T. V. Toporova. «Language of gods» – «language of men» in the mythological songs of the Elder Edda (pp. 878–892)

Author

T. V. Toporova (The Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences)

Keywords\n the epic word, context, "the grammar of text", syntactic functions, mythopoethical world model

Pages\n 878–892

Summary\n

In the studied lays of the Elder Edda ((Völuspá) and (Hávamál)), two types of texts are compared: «divine» and «human» texts. In the«language of the gods», one can identify two strata: neutral and «ecstatic». The latter characterizes the culmination of the development of mental andspiritual powers. The «language of men» is not homogeneous, either, as one finds not only the neutral but also «base» strata (cf. the cynical morals ofthe gnomic verses of (Hávamál)). To perform the differentiation, we usemorphological, lexical, and poetical means, as well as genre specifics andmyth. It should be said that the differentiation markers of the two«languages» can be both simple (cf. the mythological and didactic layer inHávamál and complex (such as the combination of several indicators – forexample, in the myth about the war between the æsir and the vanir inVöluspá that is interpreted as a result of social stratification and in thestruggle between the old and the new cults that is fraught with axiological connotations ( less prestigious – more prestigious )).

References\n

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