Daniel Sävborg - University of Tartu (original) (raw)
Books by Daniel Sävborg
En gång i tiden var de gestalter och händelser som alla i Sverige kände till: Ane den gamle som o... more En gång i tiden var de gestalter och händelser som alla i Sverige kände till: Ane den gamle som offrade sina barn för att få evigt liv, Ingjald illråde som enade riket genom svek och våld, slaget på Bråvallarna som var så väldigt att himmel och jord tycktes störta samman. Man läste om dem i skolan, konstnärer skildrade dem på monumentalmålningar och i skulpturer, författare skrev dikter, pjäser och romaner om dem. De återgavs i den vetenskapliga litteraturen, knöts till verkliga platser i landskapet och tillhörde allmänbildningen, den gemensamma kunskapen.
Under det senaste århundradet har historikerna omvärderat dessa berättelser om Sveriges forntid och avfärdat dem som sagor. Det har lett till att de numera har fallit i glömska – men så hade det inte behövt bli. Sedan länge har ingen trott att Odysseus, Teseus eller Romulus och Remus har funnits i verkligheten, men ändå fortlever berättelserna om dem och fortsätter att fascinera oss. Varför skulle det vara annorlunda med de svenska berättelserna? De är minst lika fängslande som de antika grekiska och romerska sagorna, och har lika många lager av mening och djup.
I Händelser ur Sveriges ohistoria presenterar Daniel Sävborg elva sådana berättelser om Sveriges forntid. Dessutom visar han hur de har förvandlats med tiden, tolkats och omtolkats och både roat och berört människor på djupet. Det gör han inte minst genom att diskutera de konst- och diktverk som bygger på berättelserna. För inte så länge sedan var dessa verk välkända, men i dag är de i hög grad bortglömda, eftersom de är svårbegripliga för en publik som inte känner till bakgrunden. Boken gör en försvunnen del av kulturarvet känd och levande igen. Med kunskap om de klassiska berättelserna om den svenska forntiden blir många konstnärliga verk tillgängliga på nytt, och många platser runt om i Sverige blir åter laddade med mening och mystik.
Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis. Stockholm Studies in History of Literature 36, 1997
Sorg och elegi i Eddans hjältediktning Akademisk avhandling som för avläggande av filosofie dokto... more Sorg och elegi i Eddans hjältediktning Akademisk avhandling som för avläggande av filosofie doktorsexamen vid Stockholms universitet offentligen försvaras i hörsal 11, hus F, Södra huset, Frescati, lördagen 15 november 1997, kl 10.00 av Daniel Sävborg, fil kand.
Nordistica Tartuensia 20, 2014
During the 20th century, Old Norse philology has been strongly textually oriented. This is eviden... more During the 20th century, Old Norse philology has been strongly textually
oriented. This is evident in saga scholarship, where the book-prose ideology turned the issue of the origin of individual sagas into an issue of direct influences from other written works. This focus has methodological advantages, but it has also meant that valuable folkloristic knowledge has been neglected. The present volume targets the advantages, the problems and the methods of using folklore material and theory in Old Norse scholarship. An important theme in folklore is the encounter with the Supernatural and such stories are indeed common in saga literature. Generally, however, scholars have tended to focus on feuds and the social structure of the sagas, and less on encounters with Otherworld beings. In this volume, the supernatural themes in the sagas are discussed by means of several approaches, some folkloristic, some traditionally philological.
Serien Svenska språkets historia höll 13-15 juni 2018 sin femtonde sammankomst vid Tartu universi... more Serien Svenska språkets historia höll 13-15 juni 2018 sin femtonde sammankomst vid Tartu universitet, grundat 1632 av Gustav II Adolf som Sveriges andra universitet. Arrangör var Institutionen för skandinavistik. Ca 90 personer deltog i konferensen. Vid konferensen framfördes 49 vetenskapliga presentationer: tre plenarföreläsningar, 39 övriga föredrag och 7 posterpresentationer. Det stora intresset är glädjande och arrangörerna noterar att den påtagliga ökning av antalet bidrag som märktes redan vid den föregående konferensen i Vasa 2016 har fortsatt. Här presenteras ett urval av 21 bidrag från konferensen. Artiklarna har genomgått dubbelblind referentgranskning.
