DOCSLIB.ORG

Cannibal Narratives: an Introduction

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Cannibal Narratives: an Introduction NOTES Cannibal Narratives: An Introduction 1. Henry of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum: The History of the English People, ed. and trans. Diana Greenway (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), p. 382; 383. 2. There remain two very common representations of cannibalism that will not be discussed in this book: that of famine cannibalism and the motif of the eaten heart. The way in which descriptions of famine cannibalism are so widespread-from Thucydides through the present day-precludes their usefulness as a category of analysis for medieval English literature. Likewise, the motif of the eaten heart, in which a wronged husband vengefully serves his adulterous wife her lover's heart, falls outside of the range of this study since it was not at all popular in England during this period, but prevalent instead in France and Italy. See R. Howard Bloch, "The Lay and the Law: Sexual/Textual Transgression in La Chasteleine de Vergi, the Lai d'Ignaure, and the Lais of Marie de France," Stanford French Review 14 (1990): 181-210; Fidel Fajardo-Acosta, "The Heart of Guillem de Cabestaing: Courtly Lovers, Cannibals, Early Modern Subjects," Exemplaria 17.1 (2005): 57-102; Madeleine Jeay, "Consuming Passions: Variations on the Eaten Heart Theme," in Violence Against Women in Medieval Texts, ed. Anna Roberts (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1998), pp. 75-96; Mariella di Maio, II cuore mangiato: Storia di un tema dal Medioevo all'Ottocento (Milan: Guerini, 1996). Although the question of famine cannibalism will not be treated at length, it is nevertheless interesting to briefly consider the extent to which "real life" cannibalism may have affected the construction and reception of literary representations of cannibalism. Famine was a constant concern through Europe during the Middle Ages. The prevalence of slash and burn military strategies, in tandem with the climatic fluctuations of the medieval period that impacted crop and livestock production, so commonly produced situations of extreme hardship if not outright famine, that reports of famine cannibalism have been read by modern historians as a "cliche," a shorthand that easily expresses all the appalling aspects of famine. The Great Famine of the fourteenth century, especially linked as it is to the Black Death, is the subject of the bulk of the discussion surrounding the role that famine played in the social and political world of medieval Europe. The Great Famine, however, was not the first by far to hit Europe; nor were the years of the 140 NOTES Great Famine the first time that Europeans had reportedly, in the face of starvation, resorted to cannibalism. Cannibalism is reported by medieval chroniclers during the famines of 793, 868-869, 1005, 1032, 1146, 1233, 1241-1242, 1277, and 1280-1282 in addition to the years of the Great Famine, 1315-1317. One of the most horrific contemporary expressions of famine cannibalism is given by Rodolphus Glaber in his Historiarum libri quinque concerning the famine of 1033: "Some time later a famine began to ravage the whole earth, and death threatened almost all the human race ...This avenging famine began in the Orient, and after devastating Greece passed to Italy and thence to Gaul and the whole English people. This dearth pressed hard upon all the people; rich men and those of middling estate grew pallid with hunger like the poor, and the brigandage of the mighty ceased in the face of universal want .. .It is terrible to relate the evils, which then befell mankind. Alas, a thing formerly little heard of happened: ravening hunger drove men to devour human flesh! Travellers were set upon by men stronger than themselves, and their dismembered flesh was cooked over fires and eaten. Many, who had fled from place to place from the