Kirsi T Kanerva | University of Helsinki (original) (raw)
Books by Kirsi T Kanerva
Sirpa Aalto & Kirsi Kanerva. 2019. Johdatus saagakirjallisuuteen [Introduction to Saga Literature... more Sirpa Aalto & Kirsi Kanerva. 2019. Johdatus saagakirjallisuuteen [Introduction to Saga Literature]. Studia Historica Septentrionalia 81. Rovaniemi: Pohjois-Suomen Historiallinen yhdistys/Societas historica Finlandiae Septentrionalis.
Articles: miscellaneous by Kirsi T Kanerva
Mielen rajoilla. Arjen kummat kokemukset [At the Boundaries of the Human Mind. Everyday uncanny experiences], 2017
Artikkeli “Kumma ja tunteet” [Emotions and the Uncanny], julkaistu teoksessa/published in Mielen ... more Artikkeli “Kumma ja tunteet” [Emotions and the Uncanny], julkaistu teoksessa/published in Mielen rajoilla. Arjen kummat kokemukset [At the Boundaries of the Human Mind. Everyday uncanny experiences], toim/ed. Kaarina Koski & Marja-Liisa Honkasalo. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura/Finnish Literature Society, 87–123.
WiderScreen, 2020
In this essay, I will discuss some of the opportunities offered by Todd Phillips's Joker (2019) t... more In this essay, I will discuss some of the opportunities offered by Todd Phillips's Joker (2019) to engage in an "interpretative play," to use the term of Noël Carroll, with this particular work of art, and consider some of the emotional responses that the movie elicits. The perspective in this free-associative essay is subjective, and the aesthetic and non-aesthetic responses to the film elaborated here concentrate on the following selected themes: emotions and sexuality as part of the Joker's origin story and the Joker's role as an archetypal trickster in the Jungian sense.
To access the essay, please go to http://widerscreen.fi/numerot/ajankohtaista/learning-to-feel-an-essay-on-death-sex-and-tricksterism-in-todd-phillipss-joker-2019/ (published January 23, 2020)
Articles: 19th-century history by Kirsi T Kanerva
Historiska och litteraturhistoriska studier 95, 2020
Wilhelm Forsman (1781-1865) kom från en lärd prästsläkt och var född och uppvuxen i byn Östermark... more Wilhelm Forsman (1781-1865) kom från en lärd prästsläkt och var född och uppvuxen i byn Östermark i Södra Österbotten, där han också tillbringade största delen av sitt liv. I Wilhelms far, kyrkoherden i Östermark Johan Forsmans (d. 1810) släkt var det många som på 1800-talet blev betydande rättslärda och aktörer på det vetenskapliga och politiska området. Även Wilhelm följde släktens traditioner och studerade först vid Vasa trivialskola (1794-1801) och skrevs sedan in vid Akademien i Åbo år 1802. Till skillnad från sin far och många andra män i släkten blev han inte präst trots att han var student. År 1807 rekryterades han till Vasa regemente och deltog därefter i 1808-1809 års krig som sergeant. Efter att han hade återvänt från kriget verkade han från och med slutet av 1818 som kyrkväktare i sin framlidne fars hemförsamling Östermark. Senare nämns han i skrifteböckerna också som torpare under prästgården. Även i valet av maka skilde sig Wilhelm från många av de andra männen i släkten, vars hustrur kom från betydande svenskspråkiga släkter. Wilhelm, som ända till krigsslutet hade tjänstgjort vid Vasa regemente, återvände hösten 1809 till hembygden från andra sidan Bottniska viken och ingick ganska snart äktenskap med den lokala torpardottern Clara Johansdotter.2 Wilhelms egna barn slog inte längre in på den lärda banan: de blev drängar och pigor.
I denna artikel granskar jag förhållandet till svenskan i den i huvudsak finskspråkiga kyrksocknen Östermark under 1800-talets första hälft. Jag närmar mig ämnet via en fallstudie: i centrum står Wilhelm Forsman, vars liv man kan se som en fruktbar anomali, det vill säga ett ovanligt, överraskande och otypiskt objekt för historisk forskning. Ynglingen från den lärda svenskspråkiga släkten slog in på den lärda banan, men följde till slut inte den väg som i regel var utstakad för dem som tillhörde hans stånd. I och med honom övergick i stället den östermarkska grenen av den Forsmanska släkten från herrskapsklassen till allmogeklassen och förfinskades också inom kort. Wilhelms liv kan därmed ses som ett slags mellanskede, där förhållandet till svenskan i Wilhelms släkt ändrades. Genom att studera Wilhelms fall är det möjligt att, förutom att få en djupare förståelse av detta enskilda fall, också få en ökad förståelse av ståndspersoners språkförhållanden i ett landsbygdssamhälle under en tidsperiod som på samhällelig nivå präglades av olika ideologiska förändringar i förhållande till språken.
I början av tidsperioden efter 1808–1809 års krig var den svenskspråkiga samhällseliten i romantikens anda influerad av tankar om en nation med ett språk (finska). I slutskedet, från och med 1850-talet, började man inom eliten också intressera sig för den svenskspråkiga allmogen, vars historia tidigare inte hade väckt intresse bland svenskspråkiga ståndspersoner.
Articles: Saga studies by Kirsi T Kanerva
Journal of Medieval History, 2022
This article examines encounters with the dead in medieval Icelandic contemporary sagas (samtiðar... more This article examines encounters with the dead in medieval Icelandic contemporary sagas (samtiðarsögur) and the changes in cultural conceptions of the power of the dead to return as reflected in these sources. Whereas the better known family sagas (Íslendingasögur) that were based on centuries-old oral stories portrayed the undead as tangible restless corpses, in contemporary sagas that described more recent historical events the dead appeared in dreams. A short tale called Kumlbúa þáttr provides a case study, to which the examples of the dead appearing in dreams in other sources are contrasted. It is argued that the dead in dreams still acted as moral judges like the tangible restless corpses in the family sagas, but the focus of their attention often shifted from collective to individual responsibility for moral transgressions, thus reflecting the gradual individualisation and interiorisation of medieval Icelandic religious experience.
To cite this article: Kirsi Kanerva (2022) The dead in dreams: medieval Icelandic conceptions of the unquiet dead, Journal of Medieval History, 48:2, 218-234, DOI: 10.1080/03044181.2022.2049514
Folklore and Old Norse Mythology, 2021
In the thirteenth-century Vǫlsunga saga, Brynhildr commits suicide after Sigurðr’s death: she sta... more In the thirteenth-century Vǫlsunga saga, Brynhildr commits suicide after Sigurðr’s death: she stabs herself with a sword and is burned on his funeral pyre. Brynhildr’s suicide appears to be a northern innovation since in the southern version of the legend Brynhildr’s fate is left suspended (Kuhn 1971; Anderson 1980: 35). The episode can nevertheless be seen as a parallel of Nanna’s death in Snorra Edda: at Baldr’s funeral Nanna dies of grief and is burned together with Baldr on his funeral pyre. Brynhildr has also been paralleled with the Laxdoela saga heroine Guðrún Ósvífsdóttir (e.g. Einar Ól. Sveinsson 1934b: xlvi; Andersson 1980: 241, 243; Heinrichs 1986: 110), who is responsible for the death of her beloved, Kjartan, but unlike Brynhildr, she does not commit suicide and lives until old age. In this chapter, I will consider medieval Icelandic conceptions of, attitudes towards, and norms concerning suicide by employing three levels of comparison. I first deal with Nanna’s death in mythic time. Second, I discuss Brynhildr’s suicide in mytho-heroic time, which was situated in the ancient and heroic past where mythic figures such as Óðinn could still occasionally cross the boundary between the world of the humans and the world of the gods. Third, I examine Guðrún Ósvífsdóttir’s life in historical time. The aim of the comparison is to examine whether genre matters; whether the different genres examined here reflect uniform values or not, and, if not, in what ways do the norms, attitudes and conceptions reflected in the sources differ from each other? Are these genres commensurable in general when examining conceptions of, attitudes towards, and norms concerning suicide in the thirteenth-century context where, according to scholarly consensus, the main sources of this study were written? (What) can we benefit from the examination ofdifferent genres when studying suicide in medieval Iceland?
Published in Folklore and Old Norse Mythology, ed. Frog and Joonas Ahola. Folklore Fellows’ Communications 323. The Kalevala Society: Helsinki, 549–587.
Suomen Kirkkohistoriallisen Seuran Vuosikirja , 2019
This article deals with repentance as emotion in medieval Icelandic culture circa 1200–1400. It s... more This article deals with repentance as emotion in medieval Icelandic culture circa 1200–1400. It studies representations of repentance in medieval saga literature, concentrating on repentance as practice (as defined by Monique Scheer), including attitudes towards and meanings given to repentance in religious and secular contexts.
