The Vikings on Film

The Vikings on Film PDF Author: Kevin J. Harty
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786486384
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
Factual and fanciful tales of the Nordic warriors known as Vikings have proven irresistible to filmmakers for nearly a century. Diverse, prominent actors from Kirk Douglas, Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier to Tim Robbins and John Cleese, and noted directors, including Richard Fleischer, Clive Donner and Terry Jones, have all lent their talents to Viking–related films. These fourteen essays on films dealing with the Viking era discuss American, British and European productions. Analyzed in detail are such films as The Vikings (1958), The Long Ships (1964), Alfred the Great (1969), Erik the Viking (1989) and Outlander (2008), as well as two comic-strip adaptations, the 1954 and 1989 films of Prince Valiant and the animated Astérix and the Vikings (2006). A comprehensive filmography is also included.

The Vikings on Film

The Vikings on Film PDF Author: Kevin J. Harty
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786486384
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Get Book

Book Description
Factual and fanciful tales of the Nordic warriors known as Vikings have proven irresistible to filmmakers for nearly a century. Diverse, prominent actors from Kirk Douglas, Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier to Tim Robbins and John Cleese, and noted directors, including Richard Fleischer, Clive Donner and Terry Jones, have all lent their talents to Viking–related films. These fourteen essays on films dealing with the Viking era discuss American, British and European productions. Analyzed in detail are such films as The Vikings (1958), The Long Ships (1964), Alfred the Great (1969), Erik the Viking (1989) and Outlander (2008), as well as two comic-strip adaptations, the 1954 and 1989 films of Prince Valiant and the animated Astérix and the Vikings (2006). A comprehensive filmography is also included.

Vikings

Vikings PDF Author: Tristan Mueller-Vollmer
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
For three centuries, the Vikings changed the political world of northern and western Europe. This encyclopedia explores exactly how they did it in a highly readable and informative resource volume. How did the Vikings know when to strike? What were their military strengths? Who were their leaders? What was the impact of their raids? These and many more questions are answered in this volume, which will benefit students and general readers alike. The only encyclopedia devoted specifically to the topic of conflict, invasions, and raids in the Viking Age, this book presents detailed coverage of the Vikings, who are infamous for their violent marauding across Europe during the early Middle Ages. Featuring extracts of poetry and prose from the Viking Age, the book provides cultural context in addition to an in-depth analysis of Viking military practices.

Echoes of Valhalla

Echoes of Valhalla PDF Author: Jón Karl Helgason
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN: 1780237731
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Tolkien’s wizard Gandalf, Wagner’s Valkyrie Brünnhilde, Marvel’s superhero the Mighty Thor, the warrior heading for Valhalla in Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” and Donald Crisp’s portrayal of Leif Eriksson in the classic film The Viking—these are just a few examples of how Icelandic medieval literature has shaped human imagination during the past 150 years. Echoes of Valhalla is a unique look at modern adaptations of the Icelandic eddas (poems of Norse mythology) and sagas (ancient prose accounts of Viking history, voyages, and battles) across an astonishing breadth of art forms. Jón Karl Helgason looks at comic books, plays, travel books, music, and films in order to explore the reincarnations of a range of legendary characters, from the Nordic gods Thor and Odin to the saga characters Hallgerd Long-legs, Gunnar of Hlidarendi, and Leif the Lucky. Roaming the globe, Helgason unearths echoes of Nordic lore in Scandinavia, Britain, America, Germany, Italy, and Japan. He examines the comic work of Jack Kirby and cartoon work of Peter Madsen; reads the plays of Henrik Ibsen and Gordon Bottomley; engages thought travelogues by Frederick Metcalfe and Poul Vad; listens to the music of Richard Wagner, Edward Elgar, and the metal band Manowar; and watches films by directors such as Roy William Neill and Richard Fleischer, outlining the presence of the eddas and sagas in these nineteenth- and twentieth-century works. Altogether, Echoes of Valhalla tells the remarkable story of how disparate, age-old poetry and prose originally recorded in remote areas of medieval Iceland have come to be a part of our shared cultural experience today—how Nordic gods and saga heroes have survived and how their colorful cast of characters and adventures they went on are as vibrant as ever.

The Epic Film

The Epic Film PDF Author: Derek Elley
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317928881
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
As Charlton Heston put it: ‘There’s a temptingly simple definition of the epic film: it’s the easiest kind of picture to make badly.’ This book goes beyond that definition to show how the film epic has taken up one of the most ancient art-forms and propelled it into the modern world, covered in twentieth-century ambitions, anxieties, hopes and fantasies. This survey of historical epic films dealing with periods up to the end of the Dark Ages looks at epic form and discusses the films by historical period, showing how the cinema reworks history for the changing needs of its audience, much as the ancient mythographers did. The form’s main aim has always been to entertain, and Derek Elley reminds us of the glee with which many epic films have worn their label, and of the sheer fun of the genre. He shows the many levels on which these films can work, from the most popular to the specialist, each providing a considerable source of enjoyment. For instance, spectacle, the genre’s most characteristic trademark, is merely the cinema’s own transformation of the literary epic’s taste for the grandiose. Dramatically it can serve many purposes: as a resolution of personal tensions (the chariot race in Ben-Hur), of monotheism vs idolatry (Solomon and Sheba), or of the triumph of a religious code (The Ten Commandments). Although to many people Epic equals Hollywood, throughout the book Elley stresses debt to the Italian epics, which often explored areas of history with which Hollywood could never have found sympathy. Originally published 1984.