This book addresses the narrative construction of places, the relationship between tradition comm... more This book addresses the narrative construction of places, the relationship between tradition communities and their environments, the supernatural dimensions of cultural landscapes and wilderness as they are manifested in European folklore and in early literary sources, such as the Old Norse sagas. The first section “Explorations in Place-Lore” discusses cursed and sacred places, churches, graveyards, haunted houses, cemeteries, grave mounds, hill forts, and other tradition dominants in the micro-geography of the Nordic and Baltic countries, both retrospectively and from synchronous perspectives. The supernaturalisation of places appears as a socially embedded set of practices that involves storytelling and ritual behaviour. Articles show, how places accumulate meanings as they are layered by stories and how this shared knowledge about environments can actualise in personal experiences. Articles in the second section “Regional Variation, Environment and Spatial Dimensions” address ecotypes, milieu-morphological adaptation in Nordic and Baltic-Finnic folklores, and the active role of tradition bearers in shaping beliefs about nature as well as attitudes towards the environment. The meaning of places and spatial distance as the marker of otherness and sacrality in Old Norse sagas is also discussed here. The third section of the book “Traditions and Histories Reconsidered” addresses major developments within the European social histories and mentalities. It scrutinizes the history of folkloristics, its geopolitical dimensions and its connection with nation building, as well as looking at constructions of the concepts Baltic, Nordic and Celtic. It also sheds light on the social base of folklore and examines vernacular views toward legendry and the supernatural.
The Icelandic historian, poet, and politician Snorri Sturluson was an exceptional figure of the N... more The Icelandic historian, poet, and politician Snorri Sturluson was an exceptional figure of the Nordic Middle Ages. The essays by renowned scholars gathered in this volume present the current state of research on Snorri while also suggesting new approaches. In addition to examining questions related to the history of religion and literature, they consider issues regarding the nature of biography, the history of science, and historical text transmission.
Contributors: Heinrich Beck, Jan A. van Nahl, Thomas Krümpel, Olof Sundqvist, Jiri Stary, Matthias Teichert, Matthias Egeler, Richard North, Edith Marold, Rudolf Simek, Daniel Sävborg, Dieter Strauch.
Sorg och elegi i Eddans hjältediktning / Grief and Elegy in Eddic Heroic Poetry
According to the established view among scholars, the so-called "Eddic elegies" represent a layer... more According to the established view among scholars, the so-called "Eddic elegies" represent a layer of poems from the Christian middle ages, substantially separated from the "genuine" Eddic poems of the Viking Age, as regards both their character and their time of origin. This view is primarily based on the assumption that grief as a poetic phenomenon is something Young in Norse poetry. The aim of this study is to excimine the literary-historical tradition behind the poetic treatment of grief in the Edda and then, proceeding from the results of that examination, to raise the question of the origin and the particular character of the "Eddic
elegies". In addition, the study wants to discuss the role of grief in Eddie poetry. I use a comparative method and try in different ways to be as free as possible from presumptions and dependence of earlier scholarship. Therefore, I examine consistlently all Eddic heroic poems, not - like earlier "elegy"-scholars - only the "elegies". In the comparative studies where I want to establish the literary-historical context behind the grief descriptions of the Eddic poetry I search in many different periods, genres and poetic works for such literature that could have influenced the Eddic poetry and its poetic treatment of grief; unlike earlier "elegy"-scholars I do not proceed from a hypothesis about one particular model, nor do I test specifically the hypotheses of earlier scholars. My studies led me to the following main results:
—Grief as a poetic motif, its presentation and function in most Eddic poems - the so-called "elegies" as well as those that are supposed to be old - should be explained as proceeding from a Norse Viking Age tradition with roots directly in Old Germanic poetry, not as proceeding from later mediæval literature, either Norse nor continental.
—The grief in most poems of the heroic cycle of Codex Regius is directly linked to the heroic poetry as a genre; most of he "elegies", too, are genuine heroic poems and not, as has been claimed, lyrical poems or something of that kind. Further studies suggested that grief was one of the permanent components in Norse/Old Germanic heroic poetry.
—The established view that there is a sharp distinction between the group of "elegies" and the group of "old" Eddic poems is not correct. On the contrary, my studies demonstrated common basic characteristics, as regards both grief and other supposedly
distinctive features. These poems as entities belong to the same poetic tradition. Still, it is a fact that grief is a considerably more dominant ingredient in the "elegies" than in other Eddic poems. This characteristic, however, is due to the fact that these poems focus on women, not to a different origin.
