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Elements of Superstition in the Icelandic Family Sagas
ELEMENTS OF SUPERSTITION IN THE ICELANDIC FAMILY SAGAS by George J. Houser 1 ~ 1 l J o Elements of Superstition in the Ieelandie Family Sagas by George J. Houser A thesis submitted to the Faeulty of Graduate Studies and Researeh in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. Department of English, MeGill University, Montreal. o August, 1966. ; (ê) George. J. Houser 1967 ffiEFAOE The Icelandic family sagas were cammitted to vellum fram oral traditions during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Con- cerned primarily with actual persons and events from about A.D. 825 to the middle of the eleventh centur,r, they also embo~ tales of supranatural occurrences and accounts of superstitious beliefs and practices, an analysis of which is the subject of this essaye A discussion of superstition in the family sagas neces- sarily entails references to the ~thical and heroic sagas, the l:. sagas of the Norse kings, and the Eddic literature. The appended list of Icelandic MSS. and Engl1sh trans- lations has been extracted fran the bibliographies of classic Ice- / landic literature campiled by Heldor Hermannsson and published in various issues of Islandica between 1908 and 1920, with supplements , by Professor Hermannsson in 19~5 and 19;7, and by Johann S. Hanneuon in 1955 and 1957. (Full details of the pertinent isques will be found in the appended list or reference works cited). This list embracea all the family sagas which have been rendered into English, but it inc1udes only those ~thical and heroic sagas and those Eddas which are actually cited in the essay, or which have been pub1ished in English since the completion of the work of Professora Hermannsson and Hannesson and up to the year 1965, the lut year for which in- formation was available at the time of writing •. -
Speech Acts and Violence in the Sagas*
FREDERIC AMORY Speech Acts and Violence in the Sagas* “Tunga er hçfuôs bani” (“The tongue is the death of the head”) Old Icelandic proverb The American sociolinguist William Labov, who has been collecting and studying anecdotal narratives of street life among gangs of black youths in Harlem and the Philadelphia slums, also published a short paper (Labov, 1981) on the interaction of verbal behavior and violence in the experiences of white informants of his from other areas. As I have pointed out once before (Amory, 1980), but without denting the surface of Old Norse narrato- logy,1 both the materials and the methods of Labov are highly relevant to the Icelandic sagas and their folk narratives. In this paper Labov has addressed himself to the very contemporary social problem of “senseless violence” in American life, in the hopes of pinning down wherever he can some of the verbal clues to its psychological causes in the story-telling of his white informants - above all, in any of the spoken words between them and their assailants that might have led to blows. Such an approach to violent actions through narrative and dialogue would miss of its mark were the words that led to blows not “loaded”, i.e., possessed of the social or psychological force to make certain things happen under appropriate conditions. Words that “do things” this way are in the category of speech acts,2 and Labov’s paper draws * This paper, of which a lecture version was read to various university audiences in Scandinavia, Germany, and Switzerland during the first three months of 1989, has benefited by many comments and criticisms from fellow Scandinavianists such as John Lindow, Robert Cook, Anne Heinrichs, Donald Tuckwiller, John E. -
Individuals, Communities, and Peacemaking in the Íslendingasögur
(Not) Everything Ends in Tears: Individuals, Communities, and Peacemaking in the Íslendingasögur by Kyle Hughes, B.A., M.Phil PhD Diss. School of English Trinity College Dublin Supervisor: Dr. Helen Conrad O'Briain Submitted to Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin March 2017 Declaration I declare that this thesis has not been submitted as an exercise for a degree at this or any other university and it is entirely my own work. I agree to deposit this thesis in the University’s open access institutional repository or allow the Library to do so on my behalf, subject to Irish Copyright Legislation and Trinity College Library conditions of use and acknowledgement. Name_____________________________________________ Date_____________________________________________ i Summary The íslendingasögur, or Icelandic family sagas, represent a deeply introspective cultural endeavour, the exploration of a nation of strong-willed, independent, and occasionally destructive men and women as they attempted to navigate their complex society in the face of uncertainty and hardship. In a society initially devoid of central authority, the Commonwealth's ability to not only survive, but adapt over nearly four centuries, fascinated the sagamen and their audiences as much as it fascinates scholars and readers today. Focused on feud, its utility in preserving overall order balanced against its destructive potential, the íslendingasögur raise and explore difficult questions regarding the relationship between individual and community, and of power and compromise. This study begins by considering the realities of law and arbitration within the independent Commonwealth, in the context of the intense competitive pressure among goðar and large farmers both during the Commonwealth period and in the early days of Norwegian rule. -
