SCRIPTA ISLANDICA ISLÄNDSKA SÄLLSKAPETS ÅRSBOK 68/2017 REDIGERAD AV LASSE MÅRTENSSON OCH VETURLIÐI ÓSKARSSON under medverkan av Pernille Hermann (Århus) Else Mundal (Bergen) Guðrún Nordal (Reykjavík) Heimir Pálsson (Uppsala) Henrik Williams (Uppsala) UPPSALA, SWEDEN Publicerad med stöd från Vetenskapsrådet. © 2017 respektive författare (CC BY) ISSN 0582-3234 EISSN 2001-9416 Sättning: Ord och sats Marco Bianchi urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-336099 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-336099 Innehåll LARS-ERIK EDLUND, Ingegerd Fries (1921–2016). Minnesord ...... 5 AÐALHEIÐUR GUÐMUNDSDÓTTIR, Some Heroic Motifs in Icelandic Art 11 DANIEL SÄVBORG, Blot-Sven: En källundersökning .............. 51 DECLAN TAGGART, All the Mountains Shake: Seismic and Volcanic Imagery in the Old Norse Literature of Þórr ................. 99 ELÍN BÁRA MAGNÚSDÓTTIR, Forfatterintrusjon i Grettis saga og paralleller i Sturlas verker ............................... 123 HAUKUR ÞORGEIRSSON & TERESA DRÖFN NJARÐVÍK, The Last Eddas on Vellum .............................................. 153 HEIMIR PÁLSSON, Reflections on the Creation of Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda ........................................... 189 MAGNUS KÄLLSTRÖM, Monumenta lapidum aliquot runicorum: Om runstensbilagan i Verelius’ Gothrici & Rolfi Westrogothiae Regum Historia (1664) ................................. 233 MATTEO TARSI, Creating a Norm for the Vernacular: Some Critical Notes on Icelandic and Italian in the Middle Ages ............ 253 OLOF SUNDQVIST, Blod och blót: Blodets betydelse och funktion vid fornskandinaviska offerriter .............................. 275 SVEINN YNGVI EGILSSON, Kan man skriva pastoral poesi så nära Nord polen? Arkadiska skildringar i isländska dikter från arton- hundratalet ........................................... 309 TOMMY KUUSELA, ”Þá mælti Míms hǫfuð”: Jätten Mimer som kunskaps förmedlare i fornnordisk tradition .................. 331 Recensioner LARS LÖNNROTH, Rec. av A Handbook to Eddic Poetry: Myths and Legends of Early Scandinavia, red. Carolyne Larrington, Judy Quinn & Brittany Schorn ................................ 361 LARS-ERIK EDLUND, Rec. av Islänningasagorna. Samtliga släktsagor och fyrtionio tåtar. Red. Kristinn Jóhannesson, Gunnar D. Hansson & Karl G. Johansson . 369 AÐALHEIÐUR GUÐMUNDSDÓTTIR, Rev. of Agneta Ney. Bland ormar och drakar: Hjältemyt och manligt ideal i berättar traditioner om Sigurd Fafnes bane ..................................... 377 Isländska sällskapet AGNETA NEY & MARCO BIANCHI, Berättelse om verksamheten under 2016 ................................................ 387 Författarna i denna årgång ................................. 389 Agneta Ney. Bland ormar och drakar: Hjältemyt och manligt ideal i berättar traditioner om Sigurd Fafnesbane. Lund 2017: Nordic Academic Press. 360 p. Sigurðr Fáfnisbani is one of the most popular legendary heroes of Medi eval European literature. Along with champions like King Arthur and Dietrich von Bern, he leads the world of heroic legend, where he is represented in different ways, as well as influencing other and lesser- known legendary heroes. Neither Sigurðr nor Arthur or Dietrich – or any of the other prominent heroes of medieval tradition – are, however, arche typal, as they themselves reflect Germanic gods as well as historical figures, in addition to showing some prototypical characteristics of legen- dary heroes. As a dragon slayer, Sigurðr is, for example, reminiscent of the god Þórr, who can be said to play the ultimate heroic role in Norse mythology. Þórr is fundamentally a hero who sacrifices himself and does his heroic deeds to the benefit of others, and his role is to protect the society of gods/men against threats of invasion or other perils. This is not only evident from his continuing struggle against the jötnar of the North, but also in his fight with the Midgard serpent, who itself is in many ways reminiscent of a dragon. More heroes of Norse legend fight dragons, thereby performing the ultimate heroic deed. But why do heroes fight dragons, and what manner of phenomenon is the dragon? It is safe to say that the dragon is a symbolic figure, and those who read or listen to earlier legends soon realize that it is some thing much more than just a frightening, fire-breathing beast in the form of pre-historical flying dinosaur. Scholars, however, do not agree on the fundamental nature of the dragon. Some feel it represents the highest prowess of a hero, who faces and conquers fear itself through dragon slaying, because being fearless in a world full of danger is a desirable quality. Others believe the dragon is primarily a symbol of destructive powers such as greed and evil, or simply the enemy, which the hero has to fight for the benefit of the community. The ultimate hero is thus a guardian and protector of human community. Guðmundsdóttir, Aðalheiður. 