Many governments and universities have pursued excellence by emulating world-class models and relying on international ranking schemes for validation and ideas for improvement. Others have relied on traditional notions of quality and research productivity. These approaches rely on the accumulation of wealth and talent – strategies that are “rivalrous” limiting the opportunities of others to be as effective. Focusing on portraits of eight different institutions reveals other approaches to excellence, all of which rely on defining and pursuing a purpose.

William Morris’s ‘greatest single inspiration’ was said to be the language and literature of medieval Iceland. After a brief survey of the origins and scope of Old Norse literary texts, this piece works through the considerable volume of translations of Old Norse saga literature which Morris made along with his Icelandic collaborator Eiríkur Magnússon, and considers why, after a ten-year period of astonishing productivity, his interest seems to have cooled. Morris’s knowledge of Old Norse literature and traditions is detailed, his translation methods are analysed, and the style and lexis of his controversially archaizing translations described, with special reference to Eiríkur’s experiences of working with him. Morris also translated Old Norse eddic verse, and many of the prose sagas he translated contain skaldic stanzas in the elaborate and unique dróttkvætt, or court, metre. The piece concludes with an assessment of these poetic translations, which are often overlooked, and the particular metrical and lexical challenges the originals present.

The Introduction describes the distinctive character of Old Norse-Icelandic literature, arguing that in range, quality and originality this body of literature rivals anything produced elsewhere in the Middle Ages. Highlighting the enduring importance, influence and popularity of this unique corpus of literature, it sets out the rationale for a volume providing a comprehensive account of its history and development. It then outlines the reasons for organizing the chapters of this volume primarily by the time and place of their texts’ setting, rather than any putative order of composition, in order to emphasize the fundamental intertextuality of Old Norse-Icelandic literary genres and the diversity of genre, style and worldview which these texts encompass. After this, the contents and approach of each section of the History are introduced in turn.

This chapter provides a chronological review of critical responses to Old Norse-Icelandic literature. The ‘book-prose vs free-prose’ debate is the starting-point for this overview, which then focuses on modern scholarship on sagas. The approach of the Icelandic school is discussed, followed by consideration of theoretical issues such as orality, structuralism, anthropological methods and the influence of non-Icelandic literary forms. Next come post-structuralism and narratology. The diversity of theoretical approaches which grew up towards the end of the twentieth century is documented, including post-colonialism and polysystem theory. Long-held generic distinctions are reviewed, and the development of gender studies with regard to Old Norse is described. Recent developments in the study of orality in prose and poetry are discussed, as are theoretical topics such as memory studies and the role of the paranormal. The chapter concludes with an account of the diversity of critical approaches to Old Norse-Icelandic literature and explains the need to employ integrated theories bringing in research from a number of disciplines, including archaeology, psychoanalysis and sociology.