A principal aim of the book is to establish the tendencies and technique in the literary treatmen... more A principal aim of the book is to establish the tendencies and technique in the literary treatment of love and eroticism in the Icelandic saga literature. How do the sagas tell about erotic themes and emotions of love? What literary function do these motifs have? What kind of differencies are there between the different parts of the Old Norse literature? On the basis of these examinations I analyze the theme of love in seven individual family sagas: Laxdoela saga, Bjarnar saga Hítdoelakappa, Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu, Kormáks saga, Hallfreðar saga, Fóstbroeðra saga, and Víglundar saga. Another principal aim is to examine how the continental/courtly tradition of love depiction was received in Old Norse literature and to examine how the indigenous and the courtly tradition influence each other. These are some of the main conclusions of the book:
• There is a well-developed and distinctive indigenous tradition of love depiction. Love is in several family sagas a more important motif than most scholars have realized, due to their misinterpretation of elements in the technique of love depiction in the sagas.
• The indigenous saga literature and the indigenous poetic tradition show in all essentials different tendencies. There is not only one indigenous tradition of love depiction in Old Norse literature.
• The translated riddarasögur reproduce to a great extent the courtly continental tendencies from their originals as regards love/eroticism.
• The indigenous saga tendency does hardly at all influence the treatment of the motif of love/eroticism in the translated riddarasögur, and the continental tendency does only slightly influence the depiction of love/eroticism in the family sagas.
• Fornaldarsögur connect in their treatment of love on to the tradition of the indigenous saga literature. The theory of a strong influence on the fornaldarsögur from the translated riddarasögur and courtly literature is refuted. The indigenous riddarasögur connect in their treatment of love principally to the tendencies of the translated riddarasögur. The prevalent theory of a close relationship between the groups of fornaldarsögur and indigenous riddarasögur is strongly overstated.
Papers by Daniel Sävborg
Viking Dynasties: The Royal Families of Lejre and Uppsala Between Archaeology and Text, ed. Tom Christensen, John Ljungkvist & Neil Price, Jutland Archaeological Society Publications Vol. 127, 2024 [here on Academia.edu, the author's original Swedish text is uploaded, while an English translation..., 2024
This is the original Swedish text of the work, which has been published in Esnglish translation (... more This is the original Swedish text of the work, which has been published in Esnglish translation (by Charles Phillimore) under the title "The Uppsala Kings. Narrative - Tradition - Reality" in Viking Dynasties: The Royal Families of Lejre and Uppsala Between Archaeology and Text, ed. Tom Christensen, John Ljungkvist & Neil Price, Jutland Archaeological Society Publications Vol. 127, 2024.
The Literary Encyclopedia, vol.1.3.4, Icelandic Writing and Culture, ed. Ármann Jakobsson et al., 2024
Guðrúnarhvǫt [Guðrún's incitement] is an Eddic poem in the fornyrðislag metre, preserved in the m... more Guðrúnarhvǫt [Guðrún's incitement] is an Eddic poem in the fornyrðislag metre, preserved in the manuscript Codex Regius nr. 2365 4to (c.1270). In the manuscript, the poem is preceded by a longer prose passage with the heading Frá Guðrúnu [About Guðrún] preceded by the poem Atlamál, and followed by the last poem in the Edda manuscript, Hamðismál. The standard title is taken from the heading in the manuscript, Guðrúnar hvǫt. The poem is since Sophus Bugge's 1867 edition divided into 21 stanzas of remarkably irregular length, from one to twelve lines. Guðrúnarhvǫt is used in Vǫlsunga saga, where large parts of it are retold in prose. The preceding prose called Frá Guðrúnu links together the events in the preceding Atlamál and the following Guðrúnarhvǫt: After killing her husband Atli and her children with him, Guðrún tried to drown herself, but drifted to the land of King Jónakr, who married her. She had the sons Hamðir and Sǫrli with him. Her daughter with Sigurðr, Svanhildr, was married to King Jǫrmunrekkr who had her killed, trampled under the feet of horses. Then the poem proper begins. Guðrún incites Hamðir and Sǫrli to avenge their sister by accusing them of lacking heroic spirit, contrasting them to her heroic brothers Gunnarr and Hǫgni. The sons defend themselves by reminding her of Hǫgni's killing of Sigurðr and of her own killing of her sons by Atli, violent deeds which only caused Guðrún grief in the past, and claiming that if her sons by Atli