Influences of Pre-Christian Mythology and Christianity on Old Norse Poetry
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Infl uences of Pre-Christian Mythology and Christianity on Old Norse Poetry NORTHERN MEDIEVAL WORLD EDITORIAL BOARD Carolyne Larrington (Chair) St. John’s College, Oxford Oren Falk Cornell University Dawn Hadley University of Sheffi eld Jana Schulman Western Michigan University Jón Viðar Sigurðsson Universitetet i Oslo Medieval Institute Publications is a program of Th e Medieval Institute, College of Arts and Sciences WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY Infl uences of Pre-Christian Mythology and Christianity on Old Norse Poetry A Narrative Study of Vafþrúðnismál Andrew McGillivray Northern Medieval World MEDIEVAL INSTITUTE PUBLICATIONS Western Michigan University Kalamazoo Copyright © 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data are available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: 9781580443357 eISBN: 9781580443364 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or trans- mitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. Every effort has been made to obtain permission to use all copyrighted illustrations reproduced in this book. Nonetheless, whosoever believes to have rights to this material is advised to contact the publisher. Contents Abbreviations vii Acknowledgments ix 1. Vafþrúðnir Who? 1 2. Critical Contexts 25 3. At Home in Ásgarðr 53 4. Th e Guest Waits on the Floor 85 5. Sitting on the Giant’s Bench 111 6. Th e Odinic Attack 147 7. Looking to Alvíssmál 171 8. Closing Time 187 Bibliography 197 Index 213 Abbreviations Eddic poems Akv = Atlakviða Alv = Alvíssmál Am = Atlamál Bdr = Baldrs draumar Fjöl = Fjölsvinnsmál Fm = Fáfnismál Gg = Grógaldr Grm = Grímnismál Grp = Grípisspá Grt = Grottasöngr Háv = Hávamál Hdl = Hyndluljóð Hgát = Heiðreks gátur HHv = Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar Hrbl = Hárbarðsljóð Hym = Hymiskviða Lok = Lokasenna Rþ = Rígsþula Sg = Sigurðarkviða in skamma Skm = Skírnismál Vkv = Völundarkviða Vm = Vafþrúðnismál Vsp = Völuspá Þrk = Þrymskviða viii ABBREVIATIONS Manuscripts R = Codex Regius of eddic poetry – GKS 2365 4° A = AM 748 I a 4° H = Hauksbók – AM 544 4° U = Codex Upsaliensis – DG 11 4° R2 = Codex Regius of Snorra Edda – GKS 2367 4° W = Codex Wormianus – AM 242 fol. T = Codex Trajectinus – Traj 1374 Acknowledgments HIS BOOK BEGAN AS a doctoral thesis at the University of TIceland in the Faculty of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies (Íslensku- og menningardeild). I composed the thesis during 2012–14, and I am grateful for the funding which made this possible, provided by the Icelandic Centre for Research (Rannís) from their Icelandic Research fund. In its thesis form, the work constitutes a contribution to the research project Encounters with the Paranormal in Medieval Iceland. It was exciting and thought-provoking to be a member of this project, and I am grateful for the guidance of the project’s principal investigator, Ármann Jakobsson, and the stimulating and insightful environment cultivated among the project’s co-investigators. The thesis has now grown into the present book with generous support from the University of Winnipeg’s research fund, and I carried out additional research for the book during 2015–17 under the guid- ance of Jaqueline McLeod Rogers, Chair of the Department of Rhetoric, Writing, and Communications. Librarians in both Iceland and Manitoba have helped me greatly during the research process, and I would like to particularly acknowledge staff in the Inter-Library Loan Department at the University of Winnipeg, the Icelandic Collection at the University of Manitoba’s Elizabeth Dafoe Library, and the National Department (Íslandssafn) at the National and University Library of Iceland (Landsbókasafn). Many individuals deserve special thanks. My mentors, Jaqueline McLeod Rogers, Ármann Jakobsson, and Birna Bjarnadóttir, all continue to play an essential role in my development as a writer and a teacher. I am grateful to Tracy Whalen for encouraging me during the later stages of writing this book, and I am likewise thankful to Jason Hannan, Robert Byrnes, and Janice Freeman, all of whom placed trust in me at an important time. Annette Lassen and Gunnar Harðarson were exceptional guides for me during the writing of the thesis, and they, along with Gísli Sigurðsson x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS and Tim Machan, thoughtfully read earlier draft s of this book in its thesis form as members of my internal and external PhD examining committees, respectively. Th ese scholars all continue to inspire my academic work. My long-time colleague and close friend Christopher Crocker has generously supported me with many aspects related to this book, includ- ing reading a full draft of the thesis and sharing many conversations about the publishing process. Jade Chapman provided great assistance in pre- paring the present manuscript for publication. She not only read the fi rst two chapters of the book, but also