Nítíða Saga in Late Medieval and Early Modern Iceland Sheryl Elizabe
i Transforming Popular Romance on the Edge of the World: Nítíða saga in Late Medieval and Early Modern Iceland Sheryl Elizabeth McDonald Werronen Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of English January 2013 ii The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. © 2013 The University of Leeds and Sheryl Elizabeth McDonald Werronen The right of Sheryl Elizabeth McDonald Werronen to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. iii Acknowledgements There are many people whose help and support has made it possible for me to see this PhD through to its end, and as many of these people will know, it has not been an easy project. I should first thank my family for their support and encouragement, and my two supervisors Alaric Hall and Catherine Batt, who have enthusiastically supported me through everything, from the devising of the research proposal to the final draft. Many thanks are also due to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), for awarding me an invaluable Doctoral Fellowship from 2011 through 2013, and to the Viking Society for Northern Research for awarding me a grant to make a research trip to Iceland in August 2011. -
Saga-Book 2003 Final.P65
SAGA-BOOK VOL. XXVII VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN RESEARCH UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON 2003 ISSN: 0305-9219 Printed by Short Run Press Limited, Exeter CONTENTS TROUBLESOME CHILDREN IN THE SAGAS OF ICELANDERS. Ármann Jakobsson ......................................................................................... 5 LOF EN EIGI HÁÐ? THE RIDDLE OF GRETTIS SAGA VERSE 14. Russell Poole ................................................................................................ 25 WHATEVER HAPPENED TO YORK VIKING POETRY? MEMORY, TRADITION AND THE TRANSMISSION OF SKALDIC VERSE. Matthew Townend ............... 48 HERMANN PÁLSSON .............................................................................. 91 REVIEWS ORDBOG OVER DET NORRØNE PROSASPROG. A DICTIONARY OF OLD NORSE PROSE. 2: BANDA. Edited by James E. Knirk, Helle Degnbol, Bent Chr. Jacobsen, Eva Rode, Christopher Sanders, Þorbjörg Helga- dóttir; ONP 12: NØGLE // KEY. (Ian McDougall) ............................. 94 NORSKE DIPLOM 13011310. Edited by Erik Simensen. (Else Mundal) 98 RUNES AND GERMANIC LINGUISTICS. By Elmer H. Antonsen. (Michael Barnes) ............................................................................................. 100 CORPUS OF ANGLO-SAXON STONE SCULPTURE. VI: NORTHERN YORKSHIRE. By James Lang. (James Graham-Campbell) ....................................... 104 HISTORIA NORWEGIE. Edited by Inger Ekrem and Lars Boje Mortensen. Translated by Peter Fisher. (Carl Phelpstead) .............................. 105 SKRIFT OG HISTORIE HOS ORDERIK VITALIS. HISTORIOGRAFI -
The Matter of This Thesis Is Manliness and Its Challenge in Old Norse Literature
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 2 Níð and Manliness ............................................................................................................ 2 Legal Sources .................................................................................................................... 6 NÍÐ RESEARCH .................................................................................................................. 9 The Establishment of Níð as a Scholarly Issue .............................................................. 9 Erik Noreen: Níð and Ergi ........................................................................................... 9 Bo Almqvist ................................................................................................................. 14 Folke Ström ................................................................................................................. 18 Towards a Functional Approach: Preben Meulengracht Sørensen .......................... 21 THE EXPERIMENT .......................................................................................................... 25 Speech Acts and Fiction ................................................................................................. 27 Performatives in Sagas – Thomas Bredsdorff ......................................................... 30 Níð, Performativity and Gender – Judith Butler’s Theory ........................................ 32 MASCULINE -
