MA Ritgerð in Search of Askr Yggdrasill
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MA ritgerð Norræn trú In Search of askr Yggdrasill A Phenomenological Approach to the Role of Trees in Old Nordic Religions Jan Aksel Harder Klitgaard Leiðbeinandi: Terry Adrian Gunnell Júní 2018 In Search of askr Yggdrasill A Phenomenological Approach to the Role of Trees in Old Nordic Religions Jan Aksel Harder Klitgaard Lokaverkefni til MA–gráðu í Norrænni trú Leiðbeinandi: Terry Adrian Gunnell 60 einingar Félags– og mannvísindadeild Félagsvísindasvið Háskóla Íslands Júni, 2018 In Search of askr Yggdrasill Ritgerð þessi er lokaverkefni til MA-gráðu í Norrænni trú og er óheimilt að afrita ritgerðina á nokkurn hátt nema með leyfi rétthafa. © Jan Aksel Harder Klitgaard, 2018 Prentun: Háskólaprent Reykjavík, Ísland, 2018 Abstract This thesis contains a study of the role of trees in Old Nordic religions during the Iron Age and Viking Age from a phenomenological and comparative perspective and includes three discussion chapters, each with its own main topic: the world-tree; trees as people and vice versa; and real living trees. It has been conducted in order to clarify certain issues regarding how ancient Scandinavians might have perceived the world and then in particular trees, metaphysical trees and real trees. In the discussion chapters, the thesis reflects upon narratives in the extant written source material which would have been part of the phenomenology of trees, in the light of the ever-growing bulk of archaeological material reflecting remnants of symbolic and ritualistic behaviour relating to trees. The project argues that we need to sidestep with our modern perception of the world if we wish to understand how trees might have been understood in a religious sense in the Old Nordic world. It argues also that we need to make a clear distinction between emic and etic terms, underlining the need to be aware of the implications of the terms that we use in each case. Building on recent anthropological ethnographies, it argues furthermore that we need to reconsider aspects of animism in Old Nordic religions with regard to trees, and that some trees appear to have been seen by the Iron-Age and Viking-Age Scandinavians as doorways to the world of death and intermediaries of knowledge. Útdráttur Þessi ritgerð er rannsókn á hlutverki trjáa í norrænni trú á járn- og víkingaöld frá sjónarhorni fyrirbærafræða og samanburðarannsókna. Í ritgerðinni eru þrír umræðukaflar, hver um sig með sér umfjöllunarefni: Heimstréð, tré sem fólk og fólk sem tré og raunveruleg lifandi tré. Markmið rannsóknarinnar er að fá skýrari mynd af því hvernig norrænir menn skynjuðu heiminn og þá sérstaklega tré, hugræn tré og raunveruleg tré. Í umræðuköflunum eru skoðaðar sögur, sem finna má í heimildum, sögur sem hafa verið hluti af fyrirbærafræði trjáa, í ljósi sístækkandi efniviðs úr fornleifarannsóknum sem endurspeglar táknræna hegðun og helgisiði sem tengjast trjám. Í ritgerðinni eru færð rök fyrir því að nauðsynlegt er að endurskoða nútíma skynjun á heiminum ef vilji er til að skilja hvernig tré voru skynjuð í trúfræðilegu samhengi í hinum norræna heimi á járn- og víkingaöld. Ennfremur eru rök færð fyrir mikilvægi þess að aðgreina með skýrum hætti milli hugtakanna emic og etic og þeim afleiðingum sem fylgja notkun hugtakanna. Í ritgerðinni eru notaðar nýlegar etnógrafíur til að færa rök fyrir því að endurskoða þurfi þætti varðandi andatrú í norrænni trú, varðandi tré og einnig að sum tré í Skandinavíu á járn- og víkingaöld virðast hafa verið skynjuð sem gátt í heim dauðans og sem milliliður að vitneskju. Foreword I would like to use this opening page to state something about my incentives for writing this thesis and to acknowledge a few of the people who have helped and inspired me in my work. Being brought up in Denmark, some of my first childhood memories include trees: I recall as a toddler being tied to an apple tree in my grandmother’s garden so that I would not run into the street. Later in life, I remember how, a friend and I would in early summer climb a huge elm tree at my friend’s parents’ garden centre and then sit in its branches eating the tree’s tiny winged fruits, known as manna in Danish, until our stomachs hurt. I also remember falling from a tall young tree, crashing through its branches, and hitting the ground with a dull thud. I do not know whether these experiences later led to me choosing to study horticulture and work as a gardener, but for the last 30 years I have been working closely with trees and forests, first in my home country Denmark and later here in Iceland. Scandinavian pre-history is another passion of mine which I feel has influenced me from an early point. On my book-shelf sits P. V. Glob’s Danske Oldtidsminder and on its first page as a thirteen-year-old I wrote the following “Jan Klitgaard, fået af morfar, Julen 1978.” Later, as a teenager during my summer holidays I volunteered to work at what was then known as The Historical-Archaeological Research Centre in Lejre (Historisk-arkæologisk Forsøgscenter i Lejre), because it gave the physical experience of living in Iron-Age houses, eating Iron-Age food, smelling the animals and feeling the woolly clothes scratching my body. In this thesis I found a way to bring together the trees, Glob and Lejre. Before going any further there are a number of people to whom I owe my thanks. Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor Professor Terry Adrian Gunnell for his advice, for encouraging comments, for opening my eyes to see things in a new light, and for pushing me ever further and to get the best out of me. Secondly, I would like to thank the teaching staff at University of Iceland, and especially Professor Sveinn Eggertsson for introducing me to phenomenology. Most of all I would like to offer my thanks to my wife Sigga Valdís for suporting me and giving me this opportunity to do a Master’s degree in Old Nordic religions. Jeg elsker dig stadigvæk! Contents Abstract Útdráttur Foreword List of Images 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 2 The History of Research into Trees in Old Nordic Religions ................................................... 6 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Pre-Modern Scholars ........................................................................................................ 6 2.3 Romantic Nationalism .................................................................................................... 14 2.4 Post-Romanticism ........................................................................................................... 25 2.5 Studies into Trees in Old Nordic Religions from the Inter-War-Period until around 1990 .............................................................................................................................................. 30 2.6 Studies into Trees in Old Nordic Religions from around 1990 until Today .................... 34 2.7 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 44 3 Comparative Studies ............................................................................................................. 47 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 47 3.2 Comparative Religion ..................................................................................................... 47 3.3 Anthropology .................................................................................................................. 54 3.4 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 61 4 Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 63 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 63 4.2 Definitions ....................................................................................................................... 63 4.3 Emic and Etic Models ...................................................................................................... 64 4.4 Phenomenology .............................................................................................................. 67 4.5 Symbolism ....................................................................................................................... 71 4.6 Ritual ............................................................................................................................... 73 4.7 Comparative Studies ....................................................................................................... 75 4.8 Conclusion: Methodology of the Thesis ......................................................................... 78 5 The Sources ........................................................................................................................... 80 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 80 5.2 Bronze-Age Archaeology ................................................................................................ 80 5.3 Foreign Accounts ...........................................................................................................