“After brief summaries of early Norwegian history, Snorri Sturluson’s career, and previous studies of Heimskringla , the core of this book is a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the text. It is normally treated as a collection of sagas about Norwegian kings, but there is no evidence that Snorri planned such an arrangement. Indeed, in his preface Snorri described the book as an account of ‘chieftains who had dominium in the North and were speakers of the Danish tongue, ‘ that is, not only kings but others ‘of exalted lineage.’ Some of these chieftains and their kin figure more prominently and are judged more favourably by Snorri than most kings. Moreover, most of the conflicts described by Snorri were not between individuals but involved their families and adherents, including women who often have important and active roles, and sometimes apparently express Snorri’s own views. The main conclusion of this study is that Snorri — who was himself a chieftain ( go i) — wrote Heimskringla during the reign of Hakon Hakonsson (1217-1263) to criticize the development of the central power of king and church at the expense of the traditional authority of chieftains. A comparison with Gesta Danorum by Snorri’s Danish contemporary Saxo Grammaticus, shows that they were both masters of the art of ambiguity. “

“This book catalogues the Getty Museum’s fine collection of forty-five Italian ceramic objects spanning four hundred years, including a pair of eighteenth-century candlesticks representing mythological scenes, a tabletop with hunting scenes, and, from the 1790s, the beautifully modeled and painted Saint Joseph with the Christ Child. Containing the most recent scientific, historical, and iconographic information about the Museum’s holdings, Italian Ceramics offers a wealth of new information about the Getty Museum’s superb collection of Italian ceramic art.”

Elizabeth Simpson and Krysia Spirydowicz. Gordion : Ahsap Eserlier : Wood Furniture. Gordion Furniture Project 1999 Softcover. Like New Unused Quarto 172 pp

“Harris traces the development of the Greeks’ ideas about the physiological function of the heart from the earliest writings 9in 5th century BC) by Alcmaeom of Croton, a pupil of Pythagoras who placed the seat of consciousness in the brain and, in his theory of unbalance of opposite qualities, offered the first rational explanation of disease, to the sphymology of Galen (AD 129-199/216).”