Description: This illustration is from a retelling of Norse mythology in the
first edition of Annie
Keary's The Heroes of Asgard and the Giants of Jotunheim:
Or, the Week and Its Story (1857) illustrated by
Charles
Altamont
Dolye. Keary joined the
details of the myths concerning Freyja´s necklace
Brísingamen and the wanderings of Freyja by
inventing a curse attached to the necklace to explain why
Freyja’s husband, Óðr, can no longer be with her. In Doyle´s
illustration, Freyja is about to enter the wood known as
Járnviðr when she encounters the witch who
lives there. The birds and wolves in the forest are the witch´s
children.
Source: The Heroes of Asgard and the Giants of Jötunheim,
Or, The Week and Its Story
Folio or Page: 150
Medium: not known
Date: 1857
Dimensions (mm): 80 x 127
Provenance:
This illustration is from The
Heroes of Asgard in the collection of the National and
University Library of Iceland. Catalogue record: The heroes of
Asgard and the giants of Jötunheim : Or, The week and its story
Keary, Amie, 1825-1879 höfundur ; Keary, Eliza. London : David
Bogue, 1857Í hillu Lbs-Hbs Íslandssafn Almenn rit (Í 823 Kea)
Lánstími: Lestrarsalslán
Rights:
This illustration from The Heroes of Asgard
and the Giants of Jötunheim, Or, The Week and Its Story is in
the public domain.
Research notes, early print reviews, etc.:
The title page for the The Heroes of
Asgard and the Giants of Jötunheim, Or, The Week and Its Story does
not name an illustrator nor do the Contents pages indicate that the book
contains illustrations. Ken Baitsholts notes that the illustrator is credited as
Charles Altamont Doyle in the Publishers' Circular for 1857, i.e., David Bogue. P. A. Baer notes
that David Bogue's Annual Catalogue is included in the
The Heroes of Asgard's back matter and that the
entry for The Heroes of Asgard and the Giants of
Jotunheim cites C. Doyle as the book's illustrator in the listings
for "Juvenille Works" (24).
Early Print review of the first edition of The Heroes of Asgard: "The Scandinavian mythology
converted into a tale told for the edification of children, after the manner of
books that have taught the Greek and Roman mythology. But no genius can invest
the gods of Asgard with the charms of the gods of Oympus. They have none of the
grace or dignity. But the authoress has made the best of an unattractive theme."
Web. 27 July 2021. (The Critic 130)Full text of the Review.
Early Print review of the first edition of The Heroes of Asgard: Early
Print review of the first edition of The Heroes of Asgard: "The fables of the
Northern mythology are here reduced to a form adapted to the intelligence of
children. They have been cleverly set to an accompaniment of occasional
dialogue, lightening and relieving the narrative of giants' wars and of heroic
prowess achieved by dwellers in the immortal city. The book is a good specimen
of learning made easy by being made pleasant." (The Athenaeum 470) Web. 27 July
2021. Web. 27 July 2021. (470) Full text of the Review.
Bibliography:
Editions
Keary,
Annie, and
Liza
Keary. The Heroes of Asgard
and the Giants of Jotunheim: Or, the Week and Its Story.
London: Fleet Street: David
Bogue, 1857. Print.
―. The
Heroes of Asgard: Tales from Scandinavian Mythology.
London: Macmillan and Co.
Limited, 1908.
Secondary Sources
Cleasby, Richard
and
Vigfússon
Guðbrandur
. An Icelandic-English Dictionary.
Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1957.
Doyle,
Charles Altamont. The Doyle Diary: The Last Great Conan Doyle Mystery : with a
Holmesian Investigation into the Strange and Curious Case of Charles
Altamont Doyle. New York:
Paddington Press, 1978.
Print.
Review of The Heroes of Asgard, by Annie Keary and Liza
Keary.
The Athenaeum, 11 Apr. 1857:
470. Web. 27 July 2021.
Review of The Heroes of Asgard, by Annie Keary, and Liza
Keary. The Critic, 16 Mar.
1857: 130. Web July 27,
2021.
Brísingamen (non.)
The name of the necklace that the dwarves gave to Freyja when she
visited their workshop in a cave. The story is only occurs in Sörla þáttr in the 14-century Flateyjarbók manuscript.
Gods and Goddesses
Freyja (non.)
A fertility goddess and one of the Vanir. She is the daughter of
Njörðr and the twin sister of Freyr.
Óðr (non.) Odur (en.)
Freya's husband. May be a hypostasis of Odin.
Mythological Places
Járnviðr (non.) Iron Wood (en.)
A wood located to the east of Miðgarðr according to Völuspá (40) and
Gylfaginning (12). A witch lives in the wood who has monsterous children
including a wolf that pursues the moon and will swallow it.
Nouns
Victorian (en.) The
Victorian era began with the reign of Queen Victoria and ended with her
death (June 20, 1837 – January 22, 1901).
Source Materials:
Heroes of Asgard (1857
ed.) (en.) The first edition of The Heroes of
Asgard was published in 1857 and was illustrated by Charles
Altamont Doyle.
Source Persons
Doyle, Charles
Altamont (en.)
b. March 25, 1832
d. October 19, 1938
Nationality: English
Occupation: civil servant, illustrator and watercolourist
Keary,
Annie (en.)
b. 3rd March 1825
d. 3rd March 1879
Nationality: English
Occupation: Novelist, poet, and childrens book writer.
Anna Maria Keary, known as Annie Keary, was an English novelist, poet,
and children's writer. Her sister Eliza Keary collaborated with her in
writing “The Heroes of Asgard” that was first published in 1857 and many
times thereafter.