Iceland was Christianized in 999/1000, but conversion did not result in radically drastic changes of mentality or worldview. Confrontation of two worldviews, Christian and indigenous, occurred when Christian ideas of penitence were adopted. In Christian thought, repentance as emotion was associated with certain norms and emotional practice. Sometimes these “foreign” norms and expectations in terms of strong displays could collide with vernacular theories of emotion: some emotions considered good and appropriate in Christian thought might be viewed from the native perspective as bad, unwanted, or detrimental to health.
The sources used in this study consist of vernacular sagas written in Iceland circa 1200–1400. I will concentrate on two cases, one in Dámusta saga and one in Laxdæla saga. I will examine the representation of repentance in the two sources intertextually in connection with other medieval Icelandic sagas in order to show how Dámusti’s and Guðrún’s repentance as emotional practice would have been viewed in light of vernacular conceptions of emotions. I will suggest that while there existed a model for repentance that emphasized the bodily nature of the experience and drastic emotional expression, this was not the only model. Another type, which represented the practice of repentance as a ritualistic performance, avoided excessive emotions and bodily displays of remorse. The first model was problematic because it ran counter to the indigenous conceptions of what emotions are and how they operate, and thereby contested the local norms of emotional expression.
Viator, 2018
Kanerva, Kirsi. 2018. Female Suicide in Thirteenth-Century Iceland: The Case of Brynhildr inVölsu... more Kanerva, Kirsi. 2018. Female Suicide in Thirteenth-Century Iceland: The Case of Brynhildr inVölsunga saga. Viator 49 (3), 129-154.https://doi.org/10.1484/J.VIATOR.5.119576
The article examines thirteenth-century Icelandic conceptions of female suicide and ideas about their causes and motives by conducting a case study of a saga figure called Brynhildr, who commits suicide. The story of Brynhildr is told in several medieval Icelandic sources: in the mytho-heroic legendary saga (fornaldarsaga) Völsunga saga, Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda. The story of Brynhildr in these sources offers fruitful material for the study of the history of suicide, since the northern version in question differs from the southern version of the Brynhildr legend that was known especially in medieval Germany, in which Brynhildr does not kill herself. In this study, the causes and background factors of Brynhildr’s suicide and her motives for her deed, which are described and mentioned in the sources, represent possibilities for female behavior that were part of the mental toolbox of medieval Icelanders. It is argued that the Icelandic audience believed some women committed suicide to protect or restore their honor, or to take revenge, and that such an act required determination, capability to make rational choices, and sense of responsibility. The act could also be seen as a manifestation of power and authority: the woman decided herself when her life would end. However, Brynhildr’s death represents only one possible type of female suicide, and not all were expected to be the same. Committing such a preconceived self-killing as Brynhildr’s required an especially strong will. Most women, who were usually maintained by men, were thought not to possess such might and strength.
(Please contact the author if you wish to receive a copy of the article.)
Dying Prepared in Medieval and Early Modern Northern Europe, 2018
Kanerva, Kirsi. 2018. ”Restless Dead or Peaceful Cadavers? Preparations for Death and Afterlife i... more Kanerva, Kirsi. 2018. ”Restless Dead or Peaceful Cadavers? Preparations for Death and Afterlife in Medieval Iceland,” in Dying Prepared in Medieval and Early Modern Northern Europe, ed. Anu Lahtinen and Mia Korpiola. Leiden: Brill 2018, 18–43
The article examines cultural conceptions of the possible afterlives of suicides in medieval (ca.... more The article examines cultural conceptions of the possible afterlives of suicides in medieval (ca. 1200–1400) Iceland: whether those who committed suicide were expected to return as restless dead. It is suggested that suicide corpses were not regarded as inherently dangerous in medieval Iceland. According to the law, those who committed suicide would not be buried in the churchyard, but repentance before the actual moment of death could still make burial in the cemetery possible. The second chance allotted to self-killers raises the question of whether the burial method implied danger and contagion, or merely social exclusion. It is argued that suicide per se was not expected to make the corpse restless. People who were considered weak and powerless in life would not return after death, since posthumous restlessness required that the person had a strong will and motivation to come back. Consequently, in the case of suicides, possible posthumous restlessness depended on the person's character in life. People with strong will and special magical skills were anticipated to return, whereas other suicides remained passive and peaceful.
Death in Medieval Europe: Death Scripted and Death Choreographed, 2017
In this chapter the posthumously restless dead, or ‘ghosts’ of Old Icelandic saga literature will... more In this chapter the posthumously restless dead, or ‘ghosts’ of Old Icelandic saga literature will be discussed. The ghosts in sagas were not ethereal phantoms dressed in white, but dead people appearing to the living in their physical, recognizable and undecayed bodies. These corporeal, physical revenants seem to have both malevolent and benevolent functions in sagas: they may give assistance and advice to people, but may also cause the living trouble and fear, as well as madness, disease, or death.
In the light of earlier studies (e.g. Byock 1982, 133; Vésteinn Ólason 2003, 161; Nedkvitne 2004, 38–43; Martin 2005, 75–80) the dead generally became restless of their own free and often malevolent will. Thus, activity after death was usually not a punishment for the deceased, but an expression of their wish to continue to participate in the society of the living. Behind this was presumably a belief in some kind of life power and vitality remained in the human body after death – “a pagan relic” (Vésteinn Ólason 2003, 167) that may have survived in thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Iceland (see also Caciola 1996; and on similar ideas in Finnic folklore Koski 2011, 94–97).
This idea fits well with the ghosts of the so-called Sagas of Icelanders, Íslendingasögur, which were written mainly in the thirteenth century, that is, over 200 years after Icelanders had adopted Christianity, but not with all ghosts in the saga literature. In other, more mythical saga genres such as Eddic poetry, often thought to derive from the heathen period (ca. 900) but available only in later manuscripts (ca. 1270), and the somewhat later fornaldarsögur (also called Legendary sagas, written ca. 1270–1400), the dead can be awakened against their will by various mythical beings such as heathen gods and goddesses, or witches using their skills to serve their own interests. Moreover, in some later fourteenth-century Íslendingasögur it is implied that restless corpses were made active by ‘unclean spirits’, possibly because the spirits invaded the dead bodies, thus suggesting a link with the phenomenon of demonic possession known in medieval Christianity.
The contrast between the activeness and agency of the deceased in the earlier Íslendingasögur and the more subordinate role of the dead in the mythical sources and later Íslendingasögur will be the main theme of this chapter. I will consider the possibility that medieval Icelandic beliefs changed so that the dead became “less active” from the late thirteenth century onwards – that the dead were originally considered active agents that had a will and power of their own but, as foreign (Christian) ideas became more internalized and intertwined with indigenous ones, another mode of thought began to displace the old one. The restless dead were increasingly interpreted as objects that had no power of their own, but were awakened by use of magic or made active by unclean spirits that invaded their lifeless bodies.
Porous Bodies, Porous Minds. Emotions and the Supernatural in the Íslendingasögur (ca. 1200–1400)., 2015
NB. This is a published work, ISBN 978-951-29-5996-9 (PRINT); ISBN 978-951-29-5997-6 (PDF). In ... more NB. This is a published work, ISBN 978-951-29-5996-9 (PRINT); ISBN 978-951-29-5997-6 (PDF).
In this study I have explored the medieval Icelandic folk theory of emotions - what emotions were thought to be, from what they originated and how they operated - and additionally, whether medieval Icelanders had alternative emotion discourses in literature, in addition to the usual manner of representation (poetry, dialogue, description of somatic changes).
How to cite: Kanerva, Kirsi. 2015. Porous Bodies, Porous Minds. Emotions and the Supernatural in the Íslendingasögur (ca. 1200–1400). TURUN YLIOPISTON JULKAISUJA – ANNALES UNIVERSITATIS TURKUENSIS. Sarja - ser. B osa - tom. 398 Humaniora. Turku: University of Turku 2015.
(together with Marko Lamberg) in Hyvä elämä keskiajalla, ed. Marko Lamberg & Kirsi Kanerva. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura: Helsinki 2014, 241–256.
(together with Marko Lamberg) in Hyvä elämä keskiajalla, ed. Marko Lamberg & Kirsi Kanerva. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura: Helsinki 2014, 7–34.
in Hyvä elämä keskiajalla, ed. Marko Lamberg & Kirsi Kanerva. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura: Helsinki 2014, 209-240.
