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Ritual Leaders, Central Sites, and Legendary Forebears

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Ritual Leaders, Central Sites, and Legendary Forebears Háskóli Íslands Hugvísindasvið Viking and Medieval Norse Studies Ritual Leaders, Central Sites, and Legendary Forebears: The Correlation of Thematic Elements of Ritual Control and Material Remains in the Rise of the Iron Age Elite in Southern Scandinavia Ritgerð til M.A.-prófs í Viking and Medieval Norse Studies Jacob Ikaika Liphart Kt.: 300194-4009 Leiðbeinandi: Viðar Pálsson June 2019 ii Abstract The textual accounts of the legendary leaders of the pre-Christian past in Scandinavia have extensive references to the mythic or divine heritage of the ruling elite, and their importance in the performance of ritual activity during this pre-historic period. This thesis discusses the perceptions of sacral kingship in pre-Christian Scandinavian society along with a selection of the ritual themes found in both medieval and contemporary textual sources that are connected to these Scandinavian rulers. The ritual themes primarily considered: ritual feasting and drinking, sacrifice, prophecy, and sanctuary guardianship. The texts I will be considering are the foreign contemporary observations of Tacitus in Germania, Strabo’s Geographica, and Vita Anskarii by Rimbert- alongside the skaldic poems ‘Ynglingatal,’ ‘Háleygjatal,’ and ‘Hákonarmál.’ Also considered are the later medieval texts Ynglinga saga and Hákonar saga góða attributed to Snorri Sturluson. These textual themes are then carefully compared to archaeological material found at select sites in southern Sweden and Denmark, in an attempt to locate correlations between them that would support elite ritual control. The limitations of both categories of material without strong speculation encourages further investigation of the subject. Despite this, these comparisons resulted a number of correlations between the archaeological evidence and these elite ritual motifs in the literature, reflecting those found elsewhere in Scandinavia. iii Ágrip Ritaðar heimildir um forsögulega konunga og valdaelítu í heiðni á Norðurlöndum vísa ákveðið til ætlaðrar goðfræðilegrar og helgrar arfleifðar þeirra og miðlægs hlutverks í ritúölum. Í þessari ritgerð er sjónum beint að helgri konungsmynd í heiðni eins og henni bregður fyrir í völdum heimildum, flestum yngri textum en einnig samtímatextum, og tengslum hennar við ritúöl. Ritúölsk þemu sem gaumur er gefinn eru einkum: veislur og drykkjur, blót, spásögn og verndun staðarhelgi. Erlendar heimildir sem teknar eru til skoðunar eru Germania Tacítusar, Geographica Strabós og Vita Anskarii Rimberts. Dróttkvæðaflokkarnir Ynglingatal, Háleygjatal og Hákonarmál eru skoðuð auk yngri texta á borð við Ynglinga sögu og Hákonar sögu góða eftir Snorra Sturluson. Höfuðdrættir þessara ritheimilda eru þá bornir saman við vitnisburði fornleifa frá suðurhluta Svíþjóðar og Danmörku og kannað hvort þessir heimildaflokkar styðji hvorn annan er varðar forstöðu leiðtoga fyrir rútúölum. Niðurstaða ritgerðarinnar er meðal annars sú að báðir heimildaflokkar séu takmarkandi og óhægt að fullyrða um margt án frekari rannsókna. Samanburðurinn bendir engu að síður til náinna tengsla á milli forystuhlutverks og forsagnar fyrir ritúölum, eins og vísbendingar eru almennt um á Norðurlöndum. iv Acknowledgements First, would like to thank my advisor, Professor Viðar Pálsson, for all of his assistance and guidance in making this thesis a reality. Viðar helped to steer me in the right direction and develop this paper into the focused work it has become. He kept me on task while supporting my vision. I would also like to thank Liv Marit Mathilde Aurdal for introducing me to the world of Scandinavian Archaeology and encouraging me to pursue that area of study. This encouragement has led to the development of my passion for the field and my intent to continue my academic goals in that direction. I would also like to extend a warm thank to my dear friend, Mariateresa Esposito, for her help with my Old Norse translations and her general support for my learning of the language. I could not have gotten as far as I have with the linguistic complexities of the Old Norse corpus without her encouragement and support. I would also like to extend thanks and love to my family, my loved ones, and friends for supporting my dream to pursue my M.A. in Iceland and this field. Thank you to my gaming crew for making these last two years fun and for all the memories. Thank you to my late grandfather Ken, for making my dreams possible. And thanks to the beautiful cultures and peoples of Iceland and Denmark for inspiring my journey. v Ritual Leaders, Central Sites, and Legendary Forebears: The Correlation of Thematic Elements of Ritual Control and Material Remains in the Rise of the Iron Age Elite in Southern Scandinavia Jacob Ikaika Liphart vi Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Theory and Kingship ................................................................................................... 3 Section I: Theoretical Frameworks ........................................................................................... 3 Literary Analysis ................................................................................................................... 3 Archaeological Analysis ....................................................................................................... 6 Section II: Sacral Kingship ..................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 2: Ritual Power in Literature ......................................................................................... 19 Section I: Divine Ancestry ...................................................................................................... 20 Section II: Ritual Control ........................................................................................................ 29 Ritual Feasting and Drinking: ............................................................................................. 30 Sacrifices: ............................................................................................................................ 32 Prophesy: ............................................................................................................................. 36 The Protection of Sanctuaries: ............................................................................................ 38 Chapter 3: Ritual Power in the Material Remains ....................................................................... 40 Section I: Wetlands and Halls - Context ................................................................................. 40 Section II: Ritual Evidence in Archeological Material ........................................................... 42 Ritual Feasting and Drinking: ............................................................................................. 42 Sacrifice:.............................................................................................................................. 46 Prophesy: ............................................................................................................................. 51 The Protection of Sanctuaries: ............................................................................................ 52 Conclusive Remarks .................................................................................................................... 56 Bibliography: ............................................................................................................................... 58 1 Introduction The mythic past of Viking Age Scandinavia is frequently associated with an image of warrior kings and an elite who commit to family feuds and wars of inheritance; building halls, raiding in far off lands; and battling mysterious creatures. These figures (whether viewed as the descendants of gods, giants, or mythic men) were figures of stature who utilized their strengths and the supposed traditions of the time regarding leadership to gain and keep their power. One of these concepts expressed in the literary corpus, particularly pertaining to pre-Christian rulers, was the idea that these elite leaders were heavily involved in ritual practice of pre-Christian traditions within their communities. In earlier contemporary texts, amongst the works of Roman authors, like Tacitus and Strabo, depictions of ritual control and pre-Christian traditions are noted. These appear more prevalently and are most familiar in the medieval texts, recorded in medieval prose and skaldic poems. Snorri Sturluson regularly presents this motif of the ritual and supernaturally connected elite in Heimskringla and others, along with praises of earlier skalds like Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson in Háleygjatal. These textual depictions present a rich and romantic image of elite mastery of the cultic activity in their domains, but are often accussed of being biased by medieval Christian influence or even falsified altogether. Due to the largely orally based society in Scandinavia prior to the medieval period, the majority of the record descriptions of this time period are foreign (if contemporary) or significantly younger than the supposed events. Therefore, I will not be interpreting these works as historical. Instead, I have selected a number of these sources, both older contemporary foreign sources and more recent medieval works, and will be inspecting them as stories for sacral themes and tropes; identifying
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