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Matveeva, Elizaveta (2016) Reconsidering the Tradition: the Odinic Hero As Saga Protagonist. Phd Thesis, University of Nottingha

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Matveeva, Elizaveta (2016) Reconsidering the Tradition: the Odinic Hero As Saga Protagonist. Phd Thesis, University of Nottingha RECONSIDERING THE TRADITION: THE ODINIC HERO AS SAGA PROTAGONIST Elizaveta Matveeva, MA Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy OCTOBER 2015 1 AСKNOWLEDGEMENTS A number of people greatly supported me throughout the years of my work on this dissertation. First and foremost, I would never have been able to make it this far without the love and support of my husband Mikhail, who had always given me not only comfort and encouragement, but also constructive criticism and hours of proofreading. My warmest gratitude goes to my supervisors Prof Judith Jesch and Dr Paul Cavill who made this research possible by being unbelievably helpful, patient and generous with their time. It is Judith who introduced me to Medieval Studies as an academic field and guided and supported me ever since, helping me to get my direction but always encouraging independent choice. Throughout my first year at the University of Nottingham, both Judith and Dr Christina Lee allowed me to participate in their seminars for postgraduate students, helping my transition to the field of Old Norse studies and giving me some of the best academic classes I have ever had. My obligation to individual lecturers and colleagues extends to the University of Nottingham as an institution that funded my study and conference trips with Vice- Chancellor's Scholarship for Research Excellence, Christine Fell Award and Graduate School Travel Prize. I have also received support from the Viking Society for Northern Research and AHRC that allowed my participation in the Orkney Viking Heritage Project. Finally, Fund Soros’s Global Supplementary Grant Program covered my living expenses for two years, allowing me to focus on my research. As will be clear from this dissertation, it has been inspired by the work of Jens Peter Schjødt, with whom I have had illuminating discussions at the Fifteenth and Sixteenth International Saga Conferences. These have, among other things, helped me to formulate the exact theme of this thesis and find my scholarly point of view. I would like to especially thank Jens Peter for the hypotheses that this thesis argues against. I started my PhD course as an admiring reader of Initiation between Two Worlds and I am aiming to finish it as someone who starts a dialogue with this important book; this transformation is something of a great value to me. Last but not least, my warm regards go to my family and friends back in Russia, whom I have always missed despite the great and challenging time I have had during my PhD course at the University of Nottingham. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1. Aims of the dissertation and its place in scholarly discussion 6 2. Methodology 9 3. Structure 11 4. Note on the translations 12 5. Note on the forms and variants of proper nouns Chapter 1: Previous scholarship and the Odinic hero complex 1. The Odinic hero theme in scholarship 13 2. The Odinic hero complex 36 Chapter 2: 1. Introduction 42 2. Overview of the scholarship 44 3. ’s references to Óðinn and their significance for the 52 narrative 4. Presumably Odinic motifs in 66 5. Conclusion: 's Odinic imagery in the light of its sources 76 Chapter 3: Hró f kr k 1. Use of the Odinic hero theme in Hró fs saga kraka 78 2. Hró f kr k ’s origin 81 3. Genre and subject matter 83 4. The saga’s structure and the development of the Odinic theme 81 5. Initiation structures in Svipd þáttr and v r þáttr 95 6. Hrólfr’s champions as the ‘twelve berserkir’ 97 7. Conclusion 101 Chapter 4: Há f ok há f rekk 1. Há f ok há f rekk ’s place in the discussion 104 2. Structure of Há f ok há f rekk 106 3. Characters and their functions 107 4. The motifs of fire ordeal and fire funeral 108 5. The Odinic theme in Há f ok há f rekk 115 6. The protagonist and the nature of conflict 118 7. Conclusion 120 3 Chapter 5: The Sámsey complex 1. Definition of the Battle of Sámsey complex 124 2. The choice of material 125 3. The Battle of Sámsey complex in Old Norse-Icelandic literature 126 4. Parallels between the Battle of Sámsey complex and Skuldarbardagi 128 5. Óðinn and Sámsey 134 6. he death of Ingibj rg 136 7. Conclusion Chapter 6: Gautreks saga 1. Interpretation of the Odinic theme in Gautreks saga 139 2. The Odinic hero complex in ík r þáttr 140 3. Óðinn and Þórr’s connection to Starkaðr 145 4. Odinic hero elements in the image of Starkaðr in ík r þáttr 154 5. The afterlife of some motifs in the Víkarr narrative 156 6. Conclusion 161 Chapter 7: The Odinic hero in learned Latin tradition 1. Methodological approach to non-saga texts featuring the Odinic hero 164 complex 2. Hadingus as an Odinic hero 167 3. The fornaldarsaga background