Ote muinaisislanninkielisestä Brennu-Njáls sagasta. Alkuperäislähde: Den Arnamagnaeanske Samling,... more Ote muinaisislanninkielisestä Brennu-Njáls sagasta. Alkuperäislähde: Den Arnamagnaeanske Samling, Kööpenhamina, AM 468, 4to 81r (Reykjabók). Julkaistu teoksessa Einar Ól. Sveinsson (toim.) (1954): Brennu-Njáls saga. Íslenzk Fornrit 12. Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 402.
Mental (Dis)Order in Later Medieval Europe, ed. by Sari Katajala-Peltomaa & Susanna Niiranen. Leiden: Brill 2014, 219-242.
In this article I concentrate on the effects that ghosts have on the living people in sagas. I us... more In this article I concentrate on the effects that ghosts have on the living people in sagas. I use examples in such Íslendingasögur as Flóamanna saga, Eyrbyggja saga, Eiríks saga rauða and Laxdæla saga. I have concentrated on two aspects of the influence of the dead on the living in these sagas, fear and physical illness, and discuss medieval Icelandic conceptions of mental disorder by examining the meanings given to fear and illness intertextually. Consequently, the article also contributes to the study of the medieval Icelandic conceptions of mind and emotion, and emphasises the problems inherent in using modern concepts in historical studies. I also give special emphasis to two diverse discourses extant in medieval Iceland: indigenous folk conceptions and foreign medical theories. I show that these views sometimes overlapped but were sometimes in conflict, which makes the definition of a single concept of ‘mental disorder’ held by medieval Icelanders difficult. In this article, I argue that for medieval Icelanders ‘mental’ was something rather physical, and, although the symptoms caused by the restless dead—fear, insanity, illness and death—would be categorized by us as mental or physical, in the sagas these were all considered bodily in nature. Moreover, I also suggest that medieval Icelanders did not make a clear distinction between emotions and physical illnesses, since emotions could be part of the illness or even its actual cause. I argue that both emotions and (physical) illness encompassed state of disequilibrium and were dependent of external agents and forces that had the power to influence the bodily balance and trigger the onset of ‘mental disorder’. Consequently, ‘mental disorder’ could be manifested also in physical illness.
In the article I discuss how eye pain in Íslendingasögur was an external punishment for social mi... more In the article I discuss how eye pain in Íslendingasögur was an external punishment for social misdemeanor, often caused by an agent skilled in magic. I have considered this argument in the medieval western Scandinavian context, where the view of the human mind and body in relation to the social and physical environment was quite different from our modern view. Consequently, I argue that the boundaries of the body (e.g. skin etc.) were not considered ‘closed’, but ‘open’, so that the individual was exposed and sensitive to external influences originating from the social and physical environment. These agents could appear as forces, for instance in the shape of a wind, penetrate the human body and thus cause a condition that could be labelled an illness. Moreover, the consequences of eye pain, such as the bursting out of the eyes, for which the verb springa is used, suggest that eye pain also had emotional connotations such as guilt, as springa is often employed to depict conditions associated with physical over-exertion or excessive emotions. As a result, the article also proposes new outlines for the medieval Icelandic conceptions of emotions, or the medieval Icelandic folk theory of emotion.
Authorities in the Middle Ages. Influence, Legitimacy and Power in Medieval Society
The article concentrates on two scenes of actual or anticipated posthumous restlessness in Egils ... more The article concentrates on two scenes of actual or anticipated posthumous restlessness in Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar and Eyrbyggja saga. Both are countered with special and similar rituals, but have different consequences, as the corpse in Egils saga remains peaceful but some restlessness occurs in Eyrbyggja saga. The episodes are examined from the perspective of power and authority. The article includes a discussion of the way in which some of the deceased who were expected to have “strong minds” were ascribed authority over the living in sagas. In this role the ghosts could interfere in the lives of the living, and occasionally adopt a moral function in that they could rectify injustices, although they were sometimes malevolent in nature. Nevertheless, some individuals could contest their post-mortem power and use various means, such as rituals, to control it or modify it according to their own needs. It is suggested that such a capability was possessed by a certain kind of character, one whose mind was strong enough to bridle the powers of death, but which could in turn be counteracted by magic.
After a little while people became aware that Glámr did not lay quiet. This caused the folk great... more After a little while people became aware that Glámr did not lay quiet. This caused the folk great trouble so that many lost consciousness when seeing him, and some lost their wits. Right after Christmas men thought they saw him there at the farm. People became incredibly frightened; many then ran away. Next Glámr started to ride on the roofs of houses at night so that they nearly caved in; he then walked almost night and day. People hardly dared to go up into the dale though they had many errands. People in the district thought this caused them great harm. 1 Litlu síðar urðu menn varir við þat, at Glámr lá eigi kyrr. Varð mönnum at því mikit mein, svá at margir fellu í óvit, ef sá hann, en sumir heldu eigi vitinu. Þegar eftir jólin þóttusk menn sjá hann heima þar á baenum. Urðu menn ákafliga hraeddir; stukku þá margir menn í brott. Því naest tók Glámr at ríða húsum á naetr, svá at lá við brotum; gekk hann þá náliga naetr ok daga. Varla þorðu menn at fara upp í dalinn, þó at aetti nóg ørendi. Þótti mönnum þar í heraðinu mikit mein at þessu (Grettis saga:113).
Sirpa Aalto & Kirsi Kanerva. 2019. Johdatus saagakirjallisuuteen [Introduction to Saga Literature... more Sirpa Aalto & Kirsi Kanerva. 2019. Johdatus saagakirjallisuuteen [Introduction to Saga Literature]. Studia Historica Septentrionalia 81. Rovaniemi: Pohjois-Suomen Historiallinen yhdistys/Societas historica Finlandiae Septentrionalis.
Mielen rajoilla. Arjen kummat kokemukset [At the Boundaries of the Human Mind. Everyday uncanny experiences], 2017
Artikkeli “Kumma ja tunteet” [Emotions and the Uncanny], julkaistu teoksessa/published in Mielen ... more Artikkeli “Kumma ja tunteet” [Emotions and the Uncanny], julkaistu teoksessa/published in Mielen rajoilla. Arjen kummat kokemukset [At the Boundaries of the Human Mind. Everyday uncanny experiences], toim/ed. Kaarina Koski & Marja-Liisa Honkasalo. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura/Finnish Literature Society, 87–123.
WiderScreen, 2020
In this essay, I will discuss some of the opportunities offered by Todd Phillips's Joker (2019) t... more In this essay, I will discuss some of the opportunities offered by Todd Phillips's Joker (2019) to engage in an "interpretative play," to use the term of Noël Carroll, with this particular work of art, and consider some of the emotional responses that the movie elicits. The perspective in this free-associative essay is subjective, and the aesthetic and non-aesthetic responses to the film elaborated here concentrate on the following selected themes: emotions and sexuality as part of the Joker's origin story and the Joker's role as an archetypal trickster in the Jungian sense.
To access the essay, please go to http://widerscreen.fi/numerot/ajankohtaista/learning-to-feel-an-essay-on-death-sex-and-tricksterism-in-todd-phillipss-joker-2019/ (published January 23, 2020)
Historiska och litteraturhistoriska studier 95, 2020
Wilhelm Forsman (1781-1865) kom från en lärd prästsläkt och var född och uppvuxen i byn Östermark... more Wilhelm Forsman (1781-1865) kom från en lärd prästsläkt och var född och uppvuxen i byn Östermark i Södra Österbotten, där han också tillbringade största delen av sitt liv. I Wilhelms far, kyrkoherden i Östermark Johan Forsmans (d. 1810) släkt var det många som på 1800-talet blev betydande rättslärda och aktörer på det vetenskapliga och politiska området. Även Wilhelm följde släktens traditioner och studerade först vid Vasa trivialskola (1794-1801) och skrevs sedan in vid Akademien i Åbo år 1802. Till skillnad från sin far och många andra män i släkten blev han inte präst trots att han var student. År 1807 rekryterades han till Vasa regemente och deltog därefter i 1808-1809 års krig som sergeant. Efter att han hade återvänt från kriget verkade han från och med slutet av 1818 som kyrkväktare i sin framlidne fars hemförsamling Östermark. Senare nämns han i skrifteböckerna också som torpare under prästgården. Även i valet av maka skilde sig Wilhelm från många av de andra männen i släkten, vars hustrur kom från betydande svenskspråkiga släkter. Wilhelm, som ända till krigsslutet hade tjänstgjort vid Vasa regemente, återvände hösten 1809 till hembygden från andra sidan Bottniska viken och ingick ganska snart äktenskap med den lokala torpardottern Clara Johansdotter.2 Wilhelms egna barn slog inte längre in på den lärda banan: de blev drängar och pigor.
