'The Chronicle of Duke Erik' is a Swedish classic with resounding national status like the English Beowulf or Finnish Kalevala. Here, at last, it is made available to a wider international readership in an English version. Written in the fourteenth century, it is a fascinating tale with many levels of meaning, reflecting the ideals of politics and aesthetics typical of the Age of Chivalry. The narrator describes real characters and power struggles in medieval Sweden and seems anxious to let his version of events be heard. The translators' rendition of his resolute vocabulary and the pronounced rhythm of the original is intelligent and sensitive. The linguistic traits of form, assonance, and rhyme are skilfully reproduced. The rhyming verses are accompanied by a prose version and a commentary, which makes the text enjoyable reading for anyone with an interest in medieval texts and the classic works of chivalry. The Chronicle is a valuable source for the broad scholarly disciplines of comparative literature as well as poetics. It contains intriguing dichotomies between centre and periphery, male and female, and Christian and heathen, and offers a wealth of material for researchers of medieval, colonial, and political history.

About the Author
Erik Carlquist is a translator, a former employee of the Swedish Royal Library, and a contributor to the Swedish National Encyclopedia.

Peter C. Hogg is a translator, a contributor to special projects at the British Library, and the former head of the Scandinavian Section there.

Eva OEsterberg is a professor emerita in history at Lund University in Sweden and the former vice president of the International Committee of Historic Sciences. She is the author of Friendship and Love, Ethics and Politics: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern History.


Book Information
ISBN 9789185509577
Author Erik Calquist
Format Hardback
Page Count 264
Imprint Nordic Academic Press
Publisher Nordic Academic Press