Books by William Ian Miller
Few of us spend much time thinking about courage, but we know it when we see it--or do we? Is it ... more Few of us spend much time thinking about courage, but we know it when we see it--or do we? Is it best displayed by marching into danger, making the charge, or by resisting, enduring without complaint? Is it physical or moral, or both? Is it fearless, or does it involve ...
'In an illuminating and darkly intelligent study, William Miller... ... more 'In an illuminating and darkly intelligent study, William Miller... has revealed... humiliation as the closet dominatrix she is, an emotion whose power to discipline us makes the world go round... Miller makes his pages blaze and roar... by throwing another handful of hollow ...
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 19... more The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 1990 by the University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 1990 Paperback edition 1996 Printed in the United States of America 99 98 97 96 5 4 3 2 Library of Congress ...
ISBN D-flQM7-lS32-7 Law and Literature in Medieval Iceland Ljosvetninga saga and Valla-Ljots saga... more ISBN D-flQM7-lS32-7 Law and Literature in Medieval Iceland Ljosvetninga saga and Valla-Ljots saga Theodore M. Andersson fcf William Ian Miller The two sagas here presented in transla-tion with commentary belong to a class of medieval Icelandic texts commonly called ...
Papers by William Ian Miller
Oxford University Press eBooks, Nov 19, 2020
This chapter provides a discussion of the messenger as the Ur-mediator, the go-between par excell... more This chapter provides a discussion of the messenger as the Ur-mediator, the go-between par excellence. He is often a double agent of sorts and cannot help but be a spy even against his will. The chapter deals with him both in his more sacred form as angels, Christ, and the prophets and in his most mundane form as a simple courier. It mostly draws on ancient Near Eastern materials with expansive reading of some biblical texts, from Ehud to messengers sent by Saul, David, and Joab. There are classical and medieval instances, as well as early modern examples. The deep issue is the importance of the ‘third party’ as he begins to emerge fully embodied from merely being an agent of a first and second party. There is an extended discussion of killing the messenger bearing evil tidings, and even not so evil tidings, and the work of intercessors between an angry Deity and sinful mankind.
for reading the entire manuscript and saving me from some, only some, of my usual excesses; to Ka... more for reading the entire manuscript and saving me from some, only some, of my usual excesses; to Kari Gade, Brian Simpson, Katja Škrubej, and Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir, for particular points of value. I wish too to thank the Carnegie Centenary Trust for an honorary professorship that funded a half year at the University of St. Andrews where the pleasures of conversation with the members of its sans pareil Department of Medieval History rekindled my interest in Norse matters, leading me to set aside, for the time being at least, forays into humiliation, pretense, disgust, courage, and body parts and getting me back instead to the texts I love best. I wish to dedicate this essay to my students, law-students at that, past, present, and still to come in my ever-shortening future.
Representations, 2007
This bear will need no introduction to those of you who are Old Norse guys. It is the bear from p... more This bear will need no introduction to those of you who are Old Norse guys. It is the bear from perhaps one of the two finest short stories ever told, Au unar *áttr vestfirzka, Audun's Story. 1 In that story Audun, a poor farmhand lodging at the farm of a wealthier kinsman, sells all his possessions, and, after providing for his mother's keep for three years, goes abroad with the three marks' worth of silver remaining to him. Audun's passage aboard ship was a gift in return for having helped a Norwegian merchant sell his wares to creditworthy customers. Audun ends up in Greenland, where he buys a polar bear giving for it everything he has. He and the polar bear take passage to Norway where Audun announces his intention to give the bear to King Svein of Denmark. Trouble is that King Harald har ra i of Norway, a tough customer if ever there was one, and King Svein are warring with each other. Harald asks Audun for the bear. Audun has the temerity or stupidity to say no to Harald three times before Harald, somewhat bemused and amused, allows Audun passage to Denmark. This misrepresents the subtlety of all the action and the intelligence of the characterizations and characters, but suffice it to say that Audun, after trial and tribulation, gets the bear to Svein, who rewards him magnificently. Svein offers him a high position at court, which Audun refuses (he says no twice to Svein's offers), but Svein sends him on his way with a ship laden with the finest of cargoes, a purse of silver, and an arm-ring. But with the greatest delicacy King Svein puts a condition on the gift of the arm-ring: 13
Mercer L. Rev., 1987
As will become quickly evident to the reader, my interests in the intersections of law and litera... more As will become quickly evident to the reader, my interests in the intersections of law and literature are practical, not theoretical. I try to use literary sources to write social history. I am thus not especially interested in what literature as literature can tell us about law, or what ...
Continuity and Change, 1988
Cet article réfute la thèse récente selon laquelle le ménage islandais du moyen âge ressortait, p... more Cet article réfute la thèse récente selon laquelle le ménage islandais du moyen âge ressortait, pour la typologie, à la famille nucléaire. Pour se documenter sur les types de ménage l'auteur a choisi parmi les textes des sagas et des documents légaux, seuls témoignages écrits de l'époque. La nature de ces témoignages demande des réserves quant aux conclusions, mais il faut bien constater la présence fréquente d'une variété de ménages complexes. Les données suggèrent une forte classe de gens de maison aux perspectives diverses. Le mariage entre eux n'est pas exclus, mais il est impossible d'en établir la fréquence. En effet leur grande mobilité créait des liens d'affection avec différents ménages. Enfin, l'auteur souligne que la typologie généralement admise de Laslett pourrait n'être d'aucune utilité pour décrire les diverses formes d'accomodation.
Incluye índice. Traducción de: The anatomy of disgust. Incluye bibliografía. En esta obra se expl... more Incluye índice. Traducción de: The anatomy of disgust. Incluye bibliografía. En esta obra se explora la naturaleza del asco y sus conexiones con los procesos básicos de la vida: comer, excretar, fornicar, deteriorarse y morir. El autor afirma que el asco y el ...
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Books by William Ian Miller
Papers by William Ian Miller