I denna artikel granskar jag förhållandet till svenskan i den i huvudsak finskspråkiga kyrksocknen Östermark under 1800-talets första hälft. Jag närmar mig ämnet via en fallstudie: i centrum står Wilhelm Forsman, vars liv man kan se som en fruktbar anomali, det vill säga ett ovanligt, överraskande och otypiskt objekt för historisk forskning. Ynglingen från den lärda svenskspråkiga släkten slog in på den lärda banan, men följde till slut inte den väg som i regel var utstakad för dem som tillhörde hans stånd. I och med honom övergick i stället den östermarkska grenen av den Forsmanska släkten från herrskapsklassen till allmogeklassen och förfinskades också inom kort. Wilhelms liv kan därmed ses som ett slags mellanskede, där förhållandet till svenskan i Wilhelms släkt ändrades. Genom att studera Wilhelms fall är det möjligt att, förutom att få en djupare förståelse av detta enskilda fall, också få en ökad förståelse av ståndspersoners språkförhållanden i ett landsbygdssamhälle under en tidsperiod som på samhällelig nivå präglades av olika ideologiska förändringar i förhållande till språken.
I början av tidsperioden efter 1808–1809 års krig var den svenskspråkiga samhällseliten i romantikens anda influerad av tankar om en nation med ett språk (finska). I slutskedet, från och med 1850-talet, började man inom eliten också intressera sig för den svenskspråkiga allmogen, vars historia tidigare inte hade väckt intresse bland svenskspråkiga ståndspersoner.
Journal of Medieval History, 2022
This article examines encounters with the dead in medieval Icelandic contemporary sagas (samtiðar... more This article examines encounters with the dead in medieval Icelandic contemporary sagas (samtiðarsögur) and the changes in cultural conceptions of the power of the dead to return as reflected in these sources. Whereas the better known family sagas (Íslendingasögur) that were based on centuries-old oral stories portrayed the undead as tangible restless corpses, in contemporary sagas that described more recent historical events the dead appeared in dreams. A short tale called Kumlbúa þáttr provides a case study, to which the examples of the dead appearing in dreams in other sources are contrasted. It is argued that the dead in dreams still acted as moral judges like the tangible restless corpses in the family sagas, but the focus of their attention often shifted from collective to individual responsibility for moral transgressions, thus reflecting the gradual individualisation and interiorisation of medieval Icelandic religious experience.
To cite this article: Kirsi Kanerva (2022) The dead in dreams: medieval Icelandic conceptions of the unquiet dead, Journal of Medieval History, 48:2, 218-234, DOI: 10.1080/03044181.2022.2049514
Folklore and Old Norse Mythology, 2021
In the thirteenth-century Vǫlsunga saga, Brynhildr commits suicide after Sigurðr’s death: she sta... more In the thirteenth-century Vǫlsunga saga, Brynhildr commits suicide after Sigurðr’s death: she stabs herself with a sword and is burned on his funeral pyre. Brynhildr’s suicide appears to be a northern innovation since in the southern version of the legend Brynhildr’s fate is left suspended (Kuhn 1971; Anderson 1980: 35). The episode can nevertheless be seen as a parallel of Nanna’s death in Snorra Edda: at Baldr’s funeral Nanna dies of grief and is burned together with Baldr on his funeral pyre. Brynhildr has also been paralleled with the Laxdoela saga heroine Guðrún Ósvífsdóttir (e.g. Einar Ól. Sveinsson 1934b: xlvi; Andersson 1980: 241, 243; Heinrichs 1986: 110), who is responsible for the death of her beloved, Kjartan, but unlike Brynhildr, she does not commit suicide and lives until old age. In this chapter, I will consider medieval Icelandic conceptions of, attitudes towards, and norms concerning suicide by employing three levels of comparison. I first deal with Nanna’s death in mythic time. Second, I discuss Brynhildr’s suicide in mytho-heroic time, which was situated in the ancient and heroic past where mythic figures such as Óðinn could still occasionally cross the boundary between the world of the humans and the world of the gods. Third, I examine Guðrún Ósvífsdóttir’s life in historical time. The aim of the comparison is to examine whether genre matters; whether the different genres examined here reflect uniform values or not, and, if not, in what ways do the norms, attitudes and conceptions reflected in the sources differ from each other? Are these genres commensurable in general when examining conceptions of, attitudes towards, and norms concerning suicide in the thirteenth-century context where, according to scholarly consensus, the main sources of this study were written? (What) can we benefit from the examination ofdifferent genres when studying suicide in medieval Iceland?
Published in Folklore and Old Norse Mythology, ed. Frog and Joonas Ahola. Folklore Fellows’ Communications 323. The Kalevala Society: Helsinki, 549–587.
Suomen Kirkkohistoriallisen Seuran Vuosikirja , 2019
This article deals with repentance as emotion in medieval Icelandic culture circa 1200–1400. It s... more This article deals with repentance as emotion in medieval Icelandic culture circa 1200–1400. It studies representations of repentance in medieval saga literature, concentrating on repentance as practice (as defined by Monique Scheer), including attitudes towards and meanings given to repentance in religious and secular contexts.
Iceland was Christianized in 999/1000, but conversion did not result in radically drastic changes of mentality or worldview. Confrontation of two worldviews, Christian and indigenous, occurred when Christian ideas of penitence were adopted. In Christian thought, repentance as emotion was associated with certain norms and emotional practice. Sometimes these “foreign” norms and expectations in terms of strong displays could collide with vernacular theories of emotion: some emotions considered good and appropriate in Christian thought might be viewed from the native perspective as bad, unwanted, or detrimental to health.
The sources used in this study consist of vernacular sagas written in Iceland circa 1200–1400. I will concentrate on two cases, one in Dámusta saga and one in Laxdæla saga. I will examine the representation of repentance in the two sources intertextually in connection with other medieval Icelandic sagas in order to show how Dámusti’s and Guðrún’s repentance as emotional practice would have been viewed in light of vernacular conceptions of emotions. I will suggest that while there existed a model for repentance that emphasized the bodily nature of the experience and drastic emotional expression, this was not the only model. Another type, which represented the practice of repentance as a ritualistic performance, avoided excessive emotions and bodily displays of remorse. The first model was problematic because it ran counter to the indigenous conceptions of what emotions are and how they operate, and thereby contested the local norms of emotional expression.
Viator, 2018
Kanerva, Kirsi. 2018. Female Suicide in Thirteenth-Century Iceland: The Case of Brynhildr inVölsu... more Kanerva, Kirsi. 2018. Female Suicide in Thirteenth-Century Iceland: The Case of Brynhildr inVölsunga saga. Viator 49 (3), 129-154.https://doi.org/10.1484/J.VIATOR.5.119576
The article examines thirteenth-century Icelandic conceptions of female suicide and ideas about their causes and motives by conducting a case study of a saga figure called Brynhildr, who commits suicide. The story of Brynhildr is told in several medieval Icelandic sources: in the mytho-heroic legendary saga (fornaldarsaga) Völsunga saga, Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda. The story of Brynhildr in these sources offers fruitful material for the study of the history of suicide, since the northern version in question differs from the southern version of the Brynhildr legend that was known especially in medieval Germany, in which Brynhildr does not kill herself. In this study, the causes and background factors of Brynhildr’s suicide and her motives for her deed, which are described and mentioned in the sources, represent possibilities for female behavior that were part of the mental toolbox of medieval Icelanders. It is argued that the Icelandic audience believed some women committed suicide to protect or restore their honor, or to take revenge, and that such an act required determination, capability to make rational choices, and sense of responsibility. The act could also be seen as a manifestation of power and authority: the woman decided herself when her life would end. However, Brynhildr’s death represents only one possible type of female suicide, and not all were expected to be the same. Committing such a preconceived self-killing as Brynhildr’s required an especially strong will. Most women, who were usually maintained by men, were thought not to possess such might and strength.
(Please contact the author if you wish to receive a copy of the article.)
