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Impressioni da Bayreuth 2024 - GƶtterdƤmmerumg
Foto Ā©Enrico Nawrath Da fervente appassionato wagneriano quale sono, il viaggio estivo a Bayreuth ĆØ per me da anni una consuetudine. Continue reading Impressioni da Bayreuth 2024 āĀ GƶtterdƤmmerumg
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#bayreuth#canto#catherine foster#christa mayer#critica#gabriela scherer#gƶtterdƤmmerung#klaus florian vogt#michael kupfer-radecki#mika kares#olaf sigurdarson#simone young#teatro#valentin schwarz#wagner
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Poem by Harald Sigurdarson
Iāve recently re-unearthed a book in my collection of translated Viking poetry fragments on the themes of love and war. Hereās one by Harald Sigurdarson, an 11th C king of Norway, in which he describes his escape from the battle of Stiklestad in 1030 when he was 15 years old:
I remained upright
in battle while wounds bled;
the farmersā troop grew fuller,
destroyer of shields dealt death.
Now, with little glory
I slink through the forests;
who knows, whether Iāll become
widely famous later?
This one is interesting to me on a number of levels!
Firstly, the poem embodies aĀ ālive to fight another dayā perspective, which seems somewhat contrary to the modern popular perception that I think exists of the Vikings being aĀ ādeath before dishonorā kinda people. It reminds me of how the word cunning used to have a more complimentary vibe conveying skillfulness, whereas its sense of deceitfulness probably didnāt arise until the late 14th C.
Secondly, Iām always interested to note the Viking preoccupation with fame, and with someoneās name living on after their death. Itās not something Iām much fussed about, personally, so Iām always vaguely baffled by it. In this case, Haraldās hopes indeed came to fruition - Harald Sigurdarson is the same person as Harald Hardrada, who attacked the north of England in 1066 shortly before William the Conquerer attacked in the south. If Iām remembering my primary school history lessons correctly, despite Haraldās attack being unsuccessful, historians (at least sometimes) credit it with wearing out the English forces enough that Williamās (albeit unrelated) attack succeeded.
Interestingly, Haraldās half-brother Olaf, who was killed at Stiklestad, also achieved long-lasting fame - he was canonized as St Olaf in 1164.
Thirdly, thereās something Iām terribly curious about, and my Googling skills havenāt led me to any satisfactory conclusions! Can anybody explain to me the difference betweenĀ āSigurdarsonā andĀ āSigurd(s)sonā? The out-of-practice half-trained morphophonologist in me is dying to know!
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