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1882
Volume 20, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 1782-7183
  • E-ISSN: 2030-9902

Abstract

Abstract

This article argues that play is prioritized and placed centrally in the . It shows that this medieval text engages with play both on a metacommunicative level and in the stories it tells. It points out that the actual subject matter of the , skaldic poetry, is a serious mode of expression which contains several play-elements. The article draws on theories of play (Huizinga, Caillois, Sutton-Smith, Classen) and investigates how various definitions of play can help us to qualify and explain play as a complex and ambiguous phenomenon in a particular textual and historical setting.

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/content/journals/10.1484/J.VMS.5.142573
2024-01-01
2025-12-05

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References

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/content/journals/10.1484/J.VMS.5.142573
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): games; Old Norse; play; the Prose Edda, Gylfaginning, skaldic poetry
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