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A Troll, a Bird, and Mother of Kings Magic and Agency in Shapeshifting Origins and Perspectives: Queen Gunnhildur of Norway

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A Troll, a Bird, and Mother of Kings Magic and Agency in Shapeshifting Origins and Perspectives: Queen Gunnhildur of Norway Háskóli Íslands Hugvísindasvið Medieval Icelandic Studies A Troll, a Bird, and Mother of Kings Magic and agency in shapeshifting origins and perspectives: Queen Gunnhildur of Norway Ritgerð til M.A.-prófs í Medieval Icelandic Studies Cassandra Ruiz Kt.: 180195-4329 Leiðbeinandi: Sif Ríkharðsdóttir January 2020 Abstract The discussion of the Nordic saga corpus has focused mainly on the theoretical analysis of its narrative function, authorship, historical accuracies, and whether they can be viewed as historiographies or not. Until recently, scholars have paid little attention to gender studies and the study of otherness. However, cultural memory remains a pivotal field of study when it comes to sagas. In response, this thesis evaluates how narratives construct gender, otherness, and cultural memory by focusing on a singular character— Queen Gunnhildr. By focusing on family and kings’ sagas, we may gain a different understanding of the cultural views between Icelanders and Norwegians during this time. Nevertheless, it is important to also consider these character depictions to be literary borrowings from the other texts, if they are similar, or that they derive from independent and ultimately oral sources, if they are different. Therefore, I will analyze the different ways Gunnhildr is used as a plot device and how her character morphs in the sagas and is portrayed as either a witch, a sorceress, a woman, an outcast Queen, or other, to shed a light on cultural mentalities of the time they were written; and foreground the uncertainties regarding her origins. Ágrip Umfjöllun um norræna sagnaarfinn hefur einkum lagt áherslu á fræðilega greiningu á frásagnartækni, höfundarétti, sögulegri nákvæmni og hvort hægt séað líta á þær sem sagnfræði. Fram til þessa höfðu fræðimenn ekki lagt áherslu á kynjafræðilegar rannsóknir og rannsóknir annarra. Rannsóknir á menningarminningum hafa haft gífurleg áhrif þegar kemur að skilningi okkar á sögunum. Þ ritgerð mun fjalla um hvernig frásagnir móta/fjalla um kyn, annarleika og menningarlegt minni með því að einbeita sér að Gunnhildi drottningu.. Með því að leggja áherslu á íslendingasögurnar og konungasögurnar getum við öðlast skilning á mismunandi menningarhorfum milli Íslendinga og Norðmanna á þessum tíma. Engu að síður er mikilvægt að líta svo á að þessar persónuskilgreiningar séu bókmenntaleg minni ef þær eru svipaðar eða að um sé að ræða sjálstæð minni. Þess vegna mun ég greina mismunandi birtingarmyndir Gunnhildar og hvernig persónan hennar umbreytist frá því að vera norn, galdrakona, kona, drottning eða eitthvað annað til að varpa ljósi á menningarlegt hugarfar og óljós uppruna hennar. 2 Acknowledgements Without the continuous support and understanding of my supervisor, Sif Ríkharðsdóttir, this thesis would not be anywhere near the state it is. Sif helped me understand my own thoughts better by pushing me to explain my ideas in a way that did not make them seem like I was jumping to conclusions. She also made significant contributions to the Icelandic abstract above. I would also like to thank Emily Lethbridge for pointing me to resoruces for place-names and for helping me embellish my ideas before presenting them to my supervisor. Torfi Tulinius and Anna Solovyeva helped shape my first inklings for the theme and structure of this thesis. And likewise, Haraldur Benharðsson and other professors in the program led me to interesting topics and books that consequently helped my understanding and influenced the creation of this thesis, by becoming the skeltons of it. I am extremlly grateful for the encouragement and support of my professors, friends, and family; because without them, this thesis would still be in the works, morphing as the years pass. 3 A Troll, a Bird, and Mother of Kings Magic and agency in shapeshifting origins and perspectives: Queen Gunnhildur of Norway Cassandra Ruiz 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 3 List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................. 6 CHAPTER 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 2: Otherness and perceptions ............................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 3: family sagas ................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 4: kings´ sagas .................................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER 5: Different genres, different images ................................................................................. 26 CHAPTER 6: Foreginers‘ Perspective ................................................................................................. 30 CHAPTER 7: Magic/Gender ................................................................................................................ 32 CHAPTER 8: Thrones Foretelling Urban Fame: How to Plant & Twist Roots to Reimagine Spaces . 39 CHAPTER 9: Conclusion and Further Research .................................................................................. 42 Works Cited .......................................................................................................................................... 45 Appendix ............................................................................................................................................... 48 5 List of Abbreviations Egla …………………………… Egil’s saga Skalla-Grímssonar Njála ………………………….. Njáls saga Fgr …………………………….. Fagurskinna Hkr ………….…………………. Heimskringla I 6 CHAPTER 1: Introduction Genres, or literary traditions, are often defined by specific themes and motifs. These which derive not only from politics and social tensions but more abstract matters and ideologies as well. Social mentalities are influenced by many factors, such as religion, philosophy, and economics. And it is through storytelling that the divide between fiction and fact becomes blurred. Therefore, genre does not come to embody a separation between reality and imagination, but rather a gateway through which their obscure similarities are unveiled. Narratives ranging from romantic courtship to perilous adventures by heroic idolized figures should not be simply dismissed by their genre; on the contrary, their accessibility allows for universality and the possibility to explore heightened realities of the writers’ time. Were these characters an attempt to bridge stories as they may have been idolized and consequently used to springboard into another story? If that were the case, then their usage in oral stories helps explain why some characters transcend into multiple stories as seen in the Old Norse sagas. These sagas were written down centuries after the time they take place. This consideration begs the following question: to which degree is a genre acceptable as an exploration of a given period, if most of its leading figures are the probable result of fantastical concoctions and social mentalities implemented elements that did not exist in the oral tradition? Furthermore, to which extent do regional spaces influence in the construction of specific characters, furthering the divide between reality and fiction in their depictions? Does one genre depict a character differently than another genre even if they have a common source? Or do these conflicting depictions stem from different sources? In the case of Old Norse sagas, its storytelling finds itself subservient to centuries-old traditions, and in most cases, their composition stems from anonymous origins, which only serves to complicate our understanding of fiction and reality. We must then analyze genres within the Old Norse corpus to help us expand our understanding of cultural memory when it comes to reoccurring characters, gender, and otherness. One particular character embodies all of these attributes, which is why my paper will analyze the different perceptions of Queen Gunnhildr. The main texts I will be using are Egils saga, Njáls saga, Fagrskinna, and Heimskringla I. This paper will try to prove that Gunnhildr was a plot device regardless if a person with that name existed given her unknown background and the way she crosses borders. At times, she is capable of inverting borders, not just physical ones but also in terms of agency and power and she is even able to morph into a bird in Egil’s saga. It is then important to distinguish how different genres perceived Gunnhildr, which would give us more insight on the agency a woman held either by being a witch, queen, other or all. 7 CHAPTER 2: Otherness and perceptions Otherness distinguishes two groups, one that is the norm and the other that is discriminated. “To state it naively, difference belongs to the realm of fact and otherness belongs to the realm of discourse. Thus, biological sex is difference, whereas gender is otherness.”1 Otherness simply put depends on the case it situates due to the inability of it confiding in one’s own categories of self or societal norms. Otherness appears to be radically different case by case and therefore cannot be conclusively defined. Lambertus 2 expresses otherness to be that thing that cannot be compared to the norm to which Shildrick responds “what is at stake is not simply the status of
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