Dying Prepared in Medieval and Early Modern Northern Europe, 2018
Kanerva, Kirsi. 2018. ”Restless Dead or Peaceful Cadavers? Preparations for Death and Afterlife i... more Kanerva, Kirsi. 2018. ”Restless Dead or Peaceful Cadavers? Preparations for Death and Afterlife in Medieval Iceland,” in Dying Prepared in Medieval and Early Modern Northern Europe, ed. Anu Lahtinen and Mia Korpiola. Leiden: Brill 2018, 18–43
The article examines cultural conceptions of the possible afterlives of suicides in medieval (ca.... more The article examines cultural conceptions of the possible afterlives of suicides in medieval (ca. 1200–1400) Iceland: whether those who committed suicide were expected to return as restless dead. It is suggested that suicide corpses were not regarded as inherently dangerous in medieval Iceland. According to the law, those who committed suicide would not be buried in the churchyard, but repentance before the actual moment of death could still make burial in the cemetery possible. The second chance allotted to self-killers raises the question of whether the burial method implied danger and contagion, or merely social exclusion. It is argued that suicide per se was not expected to make the corpse restless. People who were considered weak and powerless in life would not return after death, since posthumous restlessness required that the person had a strong will and motivation to come back. Consequently, in the case of suicides, possible posthumous restlessness depended on the person's character in life. People with strong will and special magical skills were anticipated to return, whereas other suicides remained passive and peaceful.
Death in Medieval Europe: Death Scripted and Death Choreographed, 2017
In this chapter the posthumously restless dead, or ‘ghosts’ of Old Icelandic saga literature will... more In this chapter the posthumously restless dead, or ‘ghosts’ of Old Icelandic saga literature will be discussed. The ghosts in sagas were not ethereal phantoms dressed in white, but dead people appearing to the living in their physical, recognizable and undecayed bodies. These corporeal, physical revenants seem to have both malevolent and benevolent functions in sagas: they may give assistance and advice to people, but may also cause the living trouble and fear, as well as madness, disease, or death.
In the light of earlier studies (e.g. Byock 1982, 133; Vésteinn Ólason 2003, 161; Nedkvitne 2004, 38–43; Martin 2005, 75–80) the dead generally became restless of their own free and often malevolent will. Thus, activity after death was usually not a punishment for the deceased, but an expression of their wish to continue to participate in the society of the living. Behind this was presumably a belief in some kind of life power and vitality remained in the human body after death – “a pagan relic” (Vésteinn Ólason 2003, 167) that may have survived in thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Iceland (see also Caciola 1996; and on similar ideas in Finnic folklore Koski 2011, 94–97).
This idea fits well with the ghosts of the so-called Sagas of Icelanders, Íslendingasögur, which were written mainly in the thirteenth century, that is, over 200 years after Icelanders had adopted Christianity, but not with all ghosts in the saga literature. In other, more mythical saga genres such as Eddic poetry, often thought to derive from the heathen period (ca. 900) but available only in later manuscripts (ca. 1270), and the somewhat later fornaldarsögur (also called Legendary sagas, written ca. 1270–1400), the dead can be awakened against their will by various mythical beings such as heathen gods and goddesses, or witches using their skills to serve their own interests. Moreover, in some later fourteenth-century Íslendingasögur it is implied that restless corpses were made active by ‘unclean spirits’, possibly because the spirits invaded the dead bodies, thus suggesting a link with the phenomenon of demonic possession known in medieval Christianity.
The contrast between the activeness and agency of the deceased in the earlier Íslendingasögur and the more subordinate role of the dead in the mythical sources and later Íslendingasögur will be the main theme of this chapter. I will consider the possibility that medieval Icelandic beliefs changed so that the dead became “less active” from the late thirteenth century onwards – that the dead were originally considered active agents that had a will and power of their own but, as foreign (Christian) ideas became more internalized and intertwined with indigenous ones, another mode of thought began to displace the old one. The restless dead were increasingly interpreted as objects that had no power of their own, but were awakened by use of magic or made active by unclean spirits that invaded their lifeless bodies.
Porous Bodies, Porous Minds. Emotions and the Supernatural in the Íslendingasögur (ca. 1200–1400)., 2015
NB. This is a published work, ISBN 978-951-29-5996-9 (PRINT); ISBN 978-951-29-5997-6 (PDF). In ... more NB. This is a published work, ISBN 978-951-29-5996-9 (PRINT); ISBN 978-951-29-5997-6 (PDF).
In this study I have explored the medieval Icelandic folk theory of emotions - what emotions were thought to be, from what they originated and how they operated - and additionally, whether medieval Icelanders had alternative emotion discourses in literature, in addition to the usual manner of representation (poetry, dialogue, description of somatic changes).
How to cite: Kanerva, Kirsi. 2015. Porous Bodies, Porous Minds. Emotions and the Supernatural in the Íslendingasögur (ca. 1200–1400). TURUN YLIOPISTON JULKAISUJA – ANNALES UNIVERSITATIS TURKUENSIS. Sarja - ser. B osa - tom. 398 Humaniora. Turku: University of Turku 2015.
(together with Marko Lamberg) in Hyvä elämä keskiajalla, ed. Marko Lamberg & Kirsi Kanerva. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura: Helsinki 2014, 241–256.
(together with Marko Lamberg) in Hyvä elämä keskiajalla, ed. Marko Lamberg & Kirsi Kanerva. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura: Helsinki 2014, 7–34.
in Hyvä elämä keskiajalla, ed. Marko Lamberg & Kirsi Kanerva. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura: Helsinki 2014, 209-240.
Ote muinaisislanninkielisestä Brennu-Njáls sagasta. Alkuperäislähde: Den Arnamagnaeanske Samling,... more Ote muinaisislanninkielisestä Brennu-Njáls sagasta. Alkuperäislähde: Den Arnamagnaeanske Samling, Kööpenhamina, AM 468, 4to 81r (Reykjabók). Julkaistu teoksessa Einar Ól. Sveinsson (toim.) (1954): Brennu-Njáls saga. Íslenzk Fornrit 12. Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 402.
Mental (Dis)Order in Later Medieval Europe, ed. by Sari Katajala-Peltomaa & Susanna Niiranen. Leiden: Brill 2014, 219-242.
In this article I concentrate on the effects that ghosts have on the living people in sagas. I us... more In this article I concentrate on the effects that ghosts have on the living people in sagas. I use examples in such Íslendingasögur as Flóamanna saga, Eyrbyggja saga, Eiríks saga rauða and Laxdæla saga. I have concentrated on two aspects of the influence of the dead on the living in these sagas, fear and physical illness, and discuss medieval Icelandic conceptions of mental disorder by examining the meanings given to fear and illness intertextually. Consequently, the article also contributes to the study of the medieval Icelandic conceptions of mind and emotion, and emphasises the problems inherent in using modern concepts in historical studies. I also give special emphasis to two diverse discourses extant in medieval Iceland: indigenous folk conceptions and foreign medical theories. I show that these views sometimes overlapped but were sometimes in conflict, which makes the definition of a single concept of ‘mental disorder’ held by medieval Icelanders difficult. In this article, I argue that for medieval Icelanders ‘mental’ was something rather physical, and, although the symptoms caused by the restless dead—fear, insanity, illness and death—would be categorized by us as mental or physical, in the sagas these were all considered bodily in nature. Moreover, I also suggest that medieval Icelanders did not make a clear distinction between emotions and physical illnesses, since emotions could be part of the illness or even its actual cause. I argue that both emotions and (physical) illness encompassed state of disequilibrium and were dependent of external agents and forces that had the power to influence the bodily balance and trigger the onset of ‘mental disorder’. Consequently, ‘mental disorder’ could be manifested also in physical illness.
In the article I discuss how eye pain in Íslendingasögur was an external punishment for social mi... more In the article I discuss how eye pain in Íslendingasögur was an external punishment for social misdemeanor, often caused by an agent skilled in magic. I have considered this argument in the medieval western Scandinavian context, where the view of the human mind and body in relation to the social and physical environment was quite different from our modern view. Consequently, I argue that the boundaries of the body (e.g. skin etc.) were not considered ‘closed’, but ‘open’, so that the individual was exposed and sensitive to external influences originating from the social and physical environment. These agents could appear as forces, for instance in the shape of a wind, penetrate the human body and thus cause a condition that could be labelled an illness. Moreover, the consequences of eye pain, such as the bursting out of the eyes, for which the verb springa is used, suggest that eye pain also had emotional connotations such as guilt, as springa is often employed to depict conditions associated with physical over-exertion or excessive emotions. As a result, the article also proposes new outlines for the medieval Icelandic conceptions of emotions, or the medieval Icelandic folk theory of emotion.
Authorities in the Middle Ages. Influence, Legitimacy and Power in Medieval Society
The article concentrates on two scenes of actual or anticipated posthumous restlessness in Egils ... more The article concentrates on two scenes of actual or anticipated posthumous restlessness in Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar and Eyrbyggja saga. Both are countered with special and similar rituals, but have different consequences, as the corpse in Egils saga remains peaceful but some restlessness occurs in Eyrbyggja saga. The episodes are examined from the perspective of power and authority. The article includes a discussion of the way in which some of the deceased who were expected to have “strong minds” were ascribed authority over the living in sagas. In this role the ghosts could interfere in the lives of the living, and occasionally adopt a moral function in that they could rectify injustices, although they were sometimes malevolent in nature. Nevertheless, some individuals could contest their post-mortem power and use various means, such as rituals, to control it or modify it according to their own needs. It is suggested that such a capability was possessed by a certain kind of character, one whose mind was strong enough to bridle the powers of death, but which could in turn be counteracted by magic.