had been alive, they could together have killed Jǫrmunrekkr. The sons accept, however, to take revenge, and laughing Guðrún gives them precious arms. Before the departure, Hamðir foresees that they will die during their revenge expedition and that Guðrún soon will drink funeral ale for both Svanhildr and her sons. Guðrún bursts into tears, and the rest of the poem consists of her monologue, where she relates the woes of her life-Sigurðr's death, her brothers' death, her own killing of her sons by Atli, and-the deepest of all her griefs-Svanhildr's death. In the last stanzas of the poem, Guðrún seems to have regained her strength, calling for the long-dead Sigurðr to come to her and ordering her court to build a funeral pyre, which will burn her. In the last stanza, she seems to express the hope that her lament or tregróf [chain of woes] will reduce the sorrow for other grieving people. The character of Jǫrmunrekkr has an ultimate origin in the historical Gothic king Ermanaric, who died in 376 and is mentioned in contemporary sources. He is an important character in many other works from Old English, Middle High German, and Old Danish literature. Jǫrmunrekkr's killing of Svanhildr and her brothers' attempt at revenge are also events attested in early sources, mentioned in Jordanes' Getica (c. 550), where Svanhildr corresponds to Sunilda and Hamðir and Sǫrli to Ammius and Sarus. In this work, there is, however, no indication of a family relation between the king and the woman. The end of the poem, where Guðrún orders a funeral pyre to be built where she will burn herself alive (st. 21),
W świecie bogów, ludzi i zwierząt, Festschrift for Leszek Slupecki, ed. Jakub Morawiec et al., Rzeszów, p. 177-201 [last draft], 2022
In a number of previous works, I have investigated the theme of love and the depiction of emotion... more In a number of previous works, I have investigated the theme of love and the depiction of emotions in Old Norse literature in its various genres. One recurring focus has been the dependence of native vs. forign tradition in the depiction love and emotions, and not least combinations of these traditions in Old Norse prose and poetry. In the present study, I focus on an aspect which the previous works have only briefly touched upon: the relationship between passion and harm-bringing witchcraft in Old Norse literature. I analyze the different types of combinations of passion and witchcraft, their origins and their transformations. The study involves cases of passion without witchcraft as well as cases of witchcraft without passion, but the main focus is on cases where passion and witchcraft seem to be inseparable.
Res, Artes et Religio. Essays in Honour of Rudolf Simek, ed. Sabine Heidi Walther et al. Leeds: Kismet Press, p. 511-533, 2021
The Literary Encyclopedia, vol.1.3.4, Icelandic Writing and Culture, ed. Ármann Jakobsson et al. , 2024
Guðrúnarkviða I is an Eddic poem preserved in Codex Regius nr. 2365 4to (c. 1270), where it is pl... more Guðrúnarkviða I is an Eddic poem preserved in Codex Regius nr. 2365 4to (c. 1270), where it is placed between the longer prose section titled Frá dauða Sigurðar (following Brot af Sigurðarkviðo) and Sigurðarkviða in skamma. The poem is composed in fornyrðislag, divided into 27 stanzas of considerable irregularity regarding the number of lines (Bugge 1867). The length of the stanzas varies between 6 to 12 lines in Sophus Bugge's edition (Bugge 1867); this irregularity is even more marked in the current standard edition (Neckel-Kuhn), where also the division of stanzas differs from Bugge. The standard name of the poem is taken from its heading in the manuscript, Guðrúnar kviða, without number. Nothing of the poem is preserved in other manuscripts, and it is not used in any of the prose works dealing with the Sigurðr legend. The presence of a stef (þeygi Guðrún gráta mátti three times) constitutes a rare feature in the heroic cycle of the Edda.
Germanisches Altertum und Europäisches Mittelalter: Gedenkband für Heinrich Beck, ed. Wilhelm Heizmann & Jan Alexander van Nahl, De Gruyter, 2023, p. 375-392 [final draft], 2023
This study aims to give a contribution to the history of passion as a motif in Old Norse literatu... more This study aims to give a contribution to the history of passion as a motif in Old Norse literature. It will be done by an examination of a distinct and clearly defined phenomenon: love-sickness. The material will primarily be a distinct literary type: the Old Norse poetry. A specific formula type, her called 'the woman causes the man grief', which has so far not been thoroughly investigated, will be in focus. The main purpose is to map the motif in the material and to examine its characteristics. The study will also try to establish its origin and its relation to courtly European tradition.
