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Old Norse Mythology — Comparative Perspectives Old Norse Mythology— Comparative Perspectives Publications of the Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature No. 3 OLd NOrse MythOLOgy — COMParative PersPeCtives OLd NOrse MythOLOgy— COMParative PersPeCtives edited by Pernille hermann, stephen a. Mitchell, and Jens Peter schjødt with amber J. rose Published by THE MILMAN PARRY COLLECTION OF ORAL LITERATURE Harvard University Distributed by HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England 2017 Old Norse Mythology—Comparative Perspectives Published by The Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature, Harvard University Distributed by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England Copyright © 2017 The Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature All rights reserved The Ilex Foundation (ilexfoundation.org) and the Center for Hellenic Studies (chs.harvard.edu) provided generous fnancial and production support for the publication of this book. Editorial Team of the Milman Parry Collection Managing Editors: Stephen Mitchell and Gregory Nagy Executive Editors: Casey Dué and David Elmer Production Team of the Center for Hellenic Studies Production Manager for Publications: Jill Curry Robbins Web Producer: Noel Spencer Cover Design: Joni Godlove Production: Kristin Murphy Romano Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Hermann, Pernille, editor. Title: Old Norse mythology--comparative perspectives / edited by Pernille Hermann, Stephen A. Mitchell, Jens Peter Schjødt, with Amber J. Rose. Description: Cambridge, MA : Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature, 2017. | Series: Publications of the Milman Parry collection of oral literature ; no. 3 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifers: LCCN 2017030125 | ISBN 9780674975699 (alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Mythology, Norse. | Scandinavia--Religion--History. Classifcation: LCC BL860 .O55 2017 | DDC 293/.13--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017030125 Table of Contents Series Foreword .................................................... vii by David Elmer, Casey Dué, Gregory Nagy, and Stephen Mitchell Foreword ......................................................... ix by Joseph Harris Preface: Situating Old Norse Mythology in Comparative Contexts ......... xiii by Pernille Hermann, Stephen Mitchell, and Jens Peter Schjødt Acknowledgements ................................................ xix Part One. THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL COMPARISONS JENS PETER SCHJØDT Pre-Christian Religions of the North and the Need for Comparativism: Refections on Why, How, and with What We Can Compare ................................ 3 PERNILLE HERMANN Methodological Challenges to the Study of Old Norse Myths: The Orality and Literacy Debate Reframed . 29 KATE HESLOP Framing the Hero: Medium and Metalepsis in Old Norse Heroic Narrative ............................... 53 JONAS WELLENDORF The Æsir and Their Idols . 89 Part Two. LOCAL AND NEIGHBORING TRADITIONS TERRY GUNNELL Blótgyðjur, Goðar, Mimi, Incest, and Wagons: Oral Memories of the Religion(s) of the Vanir . 113 TORUN ZACHRISSON Volund Was Here: A Myth Archaeologically Anchored in Viking Age Scania . 139 OLOF SUNDQVIST The Temple, the Tree, and the Well: A Topos or Cosmic Symbolism at Cultic Sites in Pre-Christian Northern Europe? ......................... 163 THOMAS A. DUBOIS The Mythic Sun: An Areal Perspective . 191 JOHN LINDOW Comparing Balto-Finnic and Nordic Mythologies . 223 Table of Contents Part Three. GLOBAL TRADITIONS RICHARD COLE Snorri and the Jews ........................... 243 MATHIAS NORDVIG Creation from Fire in Snorri’s Edda: The Tenets of a Vernacular Theory of Geothermal Activity in Old Norse Myth ....................................... 269 STEPHEN A. MITCHELL Óðinn, Charms, and Necromancy: Hávamál 157 in Its Nordic and European Contexts . 289 JOSEPH FALAKY NAGY Vermin Gone Bad in Medieval Scandinavian, Persian, and Irish Traditions .............................. 323 EMILY LYLE Baldr and Iraj: Murdered and Avenged . 341 MICHAEL WITZEL Ymir in India, China—and Beyond . 363 Index ........................................................... 381 vi Volund Was Here A Myth Archaeologically Anchored in Viking Age Scania Torun Zachrisson Stockholm University Abstract: A recently discovered object from the Viking Age shows a inged huan fgure. It has been interpreted as a representation of olund the sith and ore specifcall the version of the legend found in Þiðreks saga. The contet for the obect the center ppkra in Seden is copared ith the contet presented in Þiðreks saga. The article concludes that an audience in iking ge ppkra ould have felt at home with the winged man and the version in Þiðreks saga, but less failiar ith the social setting for olund presented in Vǫlundarkviða that represents a setting that ould have been ore easil understood further north in id-Seden. Introduction rchaeologists do not alas fnd it eas to discuss ths hen e do it is usuall based on pictorial evidence such as rune stones and picture