Viking Ale: Studies on Folklore Contacts Between the Northern and the Western Worlds [Hardcover]

Bo Almqvist (Author), Eilis Ni Dhuibane-Almqvist (Editor), Seamus O Cathain (Editor), Eilis Dhubhne-Almvist (Editor), Seamus O'Cathain (Editor)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 335 pages
• Publisher: Boethius Press (UK) Ltd (July 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0863142184
• ISBN-13: 978-0863142185
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,904,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, informative book., November 10, 2008

By 

Christopher R. Travers "Einhverfr" (Chelan, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Viking Ale: Studies on Folklore Contacts Between the Northern and the Western Worlds (Hardcover)

In this work, several articles of Bo Almqvist were brought together and translated dealing with folklore contacts between Ireland, Scotland, and Scandinavia. It is not possible or advisable to provide a summary of each article here, so I will summarize the two most interesting ones from my perspective.

The Viking Ale article discusses the parallel between the Irish story of the Viking Ale and the deaths of Gunnar and Hogni in the Poetic Edda, as well as the parallels in the Niebelungenlied. Professor Almqvist traces the Scottish versions to the Irish ones, and from there argues that they are likely to have been descendant of the Viking stories relating to the Rhine-gold.

The Fish of Life and the Salmon of Life explores the relationship between these concepts among the Irish and the Scandinavians without drawing conclusions as to the nature of the genetic relationship.

In addition, the appendix contains a number of versions of some of the stories discussed in this work. I think it is a must-read for anyone interested in studying the Norse Sagas, Celtic Folklore, or Norse Folklore.