famine, when they found shelter at last, were slaughtered in the night as food for those who had welcomed them. Many showed an apple or an egg to children, then dragged them to out-of-the-way places and killed and ate them. In many places the bodies of the dead were dragged from the earth, also to appease hunger. This raging madness rose to such proportions that solitary beasts were less likely to be attacked by brigands than men. The cus­ tom of eating human flesh had grown so common that one fellow sold it cooked in the market-place of Tournus like that of some beast. When he was arrested he did not deny the shameful charge. He was bound and burned to death. The meat was buried in the ground; but another fellow dug it up and ate it, and he too was put to death by fire" (Rodolphus Glaber, Historiarum Libri Quinque, ed. Neithard BuIst, trans. John France and Paul Reynolds [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989], pp. 187-189). In England, the famine of 1033 was followed by the man-made famine of 1069, a direct result of the scorched-earth policy that William the Conqueror used to subdue the north, a policy about which Orderic Vitalis notes, "for this act .. .I cannot commend him" (Orderic Vitalis, Ecclesiastical History, ed. and trans. Marjorie Chibnall, vol. 2 [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968], p. 232). See Andrew B. Appleby, "Epidemics and Famine in the Little Ice Age," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 10 (1980): 643-663; William Chester Jordan, The Great Famine: Northern Europe in the Early Fourteenth Century (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996); Julia Marvin, "Cannibalism as an Aspect of Famine in Two English Chronicles," in Food and Eating in Medieval Europe, ed. Martha Carlin and Joel T. Rosenthal (London: The Hambledon Press, 1998), pp. 73-86; and Pitirim A. Sorokin, Man and Society in Calamity (New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc, 1942). 3. Claude Rawson, " 'Indians' and Irish: Montaigne, Swift, and the Cannibal Question," Modem Language Quarterly 53 (1992): 363 [299-363]. NOTES 141 4. Alan Ambrisco, "Medieval Maneaters: Cannibalism and Community in Middle English Literature," diss., Indiana University, 1999, p. 12. 5. In the iliad too, however, Achilles uses the trope of cannibalism to demonstrate his inhumanity: standing over the dying Hector, he proclaims: "I wish only that my spirit and fury would drive me to hack your meat away and eat it raw for the things that you have done to me" (Homer, iliad, trans. Richmond Lattimore [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951], p. 444). For an inter­ esting discussion of cannibalism in Homer, see Mark Buchan, "Food For Thought: Achilles and the Cyclops," in Eating Their Words: Cannibalism and the Boundaries <1 Cultural Identity, ed. Kristen Guest (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001), pp. 11-34. 6. For a fuller discussion of these themes, see Pierre Vidal-Naquet, "Land and Sacrifice in the Odyssey," in Reading the Odyssey: Selected Interpretive Essays, ed. Seth L. Schein and trans. A. Szegedy-Mazak (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996), pp. 33-54. 7. In post-medieval literature, cannibalism has become a privileged trope for representing the colonial encounter. The relationship between cannibalism and colonialism has been much studied in the early modem period, partic­ ularly in the important studies Cannibals: The Discovery and Representation of the Cannibal from Columbus to Jules Verne by Frank Lestrignant and Cannibalism and the Colonial World, jointly edited by Francis Barker, Peter Hulme, and Margaret Iverson. (Frank Lestrignant, Cannibals: The Discovery and Representation <1 the Cannibal from Columbus to Jules Verne, trans. Rosemary Morris [Cambridge: Polity Press, 1997] [originally published in France in 1994 as Cannibales: grandeur et decadence]; Francis Barker, Peter Hulme, Margaret Iverson, eds., Cannibalism and the Colonial World [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998]). The relationship of these studies to the medieval literature considered here is taken up in the postscript to this book. 8. Herodotus, The Histories, trans. George Rawlinson (London: J.M. Dent, 1992), p. 303. 