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- Aalto, Sirpa
(författare)
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Jómsvíkinga Saga as a Part of Old Norse Historiography
- 2014
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Ingår i: Scripta Islandica. - 0582-3234 .- 2001-9416. ; 65, s. 33-58
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The article argues that Jómsvíkinga saga, despite its mixed modality, should be included in Old Norse historiography. A comparison with kings’ sagas and legendary sagas — in this case Yngvars saga víðfǫrla — shows how these modes were used in Jómsvíkinga saga. The saga is often grouped with Orkneyinga saga and Færeyinga saga, which were also written around the year 1200; all deal in some way with the relationship between kings and aristocrats. The reason for this may be found in contemporary events: The Scandinavian kings were strengthening their position, while the aristocracy was trying to maintain its influence. Therefore, the sagas have also been called political sagas. The oldest extant versions of Jómsvíkinga saga contain the first part of the saga, which deals with the history of the Danish Kings; this shows that the saga was intended to be perceived as history. However, a later version (AM 510 4to) omits this part, which suggests that the historicity of the saga had eroded. The fact that Jómsvíkinga saga was incorporated into manuscripts containing legendary sagas also shows that the saga may have been valued for its entertaining plot and not because of its connections to real events and historical characters.
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| 2. |
- Aðalheiður, Guðmundsdóttir
(författare)
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Tales of Generations : A comparison between some Icelandic and Geatish narrative motifs
- 2016
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Ingår i: Scripta Islandica. - Uppsala : Isländska sällskapet. - 0582-3234 .- 2001-9416. ; 67, s. 5-36
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The medieval Icelandic sagas known as fornaldarsögur usually take place in Norway and Denmark. Some of them, however, are set in Eastern Scandinavia, especially in Gautland. It is of interest, for its own sake, that Icelandic authors chose to write about the Gautar (Old English Geatas, modern English Geats), people whom they seem to have known little about. Accordingly, there is a reason to ask where they got the material for their stories from. Was it entirely made up, or did they perhaps know of some Geatish narrative tradition? This article seeks not to answer these questions in general terms, but rather to throw light on the topic by a case study, and deals with one of the fornaldarsögur, Úlfhams saga, which seems to have exceptionally strong connections to Eastern Scandinavia, or even Gautland specifically. Some aspects of the saga will be considered: its personal names and placenames, individual narrative motifs, its plot and its connection with images on the famous Sparlösa Stone from Viste region, Västergötland. The article reveals the possibility of an underlying Geatish story-telling tradition that might have influenced the author of the saga – and possibly also the person who carved the images on the stone.
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| 3. |
- af Edholm, Klas
(författare)
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Att rista blodörn : Blodörnsriten sedd som offer och ritualiserad våldspraktik i samband med maktskiften i fornnordisk tradition
- 2018
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Ingår i: Scripta Islandica. - 0582-3234 .- 2001-9416. ; 69, s. 5-40
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Discussion of the ritual known as the ‘blood-eagle’ in Old Norse religion has a long tradition behind it. In the disciplines of philology and literary history there has been much scepticism as to whether such a ritual ever actually existed. Orkneyinga saga, ch. 8, describes the carving of a blood-eagle on the back of an enemy, presenting this as a sacrifice to Óðinn following the celebrant’s victory in battle. The description has parallels in other sources, including a skaldic verse by Sigvatr Þórðarson, but the question of their authenticity is problematic. The Orkneyinga saga episode shows several important similarities to other accounts of human sacrifices in Old Norse sources. The overall picture seems to stengthen the supposition that the ritual known as the blood-eagle was a genuine Old Norse religious practice, albeit an exceptional one, and was perhaps bound up with the overthrowing of a ruling personage.
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| 6. |
- Bertelsen, Lise, et al.
(författare)
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Det henrettede par i dobbeltgravhøjene i Kópavogur syd for Reykjavík i Ísland
- 2019
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Ingår i: Scripta Islandica. - : Uppsala University. - 0582-3234 .- 2001-9416. ; 70, s. 37-59
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In September 1704 a man named Sæmundur Þórarinsson was murdered by the river Elliðaá (fig. 1). Steinunn Guðmundsdóttir, his 43-year old wife, and Sigurður Arason, a 26-year-old man who lived with his mother, had had an affair and when Sæmundur was found dead in the river, rumours arose that he had been murdered. Sigurður was arrested for the murder. He first denied all allegations, but eventually he confessed and said that Steinunn had urged him to kill her husband. On November 14tth they were both sentenced to death at Kópavogur’s assembly and executed the following day. He was beheaded and his head put on a stake. She was drowned. Both were buried in unconsecrated ground on the opposite side of the road (fig. 2).In the spring of 1988, the archaeologists Guðmundur Ólafsson, Lise Gjedssø Bertelsen and Sigurður Bergsteinsson excavated their remains.The excavation uncovered a pair of barrows (fig. 3). A lot of small stones had been thrown on top of the original layer by passers-by, a custom which prevented revenance according to Icelandic folklore.Grave 1. Under the pile of stones, in a shallow grave, with no traces of a coffin, lay the skeleton of a woman (figs. 4–6). Her legs were crossed, and most of the bones from the toes were not found. The left arm was slanted down towards the stomach, the right arm inclined up towards the chest. The fists were clenched. The skull was in a strange distorted position. Two cervical vertebrae lay outside normal position, and the two front upper teeth were missing, but one was found in the grave behind the skull. She had been drowned with a sack covering her upper body. Although the missing toes and teeth raised the suspicion of torture, there is, no written evidence of torture in Kópavogur and by civil law, torture of the accused, but yet not convicted was banned and recent analysis showed no signs of torture. A confession given under torture could not be used as evidence in a lawsuit, however, when a person had been sentenced to death, he or she could be tortured, as an addition to the punishment in Denmark as well as in Iceland.Grave 2. On top of the second pile of stones a lower jaw of a man’s skull was found and some loose teeth, the grim remains of the skull that had been placed on a stake, and eventually fallen down (fig. 7). In a shallow grave under the stones lay the skeleton of the beheaded man (figs. 6 & 8), with the skull and the upper 2½ cervical vertebrae missing. The legs were crossed (figs. 6 & 8). By his feet was a 9 cm wide round hole for the stake, supported by several stones. The decapitated head had been placed at the top of the stake to intimidate passers-by on the road (figs. 6 & 8). There were no traces of a coffin.From literary sources we know that at least 12 death sentences were carried out at Kópavogur’s assembly. The last one was carried out in 1704 over Steinunn and Sigurður in accordance to Icelandic law.The Kópavogur gravesite is the only excavated execution site in Iceland, but comparable cases have been found in Denmark, such as one from 1822. Thomas Thomasen Bisp was executed in Vendsyssel for the murder of his wife Maren Justdatter. He had an affair with his maid Ane Margrethe Christensdatter and poisoned his wife. Thomas was sentenced to death by beheading and penalty on wheels and steep. Thomas’s body, including the head pierced by an iron nail, was soon removed and buried in a nearby hill, where it lay undisturbed for 78 years until road workers discovered it (fig. 9). Then the bones came at Vendsyssel Historical Museum. Ane Margrethe was sentenced to lifelong work detention in Viborg Prison, but after many years she was pardoned.
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