After a little while people became aware that Glámr did not lay quiet. This caused the folk great... more After a little while people became aware that Glámr did not lay quiet. This caused the folk great trouble so that many lost consciousness when seeing him, and some lost their wits. Right after Christmas men thought they saw him there at the farm. People became incredibly frightened; many then ran away. Next Glámr started to ride on the roofs of houses at night so that they nearly caved in; he then walked almost night and day. People hardly dared to go up into the dale though they had many errands. People in the district thought this caused them great harm. 1 Litlu síðar urðu menn varir við þat, at Glámr lá eigi kyrr. Varð mönnum at því mikit mein, svá at margir fellu í óvit, ef sá hann, en sumir heldu eigi vitinu. Þegar eftir jólin þóttusk menn sjá hann heima þar á baenum. Urðu menn ákafliga hraeddir; stukku þá margir menn í brott. Því naest tók Glámr at ríða húsum á naetr, svá at lá við brotum; gekk hann þá náliga naetr ok daga. Varla þorðu menn at fara upp í dalinn, þó at aetti nóg ørendi. Þótti mönnum þar í heraðinu mikit mein at þessu (Grettis saga:113).
The article discusses the concept of ógæfa [misfortune] and its connotations in thirteenth-centur... more The article discusses the concept of ógæfa [misfortune] and its connotations in thirteenth-century Icelandic culture. Particular focus is given to Njáls saga and Gísla saga. According to the author, ógæfa did not refer merely to a state of affairs but it had emotional connotations as well. It is suggested that ógæfa was used to represent the inner struggles and feelings of guilt in literature, in a culture that did not yet have a word for this kind of affective state. Ógæfa was not synonymous to guilt, however, but involved also feelings of distress and hopelessness and signified absence of approval and forgiveness or the lack of the blessing of one's kin.
The article concerns the ghost story of Eyrbyggja saga, the so-called ‘wonders of Fróðá’ (Fróðáru... more The article concerns the ghost story of Eyrbyggja saga, the so-called ‘wonders of Fróðá’ (Fróðárundr), and examines the symbolic meanings of this episode as they were interpreted in medieval Iceland. The analysis presupposes that, although the restless dead could be understood as ‘real’ by medieval readers and as part of their social reality, the heterogenic nature of the audience and the learning of the writers of the sagas made possible various interpretations of the ghost-scene, both literal and symbolic. It is argued that the living dead in Eyrbyggja saga act as agents of order, whose restlessness is connected to past deeds of those still living that have caused social disequilibrium. In Fróðárundr these actions involve expressions of disapproved sexuality and birth of offspring with indeterminate social status. For the ghost-banisher the hauntings represent an opportunity to improve his own indeterminate status.
(In English: ' "...though he didn't turn out to be a lucky man": The Conception of Bad Luck and the Cultural Meanings of Bad Luck in the Thirteenth- and Fourteenth-Century Iceland in the Light of Gísla saga Súrssonar', Jan 1, 2008
Thanatos, 2019
What happens if something goes wrong at death and the dead person does not find peace? This quest... more What happens if something goes wrong at death and the dead person does not find peace? This question is colourfully answered by innumerable representations of the "undead" in various cultural practices, products, creations and beliefs. Through the history of humankind, the undead appear to be everywhere. They are numerous, and they are of many types. In the dark hours of the night, rotten corpses crawl out of their graves. In an old mouldy castle somewhere in Transylvania, a vampire grins, revealing its yellowish canine teeth. At dusk in a rural cemetery in the remote north, a bunch of immaterial spirits lurk behind a tombstone, about to ambush an unsuspecting old man in search of bones to use for magical purposes. The answers to the question are many, but do we know them all? This issue of Thanatos focuses on various representations of the undead, that is, the deceased who have returned to the world of the living. The aim is to bring together a wide variety of depictions and interpretations of the undead in various sources, ranging from historical accounts to present-day popular culture.
Ilona Pajari, Jussi Jalonen, Riikka Miettinen & Kirsi Kanerva (eds). 2019. Suomalaisen kuoleman h... more Ilona Pajari, Jussi Jalonen, Riikka Miettinen & Kirsi Kanerva (eds). 2019. Suomalaisen kuoleman historia [History of Finnish Death]. Helsinki: Gaudeamus
”Kyyneleeni kyllin vuotaa, lievityst’ ei itku tuota.”
Kuolema on erottamaton osa elämää. Läheisen siirtyminen elävistä kuolleisiin on aina ollut mullistus, joka on täytynyt käsitellä tavalla tai toisella. Erilaisilla riiteillä, ruumiin pesemisellä ja pukemisella, surulauluilla ja kuolinilmoitukseen vuodatetuilla kaipauksen sanoilla on saateltu vainaja matkaan. Nykyään lohtua läheisen menetykseen saatetaan etsiä sosiaalisesta mediasta ja sen muistosivuista.
Suomalaisen kuoleman historia taittaa matkan rautakautisista kalmistoista ja keskiajan katolisista hautajaisrituaaleista maallistuneeseen nykyhetkeen, jossa kuolema on siirtynyt kodeista sairaaloihin ja elämää suuremmasta tapahtumasta lääkärin toteamaksi asiantilaksi. Millaisia ovat olleet kuolemaan liittyvät uskomukset, ja miten suhde kuolemaan on muuttunut vuosisatojen kuluessa?
Teoksessa tarkastellaan kiehtovia yksityiskohtia kuten kuoleman enteitä, hautausurakoitsijoiden mainoksia, suruasuja ja mestattujen vereen sisältyvää elinvoimaa. Se esittelee ikiaikaisia perinteitä, joilla kuoleman mysteeriä lähestyttiin tai torjuttiin, sekä historiamme kipukohtia, kuten nälkävuosia ja sotaa, jolloin kuolema saattoi tuntua tavanomaista epäoikeudenmukaisemmalta.
https://www.gaudeamus.fi/suomalaisenkuolemanhistoria/
9 7 8 9 5 1 7 9 2 5 7 6 1 81.2 | ISBN 978-951-792-576-1 | www.finnlectura.fi
What would human life look like if it were not about images of this world and the otherworld? Cou... more What would human life look like if it were not about images of this world and the otherworld? Could such a life sustain people, their societies and cultures in an appropriate way? These are questions, which preoccupy the contributors to this special issue. The goal of this volume is to gather a large scale of discussions to highlight how the questions may be taken seriously. Also, the aim is to show how the questions are meaningful for the scholars working in these areas or for those who are interested in the study of death more generally. The papers of this volume originate from the conference "Images of Afterlife", organized by the research project Mind and the Other, at the University of Turku.
Historiallinen Aikakauskirja 4/2014
RMN Newsletter, 2015
Thesis defended for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Turku, Finland, Schoo... more Thesis defended for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Turku, Finland, School of History, Culture
and Arts Studies (Cultural history) on 31st January 2015.
Supervisors: Professor Hannu Salmi (University of Turku), Professor Marjo Kaartinen (University of Turku) and
Adjunct Professor (Docent) Anu Lahtinen (University of Turku).
Opponent: Adjunct Professor (Docent) Frog (University of Helsinki).
This study concentrates on the conceptions and representation of emotions in medieval 13 th-and 14 th-century Iceland. The main sources employed in the study consist of Íslendingasögur that are analyzed intertextually. The study contributes to earlier research done on saga emotions where the emphasis has been on their somatic representation, and particular focus has been placed on individual emotions such as love, sorrow, anger, empathy and shame. In this study, however, two new perspectives are undertaken. Firstly, the emphasis is on possible alternative emotion discourses that may have existed in literature in addition to the usual manner of representation in dialogue, poetry or in somatic changes. Secondly, the study explores the preliminary outlines for a medieval Icelandic folk theory of emotions: what emotions were thought to be, what they originated from, and how they operated. Consequently, the emphasis is also on the cultural thinking models of emotion that existed in the Christianized but peripheral medieval Icelandic culture, in whose context the emotions were both experienced and represented. The thesis consists of five articles and a 181-page introduction that discusses and synthesizes the results.