9. Herodotus, The Histories, p. 339. 10. On the availability of these texts in the Middle Ages, see MaIjorie Chibnall, "Pliny's Natural History and the Middle Ages," in Empire and Aftermath: Silver Latin II, ed. T.A. Dorey (Boston: Routledge, 1976), pp. 57-78. 11. M.R. James, ed., Marvels <1 the East: A Full Reproduction <1 the Three Known Copies (Oxford: Roxburghe Club, 1929). The two other seminal studies of this tradition are John Block Friedman, The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981) and Rudolph Wittkower, Allegory and the Migration <1 Symbols (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1977). 12. The Marvels of the East is not a solely literary genre. The monstrous races of literature were commonly represented also visually throughout the Middle Ages in manuscripts (all three ofJames' manuscripts are illustrated), world maps (such as the Hereford and Ebstorf maps), and in sculpture (most 142 NOTES famously on the tympanum of the Cathedral at Vezelay). Stenuning from ancient Greek texts, these representations of the monstrous races were popular in Arabic texts as well. 13. Asa Simon Mittman's interesting Maps and Monsters in Medieval England (New York: Routledge, 2006) unfortunately appeared too late for me to integrate Mittman's observations, but I believe that many of our discussions are complementary. 14. Berengar of Tours, PL 150:410D-411A. 15. Paul c.Jones, Christ's Eucharistic Presence: A History of the Doctrine, American University Series VII: Theology and Religion. Vol. 157 (New York: Peter Lang, 1994), pp. 79-80. This statement is part of the oath of orthodoxy that Berengar of Tours was forced to swear. For the debate/controversy that lead to this definitive articulation, see Jean de Montclos, Lanfranc et Berengar, la controverse Eucharistique de XIe siecle (Leuven: Spicilegium sacrum Lovaniense, Justus Lipsiusstr, 1971). 16. For discussions of this process, see Henri du Lubac, Corpus Mysticum (Paris: Aubier, 1949); Gary Macy, The Theologies of the Eucharist in the Early Scholastic Period.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Early Bibliography (1968)
    fh.a..c,4,r" tt.c. ~ . .I lw~ jOWL ~u/f ~"Z;, ( A. ., 0 ",l O'¥U.. ! ) ~ rt.c. J #f 6 7 8; t, / ,;.y>y'7. / - +~~ OLD EUGLISHBIBLIOGRAPHY ."' :.~1968 . ,, l will be grateful if re aders -will call my at tention _to .any omissions or inaccurACies thP.y .mliy notice in the , biblioe;Ta.P1:-J~_·_:· r . Respectfully submitted, r:~·q:. R~~~-:i Fred C ~ .Robinson, Chairman !lesearch and Bibliography Committee . HISCELLANEOUS Bessinger ·, J. B. (with -S. J. Kahrl). OE Newsletter, Vol. II, no. 1 (December, 1968). [Prepared and mimeographed at New York _University.] . Kpssick,' -Shirley. ".An Introductory Note to the study of OE, II UNISA Erw:lish ·· Studies [ Bulletin_of the Dept. of Engli~h, Univ. of South . Africa, Praetoria], I (1968), 72-75. LElementary .remarks about beginning the study of OE-.] Ogilvy, J. ·n. ·A. Books Known to the En lish 9'7-1066 (Cambridge, f.1ass., 1967). REV: I\fortoi:i W. Bloomfield, Speculum 63 1968 , .529-30. · • . Or:rick, Allan H.; ed. Nordica et .Anglica: Studies in Hondr of Stefan Einarsson (The Hague, 1968). LCited below as "Nordica et An.dica. "] · · Robins .on, Fred C. "OE Rese arch i n .Progress, ·1967-1968,°" NM, -69 '(1968), 472- 487. Thrupp, Sylvia L., ed. Early i'Ied~ieval Society (New York, 1967). [Reprints of various essay~ including ·'some touching -on Anglo-Saxon society. 260 pp.] Tinkler, John. "OE in Rohan," Tolk i en and the Critics, ed. Neil D. Isaacs and Rose A Zimbado (Notre Danie, 1968), pp. 164-69. · \'liley, Raymond A. "Four Unpublfshed Letters .
