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Intro Seminar - Death, Revenge & Madness in Icelandic literature and culture

Intro Seminar - Death, Revenge & Madness in Icelandic literature and culture. Welcome to class # 3 !. -Architecture, the longhouse, social implication -History and Culture and early literature (compare the viking type Einar’s father, Egill) and the more complex figures

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Intro Seminar - Death, Revenge & Madness in Icelandic literature and culture

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  1. Intro Seminar - Death, Revenge & Madness in Icelandic literature and culture Welcome to class # 3 ! -Architecture, the longhouse, social implication -History and Culture and early literature (compare the viking type Einar’s father, Egill) and the more complex figures -Women, the egging woman, gmc motif - Finish the outlaw, scenes from Hrafninn flygur?,

  2. 1 Intro Seminar - wk 3History

  3. 2 Intro Seminar - wk 3History *Many of the literary motifs are common to all Gmc. Peoples - they pre-date the Völkerwanderungen. - the deities of the Northern pantheon - The Sigfried myth / the dragon - The valkyrie-type of woman tricked into marrying below her status (part of Sigfried myth)

  4. 3 Intro Seminar - wk 3Characteristics of the Germanic peoples • The Germani develop a warrior culture based on the • comitatus - a group of warriors who voluntarily swear • an oath of allegiance to a leader. • *the warriors protect the leader/king and in turn • the king rewards the individual with protection • (through the comitatus) and with wealth (gifts/ • land) • Tribal economy based on reciprocity rather than trade: • Goods/services distributed as gifts and mutual obligation • Between members of the group • *essentially oral culture - runes http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MA/GERMANS.HTM

  5. 5 Intro Seminar - wk 3History - Settlement of Iceland • Norsemen that came to Ice. were not a planned migration • Various waves over that period of 60 years • 10.000-20.000 people settle in Iceland during that time • *No leaders - a new land, empty for the most part, limited • habitable area • *The new society’s development was dictated by • competition among succeeding generation for the land’s • limited resources Byock, Jesse. 1988. Medieval Iceland. Berkeley:UCP

  6. 6 Intro Seminar - wk 3History - Settlement of Iceland ctd. • Practices of land-taking (landnáma): both men and • women • No religious or political figure more powerful than others • Local parliaments with representatives • Some settlers were Christian, others (majority) pagan • 930 establishment of the althing, the nation-wide • assembly of representative. • *It meets for two weeks at the end of June at Thingvellir, • ‘Parliament plains’ • *The representatives are regional leaders to whom local • farmers plead allegiance and in exchange get protection, • legal representation at the althing and support in • legal disputes

  7. 7 Intro Seminar - wk 3Importance of the laws • Insistence on respect of laws (see Njál’s saga) • No executive branch (policing) - the set of laws is • intended for individuals to take advantage of. • Fines and outlawry were intended as deterrents against • crimes (violence, theft, insults etc.) • - Greater Outlawry: banished for life (essentially a good • way to get rid of troublemakers. • Lesser Outlawry: banished for 3 years (you’d have 3 • years to leave the country or become a full outlaw)

  8. 8 Intro Seminar - wk 3Democracy or ? • There are rich people and poor ones • New evidence of tenant farmers (summer only) • Everyone is equal - but there are slaves. • You cannot settle more cases than you can pay • for (fines) • Some cases you cannot settle w/o the help of • powerful chieftains (Hrafnkel’s saga) • A woman can’t bring a case to court/get revenge • The figure of the ‘egging woman’ • A woman can divorce, but how often was that done?

  9. 9 Longhouses

  10. 10 Longhouses Eiríksstaðir Erik (The Red)´s farm

  11. 11 Longhouses Stöng Under Hekla´s 1104 eruption ash

  12. 12 Longhouse with extensions • 16-23 ft wide and 50-250 long • In Iceland where wood was scarce: walls of turf • Fire pit running down the length of the central aisle

  13. 13 Evolution of the longhouse 1 3 2

  14. 14 Life inside a longhouse • No windows • Benches to sleep, eat, work • Smoke holes • Lamps for light

  15. 15 Cultural development • Poems from a common Gmc. era: • Alliteration, common deities, common motifs • Natural references to lands with a different geography or vegetation from Iceland (Völuspá The Seeress’s Prophecy) - reindeer in the Sayings of the High One • The versions we have are probably from the 10th century (MS XIV) • Attila - historical figure 406-453

  16. 16 The problem of sources • Historical writings in XII • Lándnámabók and Íslendingabók • Genealogies, church documents • Very concise, often based on oral accounts • Writing about the settlement over two centuries later

  17. 17 The Sagas • Sagas of Icelanders or Family Sagas - Prototypical novels… • Tales in prose, often extending 100s of pages, about the history of the people that settled in Iceland during the time of the Settlement (870-930) • Historical sources? • Written in XIII-XIV centuries Sagas online - http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/tarristi/sagas.htm

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