The Horizons of theatrology

The paper will focus primarily on the dramatic nature of the songs of Elder or Eddie Song. Eddic songs are one of the oldest surviving Old Norse lyrics that contain a lot of dramatic potential. We will point out their theatricality from the point of the view of dramatic plot, as well as the dramatic structure, just as we encounter a certain "Freytag model" in the genre of Old Norse sagas. We will summarize the researches that have been trying to prove the necessity for their performances in the theatre in recent years, as defined by Magnus Olsen, Bertha Phillpotts, Lars Lönnroth, Einar Haugen and, more recently, especially Terry Gunnell. The paper will also present surviving descriptions of ritual theatrical funerals or very specific rights of the actor that have been preserved in Old Norse Swedish codes. In conclusion, we briefly outline the further development of the Nordic drama, which drew its substance from the Old Norse mythological theme.