    [Show full text]
  • The Extent of Indigenous-Norse Contact and Trade Prior to Columbus Donald E
    Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research Volume 6 | Issue 1 Article 3 August 2016 The Extent of Indigenous-Norse Contact and Trade Prior to Columbus Donald E. Warden Oglethorpe University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/ojur Part of the Canadian History Commons, European History Commons, Indigenous Studies Commons, Medieval History Commons, Medieval Studies Commons, and the Scandinavian Studies Commons Recommended Citation Warden, Donald E. (2016) "The Extent of Indigenous-Norse Contact and Trade Prior to Columbus," Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 6 : Iss. 1 , Article 3. Available at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/ojur/vol6/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Extent of Indigenous-Norse Contact and Trade Prior to Columbus Cover Page Footnote I would like to thank my honors thesis committee: Dr. Michael Rulison, Dr. Kathleen Peters, and Dr. Nicholas Maher. I would also like to thank my friends and family who have supported me during my time at Oglethorpe. Moreover, I would like to thank my academic advisor, Dr. Karen Schmeichel, and the Director of the Honors Program, Dr. Sarah Terry. I could not have done any of this without you all. This article is available in Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/ojur/vol6/iss1/3 Warden: Indigenous-Norse Contact and Trade Part I: Piecing Together the Puzzle Recent discoveries utilizing satellite technology from Sarah Parcak; archaeological sites from the 1960s, ancient, fantastical Sagas, and centuries of scholars thereafter each paint a picture of Norse-Indigenous contact and relations in North America prior to the Columbian Exchange.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Religious Practice in Norse Greenland
    Hugvísindasvið Early Religious Practice in Norse Greenland: th From the Period of Settlement to the 12 Century Ritgerð til M.A.-prófs Andrew Umbrich September 2012 U m b r i c h | 2 Háskóli Íslands Hugvísindasvið Medieval Icelandic Studies Early Religious Practice in Norse Greenland: th From the Period of Settlement to the 12 Century Ritgerð til M.A.-prófs Andrew Umbrich Kt.: 130388-4269 Leiðbeinandi: Gísli Sigurðsson September 2012 U m b r i c h | 3 Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 5 1.1 Scholarly Works and Sources Used in This Study ...................................................... 8 1.2 Inherent Problems with This Study: Written Sources and Archaeology .................... 9 1.3 Origin of Greenland Settlers and Greenlandic Law .................................................. 10 2.0 Historiography ................................................................................................................. 12 2.1 Lesley Abrams’ Early Religious Practice in the Greenland Settlement.................... 12 2.2 Jonathan Grove’s The Place of Greenland in Medieval Icelandic Saga Narratives.. 14 2.3 Gísli Sigurðsson’s Greenland in the Sagas of Icelanders: What Did the Writers Know - And How Did They Know It? and The Medieval Icelandic Saga and Oral Tradition: A Discourse on Method....................................................................................... 15 2.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Creating Holy People and Places on the Periphery
    Creating Holy People and People Places Holy on theCreating Periphery Creating Holy People and Places on the Periphery A Study of the Emergence of Cults of Native Saints in the Ecclesiastical Provinces of Lund and Uppsala from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries During the medieval period, the introduction of a new belief system brought profound societal change to Scandinavia. One of the elements of this new religion was the cult of saints. This thesis examines the emergence of new cults of saints native to the region that became the ecclesiastical provinces of Lund and Uppsala in the twelfth century. The study examines theearliest, extant evidence for these cults, in particular that found in liturgical fragments. By analyzing and then comparing the relationship that each native saint’s cult had to the Christianization, the study reveals a mutually beneficial bond between these cults and a newly emerging Christian society. Sara E. EllisSara Nilsson Sara E. Ellis Nilsson Dissertation from the Department of Historical Studies ISBN 978-91-628-9274-6 Creating Holy People and Places on the Periphery Dissertation from the Department of Historical Studies Creating Holy People and Places on the Periphery A Study of the Emergence of Cults of Native Saints in the Ecclesiastical Provinces of Lund and Uppsala from the Eleventh to the Th irteenth Centuries Sara E. Ellis Nilsson med en svensk sammanfattning Avhandling för fi losofi e doktorsexamen i historia Göteborgs universitet, den 20 februari 2015 Institutionen för historiska studier (Department of Historical Studies) ISBN: 978-91-628-9274-6 ISBN: 978-91-628-9275-3 (e-publikation) Distribution: Sara Ellis Nilsson, [email protected] © Sara E.