stones. In the orld of the runic inscriptions fro the late iking ge (ca. 10001100 CE) in present- da Seden for instance e eet rr fshing for the Midgard serpent on the ltuna-stone in ppland ( 1161)1 and Sigurðr the dragon slayer on the runic rock carving at asund and on the k-stone in Sderanland (S 101 and 327) and on other rune stones fro northern ppland and strikland: Drvle ( 1163) ittinge ( 1175) sterfrnebo (s 2) rsunda (s 9) and Ockelbo 1 Modern naes are used after aulkes translation of the Prose Edda and Carolne Larringtons translation of the Poetic Edda. hen referring to Old Icelandic Vǫlundr Lo eran Welent, High German Wieland Old Noregian Velent the odern English for olund is used for all of the (the dierent naes are discussed in Nedoa 2006 Insle 2006 Marold 2012: 236). Torun Zachrisson (s 19). iarr ith his thick shoe is depicted on the rune stone fro Ledberg in stergtland (g 181) and on the sterlung stone fro Sderanland e see unnar in the snake pit (S 40).2 The otlandic picture stones are faous for their rich pictorial orld here aong others e eet inn ounted on Sleipnir on stone I fro Tngvide in lskog (110 Lindvist 19411942: fg. 137) and olund in his birds guise on stone III fro rdre (Lindvist 19411942: fg. 139). arious archaeological obects have also been interpreted as depicting gods ho have either been identifed b their attributes or through a certain scene central to a th. gold bracteate fro ca. 500 CE discovered at Trollhttan stergtland Seden shos Tr putting his hand in the olf enrirs outh (berg 1942 Oenstierna 1956 boe and llstr 2013: 155) and another depicts the scene here Baldr is being killed b the tig of istletoe (Hauck 1970: 184). inn has been identifed on the plates fro the helets in the boat burials at endel (Stolpe and rne 1912: pl. 5 6) and on the plates used for producing this tpe of helet fro the late sith and earl seventh centuries at Torslunda on land (rrhenius and rei 1992). The ost renoned helet ith fgural plates of this tpe as discovered in the Sutton Hoo boat burial fro East nglia. That helet alludes to inn: it as deliberatel constructed so that one eebro had gold foils behind the red garnets hich ade the bro reect the light and glow, while the other brow, without gold foil, remained dark, giving the ipression of a one-eed god (cf. Price and Mortier 2014). The iking ge pendant fro ska in stergtland that shos a pregnant feale ith rich dress and eelr has been interpreted as rea ith her neck- lace Brsingaen (rrhenius 1969) hereas the ithphallic brone statuette fro Lunda in Sderanland has been interpreted as the god of fertilit rer (Salin 1913). lthough these identifcations have engendered discussion and critiue (e.g. Price 2006) the are accepted b ost scholars. s a hole ost of the aterial representations of divine fgures that appear during the late Iron ge (5501050 CE) can be identifed fro Old Norse ritten sources but this is seldo the case for representations dated earlier than that (ndrn 2014: 187). In this article I ill discuss a recentl discovered obect that shos a inged huan fgure. It has been interpreted as a representation of olund the sith and ore specifcall the version of the legend found in Þiðreks saga. I ill copare the contetppkra Seden here the obect as discovered ith the contet presented in Þiðreks saga. M conclusion is that an audience in iking ge ppkra ould have felt at hoe ith the inged an and the version in Þiðreks saga, whereas for an audience further north in Scandinavia, 2 or the identifcation of the rune stones entioned above see Sanordisk runtetdatabas. 140 Volund Was Here such as id-Seden forer Sv the social setting for olund presented in Vǫlundarkviða ould have been ore failiar. The object In Septeber 2011 a highl interesting obect turned up during the research ecavation of an Iron ge settleent in ppkra in southernost Seden. The fnd and the obect ere described and analed b Michaela Helbrecht in an article in the antiuarian ournal Fornvnnen (2012). The obect is 7.5 centie- ters long 4.5 centieters ide and eighs 52.6 gras. It is a piece of openork in high relief ade out of a gilded copper allo. Three iron rivets on the back- side show that it was going to be mounted onto something, but since the object shos no signs of ear e can conclude that this never happened. It is gilded on all sides including the reverse hich is unusual and it is thus a costl piece of ork. It is slightl bent in the iddle and it has been suggested that it ight be a scabbard-chape or -ftting (Helbrecht 2012: 171). This hoever sees unlikel since it is too heav for that. The obect is shon in birds ee vie: e see a huan intertined ith a pair of ingsa i of a huan bod and a ing device. It portras a inged an dressed in aror and boots bearded and possibl earing a helet. His Figure 1. The mount from Uppåkra, Sweden. Photo by Bengt Almgren, Lund University Historical Museum. 141 Torun Zachrisson arms are connected to the wings and the feathered tail through a shield-like dotted structure in the iddle. This tpe of ring-chain otif is coon in the Borre stle (ilson 1995: 8889) therefore the obect likel dates to the id- iking ge 9501000 CE (Helbrecht 2012: 175).
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