of Siward of Northumbria 177 4. Conclusion on the Latin sources 195 General conclusion 196 Bibliography 201 4 LIST OF BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ABBREVIATIONS The following texts are referred to extensively in this dissertation, which suggests their abbreviated use. Quotations from them refer to the following editions with page numbers in brackets, except for the first time a text is referenced when full bibliographical description is given. Destiny Georges Dumézil, The Destiny of the Warrior, trans. by Alf Hiltebeitel (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970). Edd. Edd kvæ i, ed. Jónas Kristjánsson and Vésteinn Ólason, Íslenzk fornrit: Eddukvæði, II vols (Reykjavík: Hið Íslenzka fornritafélag, 2014). GD Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum, ed. Karsten Friis-Jensen, 2 vols (Copenhagen: Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab & Gads Forlag, 2005). GD Fisher Saxo Grammaticus, The History of the Danes: Books I-IX, ed. Hilda Ellis Davidson, trans. Peter Fisher (Cambridge: D.S.Brewer, 1996). Herv. Hervarar saga / Hei rek : S Hei rek ko i vitra (The saga of King Heidrek the Wise), ed. and trans. Christopher Tolkien (London: Thomas Nelson and sons Ltd, 1960). HLD Axel Olrik, The Heroic Legends of Denmark, trans. by Lee M. Hollander (New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1919). HSH Há f ok Há f rekk , ed. A. Le Roy Andrews, Altnordische Saga-Bibliothek (Halle: Verlag von Max Niemeyer, 1909). HSK Hró f Kr k o j rk rím r, ed. Finnur Jónsson, Samfund til udgivelse af gammel nordisk litteratur, 32 (Copenhagen: Møller, 1904). 5 Initiation Jens Peter Schjødt, Initiation between Two Worlds: Structure and Symbolism in Pre-Christian Scandinavian Religion (Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark, 2008). ǪOS Ǫrvar-Odds saga, ed. R.C.Boer (Leiden: E.J.Brill, 1888). Stakes Georges Dumézil, The Stakes of the Warrior, ed. Jaan Puhvel and David Weeks (Berkeley and Los Angeles: UC Press, 1983). VS V lsunga saga: The Saga of the Volsungs, ed. R.G.Flinch (London: Nelson, 1965). 6 INTRODUCTION 1. AIMS OF THE DISSERTATION AND ITS PLACE IN SCHOLARLY DISCUSSION The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate and reconceive the scholarly understanding of one of Óðinn’s aspects — Óðinn as a patron to a mortal hero figure. This theme runs through a number of Old Icelandic and continental Scandinavian texts, but it is most widely represented in the fornaldarsaga genre. One of the most important pre- Christian Scandinavian deities, Óðinn has received an enormous amount of scholarly attention throughout the history Old Norse studies, and the Odinic hero theme has been often referred to for the purposes of scholarly discussion. The precise nature of Óðinn’s connection to hero figures, however, has been surprisingly rarely considered in detail. The few attempts of such analysis — most importantly, Georges Dumézil’s work — have as much shed light on the material as they created pressing methodological problems, especially when the ideas of mythological criticism were being adapted to the constantly developing, increasingly more cross-disciplinary studies of Old Norse-Icelandic literature and mythology. How the sagas in general interpret earlier mythological material, in particular material related to Óðinn, has been an important research trend of the last few years, with two staples in Annette Lassen’s Odi på kri te t per me t: En teksthistorisk studie and Merill Kaplan’s Thou Fearful Guest: Addressing the past in four tales in Flateyj rbók. Now that to a researcher are available both Lassen’s systematic overlook of sources on Óðinn and Kaplan’s discussion of the plot about Óðinn visiting a Christian king’s court, a study of the typical fornaldarsaga Óðinn, the patron and betrayer of heroes, is a logical continuation of the scholarly discussion that this dissertation is aiming to make. F teyj rbók gives a picture of Óðinn who, together with the pagan past that he embodies, suffers defeat before a Christian king. Most fornaldars gur are believed to be considerably later than F teyj rbók, and they tend to give the picture of an all-powerful, triumphant Óðinn, more often than not resented and even opposed by the protagonist, but always easily getting the upper hand. The forn ld, according to narratives like Gautreks saga and Hró f kr k , is definitely Óðinn’s time, and this leaves a distinctive stamp on the greatest figures of 7 the legendary past, such as Hrólfr kraki and Starkaðr. One could argue that this picture of Óðinn, different from that in texts like Ó áf he and developed by a different genre, is a part of a larger gnoseological process of understanding the past and coming to terms with it. To quote Merill Kaplan, ‘the original consumers of [the þættir in Flateyj rbók], inhabitants of the High Middle Ages, found in them a glimpse of both the age of pagan heroes and the time of the missionary kings.
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