The Socio-Political Networks of Sitric Silkenbeard the Foreign Kings of Dublin – 980 to 1054
The Socio-Political Networks of Sitric Silkenbeard The Foreign Kings of Dublin – 980 to 1054 Kristen Mercier Master of Philosophy Thesis Viking and Medieval Norse Studies 30 ECTS Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies UNIVERSITETET I OSLO Faculty of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies HÁSKÓLI ÍSLANDS Spring 2017 The Socio-Political Networks of Sitric Silkenbeard The Foreign Kings of Dublin – 980 to 1054 Kristen Mercier Master of Philosophy Thesis in Viking and Medieval Norse Studies Supervisor: Professor Jón Viðar Sigurðsson, Universitetet i Oslo Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies UNIVERSITETET I OSLO Faculty of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies HÁSKÓLI ÍSLANDS Spring 2017 © Kristen Mercier 2017 The Socio-Political Networks of Sitric Silkenbeard: The Foreign Kings of Dublin 980-1054 Kristen Mercier http://www.duo.uio.no/ Printer: Reprosentralen, Universitetet i Oslo 2 Table of Contents Summary……………………………………………………………………………………...4 Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………...5 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………...6 0.1 Historiography…………………………………………………………………….7 0.2 Primary Sources…………………………………………………………………..11 Chapter 1: Network Building until the Battle of Clontarf 1.1 Dublin from 900 to 952…………………………………………………………...15 1.2 The many Alliances Óláfr cúarán….……………………………………………..18 1.3 Glúniairn & the early reign of Sitric Silkenbeard - 980-999……………………..26 1.4 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………...30 Chapter 2: Sitric ‘the Puppet’ Silkenbeard’s Networks in Action 2.1 Sitric’s socio-political -
Women, Masculine Performance, and the Anxieties of Men in Medieval Iceland
University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School March 2019 Weaponizing Ordinary Objects: Women, Masculine Performance, and the Anxieties of Men in Medieval Iceland Steven T. Dunn University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Medieval History Commons, Medieval Studies Commons, and the Scandinavian Studies Commons Scholar Commons Citation Dunn, Steven T., "Weaponizing Ordinary Objects: Women, Masculine Performance, and the Anxieties of Men in Medieval Iceland" (2019). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7781 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Weaponizing Ordinary Objects: Women, Masculine Performance, and the Anxieties of Men in Medieval Iceland by Steven T. Dunn A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of History College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Giovanna Benadusi, Ph.D. Jennifer Dukes-Knight, Ph.D. Michael Decker, Ph.D. Date of Approval: March 18, 2019 Keywords: Material Culture, Food, Clothing, Gender, Sagas Copyright © 2019, Steven T. Dunn Acknowledgments A historian’s questions about the past arise from their own experiences in the present, and so this thesis would not have been possible without the support and guidance that I have received from the professors surrounding me. The inspiration behind this thesis sprouted from an insightful discussion about stolen cheese from Njal’s Saga with Dr. -
Saga-Book XXIII.Pdf
SAGA-BOOK VOL. XXIII VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN RESEARCH UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON 1990–93 SAGA-BOOK OF THE VIKING SOCIETY Vol. XXIII 1990–1993 CONTENTS ARTICLES AND NOTES PAGE THE CONTEXT OF VO≈LUNDARKVI‹A. John McKinnell ................ 1 THE SUPERNATURAL IN NJÁLS SAGA: A NARRATOLOGICAL APPROACH. Rory McTurk ........................................................... 28 THE SILK-CLAD VARANGIAN: fiORLEIFUR REPP AND FÆREYINGA SAGA. Andrew Wawn ................................................................. 46 MIKIL SKYNSEMI ER AT RIFJA VANDLIGA fiAT UPP : A RESPONSE TO KLAUS VON SEE. Margaret Clunies Ross .................................. 73 THE BLOOD-EAGLE ONCE MORE: TWO NOTES. A. BLÓ‹ÖRN—AN OBSERVATION ON THE ORNITHOLOGICAL ASPECT. Bjarni Einarsson 80 B. ORNITHOLOGY AND THE INTERPRETATION OF SKALDIC VERSE. Roberta Frank .............................................................................. 81 SOME CONTEXTS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF OLD NORSE ORDER- ING LISTS. Elizabeth Jackson...................................................... 111 HÁVÁMAL AND SOURCES OUTSIDE SCANDINAVIA. Carolyne Larrington .................................................................................... 141 NÍ‹, ADULTERY AND FEUD IN BJARNAR SAGA HÍTDŒLAKAPPA. Alison Finlay ............................................................................... 158 EDITORS’ NOTE ............................................................................... 179 THE VIKING SOCIETY: A CENTENARY HISTORY. J. A. B. Townsend 180 THE SPIRIT OF 1892: SAGAS, SAGA-STEADS -
With a Particular Focus on Njáls Saga, Bandamanna Saga and Gunnlaugs
