Icelandic Wonder Tale (Ævintýri)

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Romina Werth (University of Iceland)

Ed. by Ármann Jakobsson, University of Iceland
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.3.4: Icelandic Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Ármann Jakobsson (University of Iceland), Kjerstin Moody (Gustavus Adolphus College), Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London)

Dates

Date of occurrence c.500-

Places

Iceland (Location)

Genres and Modes

Fairy Tale

Resources

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The Icelandic term

ævintýri

(pl.

ævintýri

) carries various meanings. Derived from the Old French

aventure

, it initially referred to an unexpected event or love affair. Historically, the term was used to describe late medieval and post-medieval prose narratives with legendary and chivalric content, as well as medieval

exempla

. While in contemporary Icelandic the word

ævintýri

can mean

adventure

in general, it primarily denotes the category of folktales commonly known as

fairy tales

wonder tales

. This modern usage was first established in the nineteenth century by Jón Árnason (1819–1899), a librarian and collector of folktales and legends (Árnason 1954–1961, II, 297). In this article, the term

ævintýri

will be used exclusively to refer to wonder tales.

Around 1700,

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3674 words

Citation: Werth, Romina. "Icelandic Wonder Tale (Ævintýri)". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 July 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19683, accessed 31 October 2024.]

Icelandic Wonder Tale (Ævintýri)

Dates

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Genres and Modes

Resources

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