    [Show full text]
  • Pursuing West: the Viking Expeditions of North America
    East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 5-2015 Pursuing West: The iV king Expeditions of North America Jody M. Bryant East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of the Medieval History Commons Recommended Citation Bryant, Jody M., "Pursuing West: The iV king Expeditions of North America" (2015). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2508. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2508 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Pursuing West: The Viking Expeditions of North America _____________________ A thesis presented to the faculty of the Department of History East Tennessee State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in History _____________________ by Jody Melinda Bryant May 2015 _____________________ Dr. William Douglas Burgess, Jr., Chair Dr. Henry J. Antkiewicz Dr. John M. Rankin Keywords: Kensington Rune Stone, Runes, Vikings, Gotland ABSTRACT Pursuing West: The Viking Expeditions of North America by Jody Bryant The purpose to this thesis is to demonstrate the activity of the Viking presence, in North America. The research focuses on the use of stones, carved with runic inscriptions that have been discovered in Okla- homa, Maine, Rhode Island and Minnesota. The thesis discusses orthographic traits found in the in- scriptions and gives evidence that links their primary use to fourteenth century Gotland.
    [Show full text]
  • Heroism As Constructed Masculinity in the Epics of Gilgamesh and Beowulf
    University of Tennessee at Chattanooga UTC Scholar Student Research, Creative Works, and Honors Theses Publications 5-2015 Engendering epic: heroism as constructed masculinity in the epics of Gilgamesh and Beowulf Rachael Scott Poe University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.utc.edu/honors-theses Part of the Classics Commons Recommended Citation Poe, Rachael Scott, "Engendering epic: heroism as constructed masculinity in the epics of Gilgamesh and Beowulf" (2015). Honors Theses. This Theses is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research, Creative Works, and Publications at UTC Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of UTC Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Engendering Epic: Heroism as Constructed Masculinity in the Epics of Gilgamesh and Beowulf Rachael Scott Poe Departmental Honors Thesis The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga English Department Project Director: Gregory O’Dea Examination Date: Monday, March 30, 2015 Members of the Examination Committee: Andrew McCarthy, Salvatore Musumeci, Heather Palmer 1 Western culture is rife with heroes—and has been for centuries. From the demigods of old to the cinematic action stars of today, there is something that intrigues us about these noble and often solitary saviors. When considering epic heroes such as Gilgamesh and Beowulf, it is readily apparent that these men are products of patriarchal societies, and, consequently, masculinity is an inherent consideration when defining heroism. Recent criticism and re-visioning of ancient heroes has yielded some fascinating commentaries, especially in terms of gender theory.
    [Show full text]
  • PROCLAMATION 5722—OCT. 5, 1987 101 STAT. 2213 Leif Erikson
    PROCLAMATION 5722—OCT. 5, 1987 101 STAT. 2213 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of Oc­ tober, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twelfth. RONALD REAGAN Proclamation 5722 of October 5,1987 Leif Erikson Day, 1987 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Our Nation sets aside October 9 each year to honor Leif Erikson and to cel­ ebrate our country's Nordic heritage. Almost a thousand years ago this young Viking explorer set out from Norway to convert Greenlanders to Christianity. He eventually reached North America and brought back re­ ports of places he called Helluland, Markland, and Vinland. The explorers, missionaries, settlers, and adventurers who followed him in later centuries shared his bold spirit. The memory of Leif Erikson continues to inspire all who would chart new territory for the good of mankind. Many who settled in North America were Nordics. Like "Leif the Lucky" they displayed great determination and courage as they came to a new world. They and their descendants have truly contributed much to our na­ tional heritage; the strength of character and spirit of adventure they trace to their ancestors, including Leif Erikson, are traits Americans will always revere as quintessentially American. In honor of Leif Erikson and our Nordic American heritage, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved on September 2, 1964 (78 Stat. 849, 36 U.S.C. 169c], has authorized the President to proclaim October 9 of each year as "Leif Erikson Day." NOW, THEREFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim October 9, 1987, as Leif Erikson Day, and I direct the appropriate government officials to display the flag of the United States on all government buildings on that day.