![Research paper thumbnail of Bergbúa þáttr [The Tale of the Mountain-Dweller]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/114052156/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](The Literary Encyclopedia, vol.1.3.4, Icelandic Writing and Culture, ed. Ármann Jakobsson et al. 2024., 2024
The Abyss as a Concept for Cultural Theory: A Comparative Exploration, ed. Marko Pajevic, Leiden/Boston: Brill, p. 92-113 [final draft], 2024
Using various Old Norse sources, this chapter analyses the description of the state that obtained... more Using various Old Norse sources, this chapter analyses the description of the state that obtained before the creation of the world in pre-Christian Nordic mythology by focusing on Ginnungagap and its relation to the concept of abyss. The philological and source-critical approach of the study leads to the conclusion that the famous description of the pre-creation state and of the creation in Snorri Sturluson's Edda is a late construction which never existed in pre-Christian times, and that the descriptions in the Eddic poems Völuspá and Vafþrúðnismál, although both genuinely pre-Christian, express completely different myths of both the creation and the pre-creation state. The study further demonstrates how many previous scholars have made erroneous interpretations based on harmonisation of the sources, while an examination of each source separately gives an entirely different picture. Snorri's interpretation of Ginnungagap is shown to become the later medieval standard, and the original idea of an empty void is abandoned. Finally, the study argues that the myth told in Völuspá is influenced by the biblical creation story although this influence took place in the pre-Christian times.
The Literary Encyclopedia, vol.1.3.4, Icelandic Writing and Culture, ed. Ármann Jakobsson et al., 2024
Skírnismál is an Eddic poem consisting of 42 stanzas in ljóðaháttr, preceded by a prose introduct... more Skírnismál is an Eddic poem consisting of 42 stanzas in ljóðaháttr, preceded by a prose introduction. All the stanzas are in direct speech. The whole poem is preserved in the manuscript Codex Regius nr. 2365 4to (c.1270) and the first 27 stanzas also in A 748 Ia 4to (c. 1300). The former manuscript uses the name Fǫr Skírnis [Skírnir's journey], while the latter uses the name Skírnismál. Snorri Sturluson quotes st. 42 in his Edda (Gylfaginning, ch. 23) after a short summary of the poem. In Codex Regius, Skírnismál is placed between Grímnismál and Hárbarðsljóð, as the only Freyr poem in the collection. Skírnismál tells the story of how Freyr, assisted by his servant Skírnir, wins the giantess Gerðr as his wife or mistress. The poem itself is preceded by a prose introduction, telling that Njǫrðr's son Freyr once sat in Hliðskjálf and looked out over the world; in Jǫtunheimr, 'the Giant land', he saw a beautiful woman, which made him depressed. His father asks Freyr's friend and servant Skírnir to find out the cause. The poem proper starts thereafter. The first stanzas consist of a dialogue between Skírnir and Skaði and between Skírnir and Freyr. The stanzas describe Freyr's depressed behaviour, his passivity, and his isolation from other people, and Freyr reveals that his sadness is caused by his sight of a beautiful woman. He longs for her. She turns out to be Gerðr, daughter of the giant Gymir. Skírnir agrees to ride to Jǫtunheimr and bring her to Freyr. He is first stopped by a shepherd, but then he meets Gerðr and performs Freyr's request. She responds negatively. The following part of the poem is occupied by a scene where Skírnir uses various arguments and means to persuade Gerðr to give herself to Freyr. At first, Skírnir tries to convince her with precious gifts, which she rejects, then with threats of killing her and her father, and, most extensively, with a magic staff and a long curse that will strike her if she does not accept Freyr. She will suffer many pains, among them an unbearable, unfulfilled desire. This breaks down Gerðr's resistance, and she finally declares her willingness to give herself to Freyr. They will meet in the grove Barri after nine nights. Skírnir returns to Freyr and informs him about the agreement. In the last stanza, Freyr complains of his yearning which makes the wait seem too long.
