MA ritgerð Norræn trú Að hitta skrímslið í skóginum Animal Shape-shifting, Identity, and Exile in Old Norse Religion and World-view Caroline Elizabeth Oxley Leiðbeinandi: Terry Adrian Gunnell Október 2019 Að hitta skrímslið í skóginum Animal Shape-shifting, Identity, and Exile in Old Norse Religion and World-view Caroline Elizabeth Oxley Lokaverkefni til MA–gráðu í Norrænni trú Leiðbeinandi: Terry Adrian Gunnell 60 einingar Félags– og mannvísindadeild Félagsvísindasvið Háskóla Íslands Október, 2019 Að hitta skrímslið í skóginum Ritgerð þessi er lokaverkefni til MA-gráðu í Norrænni trú og er óheimilt að afrita ritgerðina á nokkurn hátt nema með leyfi rétthafa. © Caroline Elizabeth Oxley, 2019 Prentun: Háskólaprent Reykjavík, Ísland, 2019 Caroline Oxley MA in Old Nordic Religion: Thesis Kennitala: 181291-3899 Október 2019 Abstract Að hitta skrímslið í skóginum: Animal Shape-shifting, Identity, and Exile in Old Norse Religion and World-view This thesis is a study of animal shape-shifting in Old Norse culture, considering, among other things, the related concepts of hamr, hugr, and the fylgjur (and variations on these concepts) as well as how shape-shifters appear to be associated with the wild, exile, immorality, and violence. Whether human, deities, or some other type of species, the shape-shifter can be categorized as an ambiguous and fluid figure who breaks down many typical societal borderlines including those relating to gender, biology, animal/ human, and sexual orientation. As a whole, this research project seeks to better understand the background, nature, and identity of these figures, in part by approaching the subject psychoanalytically, more specifically within the framework established by the Swiss psychoanalyst, Carl Jung, as part of his theory of archetypes. This project includes, among other things, a critical examination of the extant archaeological and Icelandic literary sources (as well as other works such as Historia Norwegiæ and Gesta Danorum) relating to shape-shifting as a means of analyzing the concept of Old Norse animal shape-shifting, and earlier understandings of human/ animal relationships as a whole, noting how this motif seems to have been perceived by Scandinavian society over time. In short, the thesis aims to understand the “inner mechanics” of shape-shifting and why these figures later came to be demonized, exiled, and persecuted in Scandinavian society. Útdráttur Að hitta skrímslið í skóginum: Hamskipti, sjálfsmynd og útlegð í fornnorrænum trúarbrögðunum og heimspeki Þessi ritgerð er rannsókn á hamskiptum í fornnorrænni menningu þar sem meðal annars er fjallað um skyld hugtök hamr, hugr og fylgjur (og tilbrigði við þessi hugtök) sem og hvernig formbreytingar virðast vera í tengslum við náttúruna, útlegð, siðleysi og ofbeldi. Hvort sem það er mannkyn, guðdómur eða önnur tegund af veru, þá er hægt að flokka hamskiptinginn sem tvíræða og breytilega veru sem brýtur niður margar dæmigerðar samfélagslegar ímyndir, þar á meðal þær sem tengjast kyni, líffræði, dýrum/ mönnum og kynhneigð. Í heild sinni leitast þetta rannsóknarverkefni við að skilja betur bakgrunn, eðli og sjálfsmynd þessara vera, að hluta til með því að nálgast viðfangsefnið frá sjónarhorni sálfræðinnar, nánar tiltekið innan þess ramma sem svissneski sálfræðingurinn Carl Jung setti upp sem hluta af kenningu sinni um erkitýpur. Þetta verkefni felur meðal annars í sér gagnrýna athugun á fornleifafræðilegum og íslenskum bókmenntaheimildum (sem og öðrum verkum eins og Historia Norwegiæ og Gesta Danorum) varðandi formbreytingu sem leið til að greina fornnorræn hamskipti og fyrri skilning á samskiptum manna/ dýra í heild sinni, og vekja athygli á því hvernig þetta mótíf virðist hafa verið álitið í skandinavísku samfélagi í gegnum tíðina. Í stuttu máli miðar ritgerðin að því að skilja „innri vélfræði“ lögunarbreytinga og hvers vegna þessar verur urðu síðar dæmdar, útlægar og ofsóttar í skandinavísku samfélagi. Caroline Oxley MA in Old Nordic Religion: Thesis Kennitala: 181291-3899 Október 2019 Acknowledgments and Dedication I would like to take a moment to thank several individuals who helped make this thesis come to life. First, I need to whole-heartedly thank my advisor, Terry Gunnell, for pushing me past what I ever thought I could accomplish, knowing that I could succeed if I endeavored to work hard. Your continued support and patience throughout this process has not only made me a better writer and academic, but it allowed me to find what I am truly passionate about. I cannot thank you enough. To my parents and my family: thank you for supporting me when I decided to pack up and move to Reykjavík to study this wonderfully weird mythology. I did not know if I was capable of being an academic at this level, but because of y’all’s continued guidance, I know that I can push on and pursue my ambitions. To Ingi: thank you for making my Icelandic coherent and letting me crash in Reykjavík for weeks as I searched for primary texts that like to stay hidden in Iceland. Skál! To my lifelines, Tara and Lauren: I do not think that I would have made it through this journey without you both at my side. I will forever remember our year together in Reykjavík with the late night study sessions, the coffee breaks, the “let’s do this every night!” fiasco, and of course, the “sunny summer of 1203”. To my husband, Charlie: words cannot express how your support throughout this process helped me when I felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you for keeping me (mostly) sane and reminding me that I had the ability to succeed, even if it meant being apart for some time. I would not be the person that I am today without you, thank you for being as strange as I am, I love you. Finally, I would like to dedicate this work to all those who question whether something lurks in the forest and to those who choose to stray from the path. I sincerely hope that this work sparks your curiosity. Caroline E. Oxley Reykjavík, September 1st, 2019 5 Caroline Oxley MA in Old Nordic Religion: Thesis Kennitala: 181291-3899 Október 2019 Table of Contents 1 Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................. 4 Útdráttur ........................................................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgments and Dedication .................................................................................. 5 Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. 6 List of Figures ................................................................................................................... 9 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 12 1.1 Of Monsters and Myth: The Idea of the “Other” .............................................. 12 1.2 Thesis Outline ................................................................................................... 15 2 Approaching Animal-related Shape-changing in Academia ................................. 17 2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 17 2.2 Previous Approaches and Perspectives to Old Norse Shape-shifting ............... 17 2.3 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 27 3 Totemism and Human/ Animal Relationships ........................................................ 28 3.1 General Work on Human/ Animal Relationships ............................................. 28 3.2 Totemism and the Native American Nations .................................................... 28 3.2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 28 3.2.2 Animals and the Clan ................................................................................. 30 3.2.3 Animals and the Individual ........................................................................ 32 3.3 Animal Guardian Spirits as an Expression of Totemism .................................. 34 3.4 Personal Names as an Expression of Totemism ............................................... 36 3.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 40 4 Methodology ............................................................................................................... 41 4.1 Methodology and Objectives ............................................................................ 41 4.2 The Development of Psychoanalysis ................................................................ 42 4.3 The Jungian Archetypes .................................................................................... 44 4.3.1 The Shadow ................................................................................................ 45 4.3.2 The Anima and Animus .............................................................................. 47 4.3.3 The Persona ............................................................................................... 51 4.3.4 The Self ...................................................................................................... 53 4.4 Potential Problems Surrounding Early Psychoanalytical Theory ..................... 55 4.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................