    [Show full text]
  • The Vineland-Excursions of the Ancient Scandinavians
    THE VINELAND-EXCURSIONS OF THE ANCIENT SCANDINA VIANS DY E. LØFFLER. 1883. Before having the honour of giving a short account of the early discovery of America by the Scanclinavians, I must be permitted to remark, that the greater part of what I am going to relate here we may take for granted to be known to Scan­ dinavian historians and archæologists. As, however, foreign scientists can less easily avail themselves of the original sources, the old sagas, and as the knowledge of foreigners of the dis­ covery of America before Columbus, especially the Scandinavians' Vinelancl-excursions, must be founded on an old work: "Anti­ qvitates Americanæ", I believe that a cfitical review of the facts related in the original sagas will not be out of place in this assembly. The 15111 and 16th centuries were, as is well known , a period of great naval expeditions, discoveries, and conquests, un­ dertaken principally by Spain and Portugal. The 9'", 10•" and, to some extent, the 11th centuries were of similar importance to the Scandinavian countries, and numerous viking-fleets left their 65 homes to make conquests and to gain spoil and glory on foreign shores 1• Normandy and England had to submit to the domi­ nion of the Dan es , Ireland and Scotland felt the weight of the Norsemen's swords , and Swedish emigrants went eastward into Russia, where they formed strongholds in Novgorod and Kijev2• Distant lceland , which perhaps was discovered first by Irish monks 3, was afterwards colonized by Norwegians 4, and from thence Erik the Red went, after previous explorations , in the year 986 to South Greenland , where he settled in Brattahlid 5.
    [Show full text]
  • The Churches of the Holy Land in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries 198
    Tracing the Jerusalem Code 1 Tracing the Jerusalem Code Volume 1: The Holy City Christian Cultures in Medieval Scandinavia (ca. 1100–1536) Edited by Kristin B. Aavitsland and Line M. Bonde The research presented in this publication was funded by the Research Council of Norway (RCN), project no. 240448/F10. ISBN 978-3-11-063485-3 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-063943-8 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-063627-7 DOI https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110639438 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. Library of Congress Control Number: 2020950181 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2021 Kristin B. Aavitsland and Line M. Bonde, published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston. The book is published open access at www.degruyter.com. Cover illustration: Wooden church model, probably the headpiece of a ciborium. Oslo University Museum of Cultural history. Photo: CC BY-SA 4.0 Grete Gundhus. Typesetting: Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd. Printing and binding: CPI Books GmbH, Leck www.degruyter.com In memory of Erling Sverdrup Sandmo (1963–2020) Contents List of Maps and Illustrations XI List of Abbreviations XVII Editorial comments for all three volumes XIX Kristin B. Aavitsland, Eivor Andersen Oftestad, and Ragnhild Johnsrud
    [Show full text]
  • Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections
    SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOLUME 116, NUMBER 3 TWO RUNIC STONES, FROM GREENLAND AND MINNESOTA BY WILLIAM THALBITZER (Publication 4021) CITY OF WASHINGTON PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AUGUST 30, 1951 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOLUME 116, NUMBER 3 TWO RUNIC STONES, FROM GREENLAND AND MINNESOTA BY WILLIAM THALBITZER (Publication 4021) CITY OF WASHINGTON PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AUGUST 30, 1951 %§& £oro (gattimovt (pttee BALTIMORE, MD., U. 8. A. — . TWO RUNIC STONES, FROM GREENLAND AND MINNESOTA* By WILLIAM THALBITZER Copenhagen, Denmark CONTENTS Page Introduction 2 I. The Kingigtorssuaq stone from the neighborhood of Upernavik, northwest Greenland 6 II. The Kensington stone 14 Historical background 14 The Kensington runes and the numeral signs 18 Paleographic signs 23 The Dalecarlian runes and the H-rune 26 The linguistic form 28 Old Swedish 29 Archaisms 32 Neologisms 35 The style 39 Further philological impressions 42 Appendix ( 1950) 49 Three historic documents 49 Final comments on the Danish treatise (1946- 1947) 51 Notes 54 1. The Greenland runes as carved on stone or wood in Greenland. 54 2. The secret runes on the Kingigtorssuaq stone 54 3. Singular runes on the Kensington stone, X a°d f" 56 4. © =oe 57 5. Opdagelsefaerd 57 skiar or ? ( scar, "cliff, rock" ) 6- H ^1 f X R — Eng. 58 7. rise = Modern Sw. resa, "journey, (warlike) expedition" 59 8. at se aptir, "to look after, guard, superintend (the ships)".... 61 9. dagh rise, "day's journey" 61 10. The style 62 11. Medieval Swedish-Norwegian mixed language 63 12. Old Swedish as a hypothetical problem 64 13.