The Literary Encyclopedia, vol.1.3.4, Icelandic Writing and Culture, ed. Ármann Jakobsson et al., 2024
Bárðar saga Snaefellsáss is an Icelandic saga, preserved in a number of fragmentary manuscripts f... more Bárðar saga Snaefellsáss is an Icelandic saga, preserved in a number of fragmentary manuscripts from the late Middle Ages; oldest are two vellum leaves from the so-called Pseudo-Vatnshyrna (AM 564a 4to, c. 1390-1425), a sister manuscript of the lost Vatnshyrna from the second part of the fourteenth century. A full text is preserved only in the paper manuscript AM 158 fol. (c. 1650), which, however, probably contains older readings than any of the vellum fragments, and is used as the main text in printed editions (Þórhallur Vilmundarson 1991). Bárðar saga is traditionally counted among the young, or "post-classical", sagas of Icelanders. Bárðr, the son of the giant king Dumbr and a human woman, is fostered by the mountain king Dofri in Dofrafjǫll and marries his daughter. He stays with Dofri in the mountain until he is 18 years old. Now his human side takes over. He settles in a village in Norway close to his fully human half-brother Þorkell. When Harald Fairhair establishes his tyrannic rule over Norway, Bárðr, Þorkell and their families and friends travel to Iceland. They settle at the peninsula Snaefellsnes. Bárðr clears the area from evil trolls. One day when Bárðr's daughter Helga and Þorkell's sons play together, Helga is playfully pushed onto an ice floe and drifts away. Bárðr is overwhelmed by grief and anger and kills his nephews. He then declares that, due to his non-human kin and his grief over his daughter, he cannot live among humans , anymore. For a second time he shifts identity and moves to a cave in the mountains, becoming a guardian spirit for the people in the area and is called Snaefells-áss [god of Snaefell]. Several episodes follow where people call for Bárðr in danger, he intervenes, often invisible, giving them help and protecting humans from ogres. During these events, Helga has drifted to Greenland with the ice. She falls in love with Miðfjarðar-Skeggi, well-known from other sagas of Icelanders, and becomes his mistress. Together they fight trolls and other ogres on Greenland, and Helga saves Skeggi's life. They return to Iceland and Helga unites with her father. She is full of grief after departing from Skeggi, who is married, and roams the country; she stays sometimes in the mountains, sometimes among the humans, without finding rest anywhere. Bárðr invites Tungu-Oddr, also well-known from other sagas, to stay with him in the cave to teach him law. Later Bárðr seduces Miðfjarðar-Skeggi's daughter Þórdís, apparently as revenge for Skeggi's seduction of Helga, and makes her pregnant. Their son Gestr grows up with Bárðr and Helga. A conflict between Gestr and the evil troll Kolbjörn leads to the involvement of Þórðr, Þórdís' son with a human man and thus half-brother of Gestr. Kolbjörn tricks Þórðr to become betrothed to his alleged daughter Sólrún, who is in reality an abducted human maiden, with the purpose to kill him. Gestr comes to his help, they defeat the trolls and free Sólrún. Together they travel to Norway where King Ólafr Tryggvason tries to convince Gestr to become a Christian, but he is reluctant. Gestr accepts, however, to travel to the remote Helluland to seek treasures from the mound of the undead king Raknarr. The journey is full of adventures, and in the mound Gestr has to fight Raknarr. In despair, Gestr calls for his father Bárðr, who appears magically but is unable to help him.
The Literary Encyclopedia, vol.1.3.4, Icelandic Writing and Culture, ed. Ármann Jakobsson et al., 2024
Guðrúnarkviða II is an eddic poem in fornyrðislag metre, preserved in the Codex Regius, GKS no. 2... more Guðrúnarkviða II is an eddic poem in fornyrðislag metre, preserved in the Codex Regius, GKS no. 2365 4to (c. 1270) where it is placed between the prose chapter Dráp Niflunga [The Killing of the Niflungs] and the poem Guðrúnarkviða III. Since Sophus Bugge's edition (1867), it has usually been divided into 44 stanzas of irregular length. The name Guðrúnar kviða [without number] is found in the heading of the poem in the manuscript. There is a reference to the poem (concerning different versions of the killing of Sigurðr) in a prose section after Brot af Sigurðsarkviðo, where it is called Guðrúnarkviða in forna. This section is also used in Norna-Gests þáttr, where the poem is called Guðrúnarroeða [Guðrún's speech]. Much of the poem are retold in prose in Vǫlsunga saga (ch. 34-35), where three stanzas from the poem are also quoted (st. 19, 22, and 23 in Guðrúnarkviða II).
