December 2011 № 3 Edited by Frog Helen F. Leslie and Mathias Nordvig Published by Folklore Studies / Dept. of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies University of Helsinki, Helsinki ISSN/ISSN-L: 1799-4497 www.helsinki.fi/folkloristiikka/English/RMN/index.htm CONTENTS Editor’s Note .................................................................................................................................... 5 COMMENTS AND COMMUNICATIONS The Contemporary Evidence for Early Medieval Witchcraft-Beliefs ............................................. 6 Alaric Hall The Vanir and ragnarǫk ................................................................................................................. 11 Leszek P. Słupecki The Ship in the Field ...................................................................................................................... 14 Joseph S. Hopkins and Haukur Þorgeirsson Re: Distinguishing Continuities: The Case of Discontinuities in Conceptual Schemas ................ 18 Jill Bradley Ethnocultural Substratum: Its Potential as a Tool for Lateral Approaches to Tradition History ... 23 Frog Conferences and Seminars Conference Report: The Viking Age in Finland Seminars ............................................................ 38 Sirpa Aalto Conference Announcement: Register: Intersections of Language, Context and Communication 42 Kaarina Koski Conference Report: Cultural Exchanges across the Baltic Sea in the Middle Ages Symposium and Workshop: First Meeting of the Austmarr Network ............................................................... 43 Mart Kuldkepp PEOPLE Research Reports Arukask, Madis The Question of Borders in Vepsian Folk Belief ................................................................... 45 Belova, Olga The Choice of Faith in East European Folklore ..................................................................... 45 Frog Conceptualizing Chaos and Conflict in the Assertion of Order: Finno-Karelian Magic, Ritual and Reality in Long-Term Perspective ........................................................................ 46 Traditional Epic as Genre: Definition as a Foundation for Comparative Research ............... 47 Goršič, Matej The Runo Song of Killing a Snake: Origin and Transformations .......................................... 49 2 Kollinger, Karol St Brun of Querfurt and His Relation from a Mission to the Pechenegs ............................... 49 Morawiec, Jakub Conversion of Royal Ideology: Christian Background of the Reign of Cnut the Great in England................................................................................................................................... 50 Potts, Debbie Turning Wine into Water: Unfermented Liquids in the Corpus of Kennings Referring to Poetry ..................................................................................................................................... 51 Timonen, Senni The Virgin Mary in Karelian Folk Poetry and in the Kalevala .............................................. 52 Willson, Kendra A Putative Sámi Charm on an Icelandic Spade: Runic Reception, Magic and Contacts ....... 53 Articles Frog Snorri Sturluson qua Fulcrum: Perspectives on the Cultural Activity of Myth, Mythological Poetry and Narrative in Medieval Iceland ....................................................... 55 Timonen, Senni Obscene Kalevalaic Songs (Kalevalaiset hävyttömät laulut) ................................................. 56 Essay Collections Dewey, Tonya Kim, and Frog Versatility in Versification: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Metrics .................................. 57 Monographs Bek-Pedersen, Karen The Norns in Old Norse Mythology ...................................................................................... 61 Glukhov†, Vladimir, and Natalia Glukhova Systemic Reconstruction of Mari Ethnic Identity (Sistemnaya rekonstruktsiya mariiskoi etnicheskoi identichnosti) ....................................................................................................... 62 Doctoral Research Projects Bonté, Rosalind Literary Perception and Cultural Identity: Exploring the Pan-Atlantic Identity 800–1300 [working title] ......................................................................................................................... 66 Kalkun, Andreas Seto Singing Culture in Studies of Estonian Folklore: A Supplement to the History of Representation ........................................................................................................................ 70 Lukin, Karina Landscapes of the Living and of Bygone Days: Kolguev in the Everyday Life, Recollection and Narration of the Nenets .............................................................................. 76 3 Sykäri, Venla Words as Events: Cretan Mantinádes in Performance and Composition ............................... 79 Master’s Research Projects Bourns, Timothy The Language of Birds in Old Norse Tradition: A Preliminary Introduction ........................ 80 Gjengedal, Ragne Hagrum A Comparison of Old Norse and Modern Dialects in North-West Norway (Sammenligning mellom norrønt og moderne dialekter på Nord-Vestlandet) ...................... 82 CALLS FOR PAPERS The 16th Congress of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR): Folk Narrative in the Modern World: Unity and Diversity ........................................................... 83 4 Editor’s Note RMN Newsletter appeared in response to the need exponentially, inciting a surprising amount of for a medium of contact and communication for interest, inquiries and responses. As a members of the Retrospective Methods Network consequence, RMN Newsletter has taken on a life (RMN). One year has passed since its pilot issue. of its own, and both the newsletter and the The test of the interest in and viability of this network are being defined through participation. publication resulted in a remarkable and That participation has provided RMN Newsletter unexpected response from scholars around the with both breadth and quality, for which we are world – from places as diverse as India, Australia, indebted to the contributors. This has been North America and South Africa. This revealed realized in the present issue; it will again be that the publication not only filled an immediate materialized in the forthcoming special issue need for the RMN, but that it simultaneously met Approaching Methodology (RMN Newsletter № 4, a much broader international interest. RMN May 2012) and we hope to see this continue into Newsletter is presently realizing its goal of the future. becoming an emergent discourse space in which Our present discussions have been shaped by individual scholars present reports and and respond to the history of discourse in our announcements of their own current activities, and fields. The latter half of the 20th century allowed where information about events, projects and our disciplines to make tremendous progress institutions is made available. It has also become through separatization and inward concentration. a venue for discussion and for engaging in vital However, this was not without consequences. The cross-disciplinary dialogue as scholars contribute process of disciplines turning away from one responses to pieces published in previous issues. another led them to become closed to one another. This can be seen in several contributions to the As they developed internally, the lack of cross- present volume. disciplinary dialogue made it difficult for different The RMN is an open network which can disciplines to understand each other – particularly include anyone who wishes to share in its focus. It among scholars of younger generations who is united by an interest in the problems, frequently lack foundational knowledge outside of approaches, strategies and limitations related to their own fields. Significantly, these same considering some aspect of culture in one period processes led research disciplines to become through evidence from another, later period. Such increasingly isolated from and inaccessible to comparisons range from investigating historical society more generally. Although this is most true relationships to the utility of analogical parallels, of hard sciences, the hard sciences are validated and from comparisons across centuries to through practical relevance to business and developing working models for the more industry. Culture is more essential to any society immediate traditions behind limited sources. than technology, but the humanities are now Although comparative discussion was devalued in threatened because they are closed off or the latter half of the 20th century, its value is inaccessible from outside individual disciplines implicit in the degree to which examples from and also lack authoritative outside affirmations. modern cultures are naturally used in research Reopening discourse and discussion across practice, pedagogy and raising social awareness disciplines is the first step in making our fields when illustrating points and propositions accessible to wider audiences. This is the first step concerning cultures past and present. Comparison in raising general awareness of the value and and analogy appear to be essential tools for significance of the humanities – and of culture generating understandings. itself – to our daily lives and the societies in The international electronic medium of RMN which we live today. Newsletter has allowed it to become a nexus of contact and communication through