Kirjoista kokoelmaksi. Kansansivistystä ja kansainvälisyyttä Turun kaupunginkirjastossa 1800–1900-luvuilla, 2015
Turun kaupunginkirjaston vanha kokoelma sisältää kolme ruotsalaista saaga- ja riimututkimuksen he... more Turun kaupunginkirjaston vanha kokoelma sisältää kolme ruotsalaista saaga- ja riimututkimuksen helmeä 1600-luvun lopulta. Yksi näistä on muinaistutkija Johan Peringskiöldin (1654–1720) toimittama ruotsinkielinen käännös keskiaikaisesta, muinaisislanninkielisestä saagakokoelmasta Heimskringla vuodelta 1697. Lisäksi kokoelmaan kuuluu muinais- ja kielentutkijana tunnetun Olof Vereliuksen (1618–1682) käännös ”Hervörin saagasta” (Hervarar saga, 1672; ei suom.) sekä samaan niteeseen sidottu Vereliuksen ruotsalaisia riimulöytöjä käsittelevä teos En kort underwijsning om Them Gambla Swea-Gotha Runa-Ristning (1675).
Populaarityyppinen katsaus, jossa tarkastellaan keskiajan islantilaisissa saagoissa tavattavia el... more Populaarityyppinen katsaus, jossa tarkastellaan keskiajan islantilaisissa saagoissa tavattavia eläviä kuolleita.
Review of Riikka Miettinen (2015), Suicide in Seventeenth-Century Sweden: The Crime and Legal Pra... more Review of Riikka Miettinen (2015), Suicide in Seventeenth-Century Sweden: The Crime and Legal Praxis in the Lower Court (University of Tampere, School of Social Sciences and Humanities. 576 pp.), in Thanatos 5 (2016) 2, 65–68.
Historiallinen Aikakauskirja, 2014
Review of Lars Boje Mortensen, Tuomas M. S. Lehtonen and Alexandra Bergholm (ed.) (2013), The Per... more Review of Lars Boje Mortensen, Tuomas M. S. Lehtonen and Alexandra Bergholm (ed.) (2013), The Performance of Christian and Pagan Storyworlds. Non-Canonical Chapters of the History of Nordic Medieval Literature (Medieval Identities: Socio-Cultural Spaces 3. Brepols. 448 pp.), in Historiallinen Aikakauskirja 4/2014, 456–457.
Kirja-arvio teoksesta Eben Alexander: Totuus taivaasta. Tiedemiehen silmiä avaava kuolemanrajakok... more Kirja-arvio teoksesta Eben Alexander: Totuus taivaasta. Tiedemiehen silmiä avaava kuolemanrajakokemus. Suom. Sirkka Aulanko. WSOY, Helsinki 2013 [2012]. 190 sivua.
Thanatos 1 (2012) 2.
Review of Kaarina Koski (2011) Kuoleman voimat. Kirkonväki suomalaisessa uskomusperinteessä. ["Po... more Review of Kaarina Koski (2011) Kuoleman voimat. Kirkonväki suomalaisessa uskomusperinteessä. ["Powers of Death. Church-väki in the Finnish Folk Belief Tradition"; https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/24851 ). Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran Toimituksia 1313, Tiede. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Helsinki. 371 pages.
Suicide in Medieval Scandinavia. A Research Project. A research blog related to a current history... more Suicide in Medieval Scandinavia. A Research Project. A research blog related to a current history research project. https://historyofmedievalsuicide.wordpress.com/
Elävät kuolleet keskiajan Islannissa. Elävä kuollut -ilmiöstä ja sen historiasta. [Restless dead ... more Elävät kuolleet keskiajan Islannissa. Elävä kuollut -ilmiöstä ja sen historiasta. [Restless dead in medieval Iceland: about the phenomenon and its history] A blog aimed at the popularization of the results of earlier research on saga ghosts. https://elaviakuolleita.wordpress.com/
We humans spend one third of our lives sleeping, but academic research so far has tended to prior... more We humans spend one third of our lives sleeping, but academic research so far has tended to prioritise the various activities people engage in when they are awake. In this conference, we want to focus instead on the culture of dreams and dreaming in any geographical location or historical period. We welcome contributions from different disciplines and value both empirical analyses and theoretical, conceptual or methodological approaches to the study of dreams. Studies of sleep and dreaming within psychology and medicine have shown that peaceful, energising sleep is vital for personal wellbeing and for public health, but dreams can also have a significant role in the cultural life of different periods and locations. Moreover, agonising, tormenting dreams that cause strong negative emotional responses – nightmares or bad dreams – are often connected to conditions that prevail in the dreamers’ societal and cultural world. Dreaming has often been seen as a universal phenomenon, but dream narratives, meanings given to dreams and even the content of dreams are culturally and historically contingent. The conference will offer a multidisciplinary arena for discussing how dreams and nightmares have been understood and conceptualized in various historical and cultural contexts.
"I discussed medieval Icelandic emotions and their connection with illness and health. I presente... more "I discussed medieval Icelandic emotions and their connection with illness and health. I presented a brief study on the emotions and illnesses caused by the restless dead in Íslendingasögur; how their causes and consequences, and the connection between these two were depicted in medieval Icelandic literature. Sometimes it appears to be difficult to distinguish between these two conditions. This raises the question of whether the living people are suffering from a disease or experiencing an emotion, or both?
I suggested that the consequences brought about by the restless dead, emotions and illnesses, were both mental and physical in nature. Though labeled as an emotion or disease, the two conditions indicated a state of bodily disequilibrium that (like a disease) could spread either by air or touch."
In this paper, I examined the representation of inner experience, that is emotions, thought and m... more In this paper, I examined the representation of inner experience, that is emotions, thought and memories, of the saga protagonists in medieval thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Icelandic sagas in cases where they have neglected or disobeyed certain unwritten social norms and rules. I concentrated on eyes and how they indicated inner experience in medieval Icelandic literature.
In my paper, I will discuss some theoretical and methodological issues concerning the study of cu... more In my paper, I will discuss some theoretical and methodological issues concerning the study of cultural history. I will focus on the restless dead that appear in medieval Icelandic sagas, the Íslendingasögur, that have been regarded as history of their own time and as texts with moral and educative purposes. I will try to test my hypothesis that these ghosts could be interpreted as symbols of the abstract mental processes connected to the handling of certain emotional conflicts in thirteenth to fourteenth-century Iceland. Unlike the ghosts on the Continent, these creatures appeared to the living in their physical bodies. They have fairly often been regarded by scholars as ‘supernatural’ beings that the medieval Icelandic people thought did actually exist and that people could actually encounter in their physical world. I will discuss what we can know about and how we can achieve knowledge of the possibility that these ghosts could have been interpreted as symbols and stories about them as allegories by the literate elite in medieval Iceland, in a culture where the literature was built on the inheritance of indigenous oral tradition and the influence of Christian literary culture.
Journal of Medieval History, 2022
This article examines encounters with the dead in medieval Icelandic contemporary sagas (samtiðar... more This article examines encounters with the dead in medieval Icelandic contemporary sagas (samtiðarsögur) and the changes in cultural conceptions of the power of the dead to return as reflected in these sources. Whereas the better known family sagas (Íslendingasögur) that were based on centuries-old oral stories portrayed the undead as tangible restless corpses, in contemporary sagas that described more recent historical events the dead appeared in dreams. A short tale called Kumlbúa þáttr provides a case study, to which the examples of the dead appearing in dreams in other sources are contrasted. It is argued that the dead in dreams still acted as moral judges like the tangible restless corpses in the family sagas, but the focus of their attention often shifted from collective to individual responsibility for moral transgressions, thus reflecting the gradual individualisation and interiorisation of medieval Icelandic religious experience. To cite this article: Kirsi Kanerva (2022) The dead in dreams: medieval Icelandic conceptions of the unquiet dead, Journal of Medieval History, 48:2, 218-234, DOI: 10.1080/03044181.2022.2049514
Review of Lars Boje Mortensen, Tuomas M. S. Lehtonen and Alexandra Bergholm (ed.) (2013), The Per... more Review of Lars Boje Mortensen, Tuomas M. S. Lehtonen and Alexandra Bergholm (ed.) (2013), The Performance of Christian and Pagan Storyworlds. Non-Canonical Chapters of the History of Nordic Medieval Literature (Medieval Identities: Socio-Cultural Spaces 3. Brepols. 448 pp.), in Historiallinen Aikakauskirja 4/2014, 456–457.