A Knight at the Movies

A Knight at the Movies PDF Author: John Aberth
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135257264
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
Imagining the Middle Ages is an unprecedented examination of the historical content of films depicting the medieval period from the 11th to the 15th centuries. Historians increasingly feel the need to weigh in on popular depictions of the past, since so much of the public's knowledge of history comes from popular mediums. Aberth dissects how each film interpreted the period, offering estimations of the historical accuracy of the works and demonstrating how they project their own contemporary era's obsessions and fears onto the past.

The Vikings

The Vikings PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Art, Scandinavian
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Epic Films

Epic Films PDF Author: Gary Allen Smith
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786440813
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
"Epic" films, those concerned with monumental events and larger-than-life characters, cover the period from the Creation to the A.D. 1200s and have been churned out by Hollywood and overseas studios since the dawn of filmmaking. Cecil B. DeMille, a master of the genre, hit upon the perfect mixture of sex, splendor, and the sacred to lure audiences to his epic productions. The 355 film entries include casts and credits, plot synopsis, and narratives on the making of the films. There are 190 photographs in this editon.

Encyclopedia of Film Themes, Settings and Series

Encyclopedia of Film Themes, Settings and Series PDF Author: Richard B. Armstrong
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476612307
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
The first editon was called “the most valuable film reference in several years” by Library Journal. The new edition published in hardcover in 2001 includes more than 670 entries. The current work is a paperback reprint of that edition. Each entry contains a mini-essay that defines the topic, followed by a chronological list of representative films. From the Abominable Snowman to Zorro, this encyclopedia provides film scholars and fans with an easy-to-use reference for researching film themes or tracking down obscure movies on subjects such as suspended animation, viral epidemics, robots, submarines, reincarnation, ventriloquists and the Olympics (“Excellent” said Cult Movies). The volume also contains an extensive list of film characters and series, including B-movie detectives, Western heroes, made-for-television film series, and foreign film heroes and villains.

Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Cinema

Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Cinema PDF Author: John Sundholm
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 0810855240
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 483

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Book Description
Although relatively small, the northern countries of Scandinavia have made a disproportionately large contribution to world cinema. Indeed, some of their films are among the best known of all times, including The Seventh Seal, Dancer in the Dark, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. And Scandinavian directors are also among the best known, just to mention Ingmar Bergman and Lars von Trier. But there is much more to the cinema of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland than that, and this book shows us what they have been accomplishing over more than a century from the beginnings of cinema until the present. The Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Cinema shows just how long and busy this history has been in the chronology, starting in 1896. The introduction then describes the situation in each one of the component countries, all of which approached and developed the field in a similar but also slightly different manner. The dictionary section, with over 400 substantial entries, looks at the situation in greater detail, with over 400 substantial entries on major actors, directors and others, significant films, various genres and themes, and subjects such as animation, ethnicity, migration and censorship. Given its contribution to world cinema it is good to finally have an encyclopedia like this which can meet the interests of the scholar and researcher but also the movie fan.

From Asgard to Valhalla

From Asgard to Valhalla PDF Author: Heather O'Donoghue
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350252832
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 185

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Book Description
From Asgard to Valhalla takes readers deep inside Odin's cavernous hall and tells of the adventures, tragedies and lessons of the Viking Gods. Here, Heather O'Donoghue skillfully uncovers both the history and legacy of these myths to provide the authoritative student text on Old Norse mythology. From the magnificent tales of A Song of Ice and Fire and the supernatural wonders of Valkyries to Tolkien's Riders of Rohan and Marvel's mighty Thor, Norse mythology is a fundamental part of western culture. Drawing from a wealth of sources and scholarly debates, this fully-updated and expanded 2nd edition offers both an engaging survey of the Old Norse myths and an accessible introduction to how such strange and fragmentary material has been seized, repurposed and at times abused throughout the centuries. Notably, this important and timely study explores how Old Norse mythology has been – and continues to be – weaponized by far right movements across the world. Containing 2 brand new chapters on post-medieval reception, 30 illustrations for a stronger visual context and pedagogical updates throughout to aid further study, this new edition of From Asgard to Valhalla: The Remarkable History of the Norse Myths is a vital resource for all students of Old Norse mythology.