| Audun and the Polar Bear: Luck, Law, and Largesse in a Medieval Tale of Risky Business Contributor(s): Miller (Author) |
|
 |
ISBN: 9004168117 ISBN-13: 9789004168114 Publisher: Brill OUR PRICE: $152.00 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: July 2008 Annotation: Audun's Story tells of an Icelandic farmhand who buys a polar bear in Greenland and gives it to the Danish king. It is a subtle tale of complex social action worthy of the fine anthropological writing on gift-exchange; its treatment of face-to-face interaction a match for Erving Goffman. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Europe - Medieval - Literary Criticism | European - German |
| Dewey: 839.63 |
| LCCN: 2008014093 |
| Series: Medieval Law and Its Practice |
| Physical Information: 0.6" H x 6.3" W x 9.6" (0.90 lbs) 155 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - Medieval (500-1453) |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Audun's Story is the tale of an Icelandic farmhand who buys a polar bear in Greenland for no other reason than to give it to the Danish king, half a world away. It can justly be listed among the finest pieces of short fiction in world literature. Terse in the best saga style, it spins a story of complex competitive social action, revealing the cool wit and finely-calibrated reticence of its three main characters: Audun, Harald Hardradi, and King Svein. The tale should have much to engage legal and cultural historians, anthropologists, economists, philosophers, and students of literature. The story's treatment of gift-exchange is worthy of the fine anthropological and historical writing on gift-exchange; its treatment of face-to-face interaction a match for Erving Goffman. |