The article concerns the ghost story of Eyrbyggja saga, the so-called A¢â¬Ewonders of FrA³AÂ... more The article concerns the ghost story of Eyrbyggja saga, the so-called A¢â¬Ewonders of FrA³A°AÂiA¢â¬â¢ (FrA³A°AÂirundr), and examines the symbolic meanings of this episode as they were interpreted in medieval Iceland. The analysis presupposes that, although the restless dead could be understood as A¢â¬ErealA¢â¬â¢ by medieval readers and as part of their social reality, the heterogenic nature of the audience and the learning of the writers of the sagas made possible various interpretations of the ghost-scene, both literal and symbolic. It is argued that the living dead in Eyrbyggja saga act as agents of order, whose restlessness is connected to past deeds of those still living that have caused social disequilibrium. In FrA³A°AÂirundr these actions involve expressions of disapproved sexuality and birth of offspring with indeterminate social status. For the ghost-banisher the hauntings represent an opportunity to improve his own indeterminate status.
Mirator, 2020
Finnish translation and commentary on 12th c. Icelandic historiographic text, prepared by student... more Finnish translation and commentary on 12th c. Icelandic historiographic text, prepared by students at the University of Turku in collaboration with two more senior researchers.
Collegium Medievale Interdisciplinary Journal of Medieval Research, 2011
Historian laitos/Humanistinen tiedekunta KANERVA, KIRSI: "…siltikään hän ei ollut onnen mies". Ep... more Historian laitos/Humanistinen tiedekunta KANERVA, KIRSI: "…siltikään hän ei ollut onnen mies". Epäonnen käsite ja epäonnen kulttuuriset merkitykset 1200-1300-luvun Islannissa saagan Gísla saga Súrssonar valossa Pro gradu-tutkielma, 133 s., 16 liites. Kulttuurihistoria Marraskuu 2007 Pro gradu-tutkielman aiheena on epäonnen käsite ja epäonnen merkitykset 1200-1300-lukujen islantilaisessa kulttuurissa. Päälähteenä on islantilainen vuosien 1200-1250 väliselle ajalle ajoitettu saaga Gísla saga Súrssonar. Saaga luetaan niin sanottuihin islantilaissaagoihin (islendingasögur). Saagan päähenkilön, Gísli Súrinpojan, elämän ja unien kautta hahmotetaan epäonnen kokemusta ja tunnetta sekä epäonnen suhdetta muihin tutkimusajankohdan keskeisiin käsitteisiin, kunniaan, häpeään ja kohtaloon. Tavoitteena on tätä kautta selvittää, mitä epäonni merkitsi 1200-1300-lukujen islantilaisessa kulttuurissa. Tutkimuksessa alkuperäislähdettä luetaan dialogissa muun aikalaiskirjallisuuden kanssa. Aikalaiskirjallisuus koostuu muista islantilaissaagoista, muinaissaagoista (fornaldarsögur) sekä Edda-runoudesta. Lähteitä tarkastellaan sukupuolinäkökulmasta lähteiden laadullisten ominaisuuksien vuoksi: epäonniset henkilöt ovat käytetyissä alkuperäislähteissä lähes poikkeuksetta miehiä. Epäonnen kokemuksen tulkinnassa keskiössä ovat Gísli Súrinpojan unet ja niiden pohjalta laadittu runous, joiden kautta tulkitaan epäonnen miehen ajattelua ja tunteita. Epäonnen tunnemerkityksiä tarkasteltaessa tunteet määritellään nykykäsitteiden kautta. 7/149 lainsuojattomuutensa 21 aikana tuo Gíslille mainetta ja hänen takaa-ajajillensa häpeää. Kaikesta maineesta huolimatta saaga kommentoi kuitenkin myös, että "totta on puhuttu, ettei Gísliä taitavampaa miestä ole ollut, eikä pelottomampaa, mutta siltikään hänestä ei tullut onnen miestä" 22 Vastaavasti saagan loppupuolella Gíslin heitettyä taistelussa henkensä todetaan yleisesti sanotuksi, "että hän oli miehistä rohkein, vaikkei ollutkaan kaikissa asioissa onnen mies". 23 Gíslillä ei saagan mukaan ole myöskään jälkeläisiä. Saagan varhaisimmat säilyneet käsikirjoitukset ovat 1300-ja 1400-luvulta, joista vanhempi on sittemmin kadonnut. Saagasta on kaksi eri versiota, ja näistä lyhyempää on yleensä pidetty alkuperäisempänä versiona, mutta myös vastakkaisia näkemyksiä esiintyy. 24 Versiot eroavat toisistaan vain hieman: S-versio sisältää alussa laajemman ja tarkemman selvityksen Gíslin perheen vaiheista näiden vielä asuessa Norjassa ennen siirtymistään Islantiin, mutta muutoin tekstit vastaavat pitkälti toisiaan lukuun ottamatta pieniä eroavaisuuksia tietyissä kohtauksissa. Käytän tutkimuksessani lähteenä kumpaakin näistä versioista. 25 Saaga on filologisin menetelmin ajoitettu vuosien 1200-1250 väliselle ajalle. 26 Muille islantilaissaagoille tyypilliseen tapaan myös Gísla saga Súrssonar sisältää otteita niin sanotusta skaldirunoudesta 27 proosamuotoisen kerronnan välissä. Runouden merkitys ajassaan oli monimuotoinen. Paitsi että runous saattoi toimia saagojen kerronnan alkuperäisenä lähteenä, sillä on saagassa usein myös esteettinen tehtävä, 21 Saaga kertoo, että vain yksi lainsuojaton, Grettir Ásmundrinpoika, onnistui pakoilemaan vainoojiaan kauemmin kuin Gísli. Gísla saga Súrssonar, luku 22 (ÍF VI, 70). Grettirin osalta todetaan hänen eläneen lainsuojattomana noin 19 vuotta. Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar, luvut 77 ja 93 (ÍF VII, 244 ja 289). 22 "Ok er þat ok sannsagt, at eigi hefir meiri atgörvimaðr verit en Gísli né fullhugi, en þó varð hann eigi gaefumaðr." Gísla saga Súrssonar, luku 27 (ÍF VI, 88). 23 "… ok er þat alsagt, at hann hefir inn mesti hreystimaðr verit, þó at hann vaeri eigi í öllum hlutum gaefumaðr." Gísla saga Súrssonar, luku 36 (ÍF VI, 115). 24 Lyhyempi versio on käsikirjoituksessa MS AM 556a (niin sanottu M-versio). Tätä 1400-luvulta ja pitempää, 1300-luvulta peräisin olevaa ja jo kadonnutta käsikirjoitusta säilytettiin alkujaan Kööpenhaminan kuninkaallisessa kirjastossa. Pitempi versio on säilynyt kahtena paperikopiona, joista toinen on kirjastonhoitaja Ásgeir Jónssonin valmistama 1700-luvulta (AM 149 fol.), ja Jón Jónssonin työhön perustuva käsikirjoitus 1700-luvun lopulta (Ny kgl. sml. 1181 fol.), joka sisältää myös latinankielisen käännöksen. Muutamia fragmentteja saagasta sisältää myös käsikirjoitus AM 761 b, 4to, ja näitä kolmea käsikirjoitusta kutsutaan yhdessä S-versioksi. 1400-luvun alkupuolelta on säilynyt myös yksi katkelma saagasta, käsikirjoitus AM 445c, 4to (Lothin mukaan B-versio).
Viator
Kanerva, Kirsi. 2018. Female Suicide in Thirteenth-Century Iceland: The Case of Brynhildr inVölsu... more Kanerva, Kirsi. 2018. Female Suicide in Thirteenth-Century Iceland: The Case of Brynhildr inVölsunga saga. Viator 49 (3), 129-154.https://doi.org/10.1484/J.VIATOR.5.119576 The article examines thirteenth-century Icelandic conceptions of female suicide and ideas about their causes and motives by conducting a case study of a saga figure called Brynhildr, who commits suicide. The story of Brynhildr is told in several medieval Icelandic sources: in the mytho-heroic legendary saga (fornaldarsaga) Völsunga saga, Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda. The story of Brynhildr in these sources offers fruitful material for the study of the history of suicide, since the northern version in question differs from the southern version of the Brynhildr legend that was known especially in medieval Germany, in which Brynhildr does not kill herself. In this study, the causes and background factors of Brynhildr’s suicide and her motives for her deed, which are described and mentioned in the sources, represent possibilities for female behavior that were part of the mental toolbox of medieval Icelanders. It is argued that the Icelandic audience believed some women committed suicide to protect or restore their honor, or to take revenge, and that such an act required determination, capability to make rational choices, and sense of responsibility. The act could also be seen as a manifestation of power and authority: the woman decided herself when her life would end. However, Brynhildr’s death represents only one possible type of female suicide, and not all were expected to be the same. Committing such a preconceived self-killing as Brynhildr’s required an especially strong will. Most women, who were usually maintained by men, were thought not to possess such might and strength. (Please contact the author if you wish to receive a copy of the article.)