Volume 5: 2012-2013 ISSN: 2041-6776 School of English With a particular focus on Njáls saga, Bandamanna saga and Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu, consider what is presented as most effective in Icelandic saga literature, the legal system or feuding violence? Catherine Scale Feuds are arguably at the very heart of the plots which form the backbone of the Íslendingasögur (Sagas of Icelanders), and where there is feuding, the law is never far away.1 Both endeavour to achieve resolution, and their effectiveness in doing so will be contemplated in regard to Njáls saga, Bandamanna saga and Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu. During the Commonwealth period (c.930-1260), in which the sagas are set, Iceland was a society ‘without a king, [and] without any commonly held executive power’,2 and it existed with no such a central power for centuries.3 With a jurisdiction lacking central power, the responsibility for enforcing penalties fell to the people, and executions were left to the individual family to enact themselves. The absence of official prosecutors or executioners resulted in a society that was characterised by reciprocity and dependence between the chieftains and their followers. The drawbacks of such a legal system is of central concern in much of saga-writing. Each of the sagas that will be discussed, challenge some of the basic principles upon which society was founded; Bandamanna saga critiques the law and its susceptibility to corruption, Njáls saga questions the relationship between the law and feuding, and Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu addresses the value of duelling as an intermediary between violence and the law. -
Translations of Old Norse Prose 1950-2000
Translations Of Old Norse Prose 1950-2000 John Kennedy Charles Sturt University What follows is an attempt to list in chronological order the publications which in the half century 1950-2000 have provided new or previously unpublished English language translations of medieval prose texts written in what is often termed Old Norse. In most cases the original texts are sagas and flættir from Iceland, so the language might more accurately be described as Old Icelandic, but a few of the texts translated are possibly or probably of Norwegian origin, while Sey›arbrævi› stems from the Faroe Islands and Guta saga from Sweden. The listing records only the first publication of each translation, and does not include reprints of translations published before 1950. Recording reprints and new impressions would greatly have expanded the length of the list, often with details of little general interest. Only compositions that are unambiguously translations are included: works better regarded as retellings or summaries are omitted, though arguably there is in reality a continuum from close translations through free translations to paraphrases and modern retellings of old narratives. Brief passages of translation, such as often appear in works of literary criticism, history, or anthropology, are omitted, though a number of anthologies of extracts from Old Norse sources are included. The major bibliographical works documenting English translations of Old 198 11th International Saga Conference 199 Norse prose are undoubtedly Donald K. Fry’s Norse sagas translated into English: A bibliography (New York: AMS, 1980) and Paul Acker’s “Norse sagas translated into English: A supplement”, published in Scandinavian Studies 65 (1993): 66-102. -
Skaldic Poetics and the Making of the Sagas of Icelanders
Skaldic Poetics and the Making of the Sagas of Icelanders Gu5run Nordal u n iv er sit y of Iceland Arn i magnusson in stitu te 1 The writing of the First Grammatical Treatise signals an important stage in the development of textual culture in the North. The author’s reasons for the writing of the treatise are propounded in this often cited passage from the Prologue: til ^ess at hregra verSi at rita ok lesa sem nu tiSisk ok a ^essu landi b«Si lpg ok attvisi eSa ^ySingar helgar eSa sva ^au hin spaklegu frreSi er Ari Rorgilsson hefir a brekr sett af skynsamlegu viti ^a hefir ek ok ritat oss Islendingum stafrof . latinustpfum pllum ^eim er mer ^otti gegna til vars mals. In order that it may become easier to write and read, as is now customary in this country as well, both the laws and genealogies, or interpretations of sacred writings, or also that sagacious (historical) lore that Ari Porgilsson has recorded in books with such reasonable understanding, I have composed an alphabet for us Icelanders as well . of all those Latin letters that seemed to me to fit our language well.1 1. First Grammatical Treatise: Introduction, Texts, Notes, Translation, Vocabulary, and Facsimilies, ed. Hreinn Benediktsson, University of Iceland Publications in Linguistics i (Reykjavik: Institute of Nordic Linguistics, 1972), 208. 117 ii8 New Norse Studies This statement is significant for at least two reasons: it sets out a plan to adapt the Latin alphabet to the Icelandic language in order to regu late writing, and it lists examples of literary activity in Iceland in the period 112 5 -7 5 .