I am very excited to announce that I have signed with Amy Stapp of Wolfson Literary Agency!
Author: Kristyn J. Miller
I'm a copy writer, blogger and fiction author with a passion for Germanic literature and linguistics. I earned my degree from University of Redlands, with emphasis placed on Old English, German, and Icelandic epic literature. Big fan of beer. Casual collector of weapons and antique books.
Armchair Historians: 19th-Century Germany & the Schleswig-Holstein Question
In this podcast, I got to talk with Anne at Armchair Historians about something I haven't really discussed on my blog before: the Schleswig-Holstein wars and the rise of a cohesive German identity throughout the 19th century.
A Visit to Keldur, Iceland
Anyone familiar with Iceland has likely heard something about turf houses, the iconic grass-roofed houses that grace the countryside, carried over from insulation methods in medieval Norway. I wrote once before about Rútshellir, a famous old cave guarded by a turf-covered barn. But while the cave itself might be the oldest man-made residence in Iceland,… Continue reading A Visit to Keldur, Iceland
Northern Myths: Siegfried, Sigurd, and Beowulf
Check out my recent discussion with Luke and Dan over at Northern Myths. We cover the comparative myth of Siegfried/Sigurd, references to related legends in the Beowulf manuscript, and more.
Dragons and Sin in Medieval Germanic Literature
Dragon-like figures feature prominently in folklore from around the world. They often hold---or once held---special significance to their respective cultures. Chinese dragons historically symbolized good luck and imperial power, and were used in iconography surrounding the emperor. The founder of the Han dynasty went so far as to claim that his mother dreamt of a… Continue reading Dragons and Sin in Medieval Germanic Literature
Death of the Author: An Analysis of Wordsworth
Anyone who's studied the English canon has likely been exposed to the famous daffodils in "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud." William Wordsworth was undoubtedly passionate about the natural world in general--it featured prominently in his poetry, and, together with Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey, he was grouped rather disparagingly as one of the… Continue reading Death of the Author: An Analysis of Wordsworth
Dialects in Literature: A Look at Robert Burns
It's a song commonly played to ring in the New Year, bidding farewell to the old. Across the English-speaking world, it's used for graduations, for funerals, for any major transitional period in one's life. As a result, pretty much everyone is familiar with the tune. But growing up, I never knew anyone who was actually… Continue reading Dialects in Literature: A Look at Robert Burns
Keeping Up with Joe: Germanic Myth & Copywriting
Check out the Keeping Up with Joe podcast, run by fellow writer Joseph Anderson, for insight on myth, history, linguistics, and more.
History through Poems: Examining Beowulf
Epic poems have incredible staying power both as literary achievements and as historical resources. The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf is one of the foremost examples of this. Despite its mythological themes, the story offers historians a rare insight into Anglo-Saxon ideals of masculinity, heroism, and society. At the same time, it presents literary scholars with a… Continue reading History through Poems: Examining Beowulf
A Brief History of Fraktur
𝕻𝖔𝖕 𝖖𝖚𝖎𝖟: 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖎𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖓𝖆𝖒𝖊 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖋𝖔𝖓𝖙? At first glance, many folks in the English-speaking world would probably call it "Old English," but that name isn't really accurate—the Old English language predates this style by a few centuries, and the calligraphic hands used to write Old English were entirely different. Its real name… Continue reading A Brief History of Fraktur