    [Show full text]
  • The Viking Age: an Overview Hen a Band of Raiders from Scandinavia Time
    The Viking Age: An Overview hen a band of raiders from Scandinavia time. In fact, their raids on monasteries are mainly attacked the English monastery at Lind- explained by the fact that they were not Christian Wisfarne, in Northumbria, in 793 AD, the at the time, and thus felt no sacrilege in attacking these wealthy, unprotected places. VIKING SOCIETY Overall, most of the Norse people were peaceful farmers, attached to the land and particularly able to raise cattle and livestock which they even traded to their neigh- bors. Throughout the Norse or Vikings? Viking Age, there was Although we generally refer to medieval also a lot of peace- Scandinavians as Vikings, people in their time ful trading between called them the Norse, Danes, Rus or simply, Scandinavia and the the Northmen. The word Viking largely emerged surrounding countries, The church and norman abbey ruins at in the last 200 years, even though it has its Lindisfarne, England, site of the first recorded even as raids and wars roots in the old Norse word vik or “bay”, or in Viking raid in Europe of conquest continued the expression “i viking” which meant to go all over Europe. terror they caused was so great that news of it raiding. To better represent the importance of quickly spread all around Europe. The fact that Social organization was farmers, traders or craftsmen in the “Viking” they had attacked a house of God made the men dominated by the pow- world, it is more exact to use the word “Norse”, from the North seem like particularly ruthless war- er of local chieftains which emphasizes the common Nordic culture riors, a reputation that still dominates our vision who came together at of these peoples who settled everywhere from of the Vikings today.
    [Show full text]
  • The Lost Western Settlement of Greenland, 1342
    THE LOST WESTERN SETTLEMENT OF GREENLAND, 1342 Carol S. Francis B.S., University of California, Davis, 1972 B.A., University of California, Davis, 1972 M.S., California State University, Sacramento, 1981 THESIS Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in HISTORY at CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO FALL 2011 THE LOST WESTERN SETTLEMENT OF GREENLAND, 1342 A Thesis by Carol S. Francis Approved by: __________________________________, Committee Chair Candace Gregory-Abbott __________________________________, Second Reader Jeffrey K. Wilson ____________________________ Date ii Student: Carol S. Francis I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and that this thesis is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to be awarded for the thesis. __________________________, Graduate Coordinator ___________________ Mona Siegel Date Department of History iii Abstract of THE LOST WESTERN SETTLEMENT OF GREENLAND, 1342 by Carol S. Francis The Western Norse Settlement in Greenland disappeared suddenly, probably in 1342. Research in the area includes medieval sources, archeological studies of the ruins, climatic data from the Greenlandic icecap, oral stories from the Inuit in Greenland and Canada, and possible sightings of ancestors of the Norse in the Canadian Arctic. Feeling threatened both physically by the Thule (ancestors of the Inuit) and a cooling climate, and economically by the Norwegian crown, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Eastern Settlement in Greenland, the Western Settlement voluntarily left en masse for the new world, probably in 1342 based on sailing dates. _______________________, Committee Chair Candace Gregory-Abbott _______________________ Date iv PREFACE I was volunteering on a trip from Hudson Bay to Baffin Island with Students on Ice in 2007, when I heard the zodiac driver say, “there is a Viking trading site in the South Savage Islands.” That made me curious, as trading sites take time and trust to develop.
    [Show full text]