articulated? I have a friend from Iceland. Listening to her speaking with her daughters was fun, but I never understood much.

[@arnipeturarnason9847]

@@jmolofsson He definitively speaks more articulated but I think it's more so just the languages being so similar

[@RMunoz-te7jc]

I meditated for awhile solely on " graham McNeil's " stuff.idk if that's right. On my first meditation about a day or so in , i received a bone. Crazy stuff . On the second meditation I was a Tree, then a many hundreds of trees were visible when golden warriors stepped out , making ready for battle. Truly epic stuff. I don't meditate much any more, but I think Mr. Odin was channeled.

[@RMunoz-te7jc]

@GooberBear I actually like this. Thanks a bunch

[@le_osaker]

Jackson Crawford be like: 😠

[@cornholio6612]

First

[@vonzeitgiest]

I knew a white fellow at the hospital where I worked in California years ago who knew he had Scottish heritage, and so went to the local Scottish games, drank Scotch, and actually occasionally wore a kilt. Then he did an DNA test and realized he was also Native American and started looking like he thought an Indian would. Everyone else got to claim an ethnicity and he wanted one too. Not important to me, but seems harmless enough if he is trying to be respectful. This sad little lizard told me that he was a brontosaurus on his mother's side. I did not laugh; people who boast of ancestry often have little else to sustain them. Humoring them costs nothing and adds to happiness in a world in which happiness is always in short supply. -- Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein's "Time Enough For Love"