helped me organize much of my current research planned for future publication. For the gracious sup- port shown to me during the composition of this book, I off er my warm thanks to the following people: Þórdís Edda Jóhannesdóttir, Kolfinna Jónatansdóttir, Sean Lawing, Miriam Mayburd, Gunnvör Karlsdóttir, Védís Ragnheiðardóttir, Yoav Tirosh, Arngrímur Vídalín, Helen Lepp Friesen, Matthew Flisfeder, Sheila Page, Karin Collins, Nadine LeGier, Ryan Johnson, Dustin Geeraert, and Gordon Beveridge. Furthermore, I extend gratitude to Shannon Cunningham, Acquisitions Editor for Medieval Institute Publications, for encouraging me to publish this work with the Northern Medieval World series, to the series editors, and to Sally Evans-Darby for her excellent copy-editing of the fi nal manuscript. I am eternally grateful to Angela and Oliver McGillivray for believ- ing in me and my work. I am solely responsible for errors that remain. Chapter One Vafþrúðnir Who? AFÞRÚÐNIR IS A GIANT, or more precisely a jötunn (plural: Vjötnar). He is a mythological character who is an opponent of Óðinn, an Old Norse god or áss (plural: æsir), in the poem called, in English, “Vafþrúðnir’s Sayings.” Th is book is an analysis which focuses on the poem’s pre-Christian and Christian infl uences, especially looking at layers of time or temporality in the poem itself and in context with compara- tive literary sources from the medieval period. Th e comparative sources are most oft en mythological texts and other eddic poems. The oldest version of the poem Vafþrúðnismál (Vm) survives in a vellum manuscript from ca. 1270, but the poem has older roots in the oral culture of medieval Iceland. Th e poem has a long and rich transmis- sion history, extending both back in time to the pre-literate age before its appearance in vellum and forward to its representation in modern edi- tions and translations of eddic poetry in the twenty-fi rst century. Besides its place in the Codex Regius manuscript of eddic poetry (GKS 2365 4°; R) and the fragmentary version found in AM 748 I a 4° (A), the poem was also incorporated into manuscripts of Snorra Edda during the medieval period and is furthermore found in many paper manuscripts composed in late medieval and post-Reformation Iceland. Snorra Edda is an important work that draws from eddic poetry, and largely from Vm, for its content and for that matter many quotations from eddic poems are found in it. It comprises four sections, the Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál, and, at the end, the Háttatal, and it is attributed to Snorri Sturluson in the version found in the Codex Upsaliensis (DG 11 4°; U), a manuscript from ca. 1300.1 The two other principal vellum manuscripts contain- ing Snorra Edda are the Codex Wormianus (AM 242 fol.; W) and the Codex Regius manuscript of Snorra Edda (GKS 2367 4°; R2).2 In order to 2 CHAPTER ONE interpret skaldic poetry, a thorough background in mythological knowl- edge was required, and as such Snorra Edda is a comprehensive work of Old Norse mythography.3 Along with eddic poems, Snorra Edda is an important work to consider when conducting an analysis of infl uences of pre-Christian mythology and Christianity on Old Norse poetry. A study of Vm is thus interesting not only for an interpretation of the poem’s narrative frame and its contents, although that is the primary focus of this book, but also for keen observation on how the text has been treated by successive generations of receivers and interpreters during seven full centuries, beginning with manuscript composition and transmission in medieval Iceland, and then, aft er the emergence of print, the creation of print editions of eddic poetry in Scandinavia and on mainland Europe.4 As can be expected, there has been a great deal of reception and criticism of eddic poetry generally since the emergence of print editions, and Vm specifi cally. This study intends to place the poem in a narrative context that focuses on the poem and the mythological texts to which it is most closely related. Introduction Vm is always found among other narratives, alongside whole poems or as sayings or individual quotations within larger narratives. Th e placement of fragments of the poem within the text of Gylfaginning illustrates how the works of Old Norse mythology have been confi gured together into a nar- rative cycle from a very early stage, for in Gylfaginning there are a number of poetic fragments from individual eddic poems brought together for the purpose of presenting a seemingly coherent pre-Christian belief system, although the presentation of the text is not pre-Christian at all, nor is its ethos. Th is can be seen by looking at how Gylfaginning is framed within Snorra Edda, coming aft er the overtly Christian Prologue. Our modern understanding of Old Norse mythology relies on a very small number of texts, which, although providing a great deal of information, do not completely or accurately represent what the people may have believed in the pre-Christian era in Iceland and other parts of the Nordic area.