2017. Rev. of Agneta Ney. Bland ormar och drakar: Hjältemyt och manligt ideal i berättartraditioner om Sigurd Fafnesbane. Scripta Islandica 68: 377–386. © Aðalheiður Guðmundsdóttir (CC BY) http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-336120 378 Aðalheiður Guðmundsdóttir It may well be that these two points of view, despite their differences, can be united in one and the same heroic tale. While Fáfnir, the dragon of the Sigurðr legend, obviously represents greed – lying as he does on the golden hoard keeping it for himself and away from others – Sigurðr’s attack on Fáfnir sheds light not only on his great deed to benefit the community, but also on his superiority over other men. Sigurðr is the one who does not fear. In fact, the importance of Sigurðr’s role as a protector of others can be questioned, as he is not exactly driven by righteousness or care for other people, although Sigurðr’s slaying of the dragon is cer- tain ly meant to help his fóstri, Reginn, to have his rightful revenge on his brother, Fáf nir. At the end, Sigurðr’s slaying of the dragon seems to be more a matter of his own maturity, and the birth of the ultimate hero. When Sigurðr rides away on his horse Grani, having slayed the dragon and loaded the hoard on Grani, he has grown from being a brave young adult to a hero; his maturity, however, concerns not only his courage, but also his wisdom. As is generally known, Sigurðr tasted the blood of the dragon’s heart after the slaying, and consequently understood the lan- guage of birds, who told him that Reginn was about to betray him; thus, the young hero came to know the two brothers’ “greed” and “betrayal” – and slayed both of them. He then visits the Valkyrie Sigrdrífa/Brynhildr, where he continues his developmental journey by acquiring wisdom. When Sigurðr has finally developed by learning courage, coming to under stand the difference between right and wrong and gaining wisdom, he has only one important lesson left: that of love and relationships. In the Icelandic Völsunga saga, along with earlier Eddic poems relating the same events, Sigurðr is yet to know the different aspects of love. He him self falls in love with the Valkyrie Brynhildr, and the two make vows to each other. Later, after having been deceived by means of magic, he for gets about Brynhildr and marries Guðrún. Brynhildr is not out of the story, however, as Sigurðr subsequently helps his new brother-in-law and sworn brother Gunnarr to woo Brynhildr, playing tricks on her that he never should have. The consequences of the betrayals are not only com- plex, but fateful for the four protagonists, as well as for all those who in one way or another participate in this great story of fates – a story that would fascinate people for ages to come. Agneta Ney’s book, Bland ormar och drakar: Hjältemyt och manligt ideal i berättartraditioner om Sigurd Fafnesbane, looks at the great destiny of Sigurðr and a considerable amount of related material. The main text, covering 274 pages, is divided into five chapters and several Rev. of Agneta Ney. Bland ormar och drakar 379 sub-chapters, as well as an introduction. The chapters are: 1. “Episkt berättande som källa til myt och manlighet”, 2. “Sigurdsmotiv i vikinga- tida och medeltida litteratur”, 3. “Från mytologisk drak dödare till hövisk riddare”, 4. “Sigurdsmotiv i senvikingatida och medeltida bildkonst”, and 5. “Från kvinno centrerad eddadikt till manscentrerad ikonografi”. These are fol lowed by notes and a bibliography, but unfortunately no index, which would have been helpful for the reader. In Chapter 1, the author describes her methodological starting point, a kind of overall theme, which is the representation of masculinity in medi- eval European literature. The chapter deals with the image of male heroes in general terms, their relation to their family, friendship and alliances. Accord ing to medieval European literature, being born as a son into a power ful family was anything but simple. There was, for instance, quite a differ ence between the eldest son, and heir, and the younger sons, who had to earn their name and fortune by other means. The heir’s role was not easy either and was likely to be associated with conflicts, both between the heir and his father (the present authority), on the one hand, and the heir and his brothers, on the other. Conflicts between generations and within families were thus in some cases inevitable. Moreover, it was important for men to cultivate their relationships with other men, particularly their maternal uncles. With this interesting insight into the world of medieval chieftains, as depicted in literature, the author leads us to the next chapter, where