The Literary Encyclopedia, vol.1.3.4, Icelandic Writing and Culture, ed. Ármann Jakobsson et al., 2024
Kjalnesinga saga is counted among the so-called "post-classical" sagas of Icelanders. It is prese... more Kjalnesinga saga is counted among the so-called "post-classical" sagas of Icelanders. It is preserved in a vellum manuscript from the later part of the fifteenth century (AM 471, 4to) and in a number of paper manuscripts from the seventeenth century. Two of these, AM 503, 4to, and AM 504, 4to, have texts which are probably close to the text in the now lost Vatnshyrna from the late fourteenth century, while AM 551 b, 4to represents a revised and expanded version. In the last two manuscripts, the saga continues with a sequel, Jǫkuls þáttr Búasonar. In its opening section, the saga recounts the settlement of Kjalarnes, about the year 900. After some time, Búi Andriðsson, son of a Christian Irishman, appears as the main character of the saga. He is fostered by Esja, who is a Christian from Ireland, too, but also skilled in magic. Búi is soon in conflict with the local chieftains due to his refusal to sacrifice to the gods. His pagan opponents repeatedly attempt to attack him, but he is consistently protected by Esja's magic. During the conflict, Búi kills one of his enemies in the pagan temple and then burns the temple down. A second plot is introduced, where Búi in rivalry with two other men court the beautiful Ólǫf. One of the rivals is killed and the other is defeated, Búi abducts Ólǫf and hides with her in a cave, once again attacked by his enemies. Búi takes farewell of Ólǫf and travels abroad. In Norway, King Harald Fairhair aims to kill him as a punishment for the burning-down of the pagan temple. The king gives him a chance to save his life on the condition that he can get a gaming board from the giant king Dofri in Dofrafjǫll and bring it to the king. Búi succeeds in this task, and during his winter in the mountain he makes Dofri's daughter pregnant. Back at King Harald's court he succeeds in another difficult test, fighting and killing a wild blámaðr, an episode with close parallels in Finnboga sagaand Gunnars saga Keldugnúpsfífls. He returns to Iceland and has to fight with his rival, who during Búi's time abroad has abducted Ólǫf. After Búi has killed his enemy, he rejects Ólǫf since she is spoiled by another man. He reconciles with this other enemies. In the end, a young man called Jǫkull arrives, Búi's son with the giant princess in Norway. Búi questions his identity and demands that he should prove it by a wrestling match with him. During the fight Jǫkull's mother intervenes invisible on Jǫkull's side, and Búi is killed by his son. Búi is given a Christian funeral. Kjalnesinga saga is hardly possible to analyse from the feud scheme which has proved useful for most classical Sagas of Icelanders (Danielsson 1986). The main section of the saga concerns the adventures in Norway, not the feuds in Iceland. Both revenge and a clear climax are lacking. The saga circles around three conflicts-one rooted in Búi's resistance to pagan activity, another in rivalry about a woman, and the third in his questioning of his son's identity-which are not connected to each other at all. Sometimes, the conflict between Christianity and paganism has been claimed to constitute the governing main theme of the saga (AEgidius 1981; partly Cook 1994), but that could only account for one of the conflicts. The idea that the saga, instead, almost allegorically
En gång i tiden var de gestalter och händelser som alla i Sverige kände till: Ane den gamle som o... more En gång i tiden var de gestalter och händelser som alla i Sverige kände till: Ane den gamle som offrade sina barn för att få evigt liv, Ingjald illråde som enade riket genom svek och våld, slaget på Bråvallarna som var så väldigt att himmel och jord tycktes störta samman. Man läste om dem i skolan, konstnärer skildrade dem på monumentalmålningar och i skulpturer, författare skrev dikter, pjäser och romaner om dem. De återgavs i den vetenskapliga litteraturen, knöts till verkliga platser i landskapet och tillhörde allmänbildningen, den gemensamma kunskapen.
Under det senaste århundradet har historikerna omvärderat dessa berättelser om Sveriges forntid och avfärdat dem som sagor. Det har lett till att de numera har fallit i glömska – men så hade det inte behövt bli. Sedan länge har ingen trott att Odysseus, Teseus eller Romulus och Remus har funnits i verkligheten, men ändå fortlever berättelserna om dem och fortsätter att fascinera oss. Varför skulle det vara annorlunda med de svenska berättelserna? De är minst lika fängslande som de antika grekiska och romerska sagorna, och har lika många lager av mening och djup.
I Händelser ur Sveriges ohistoria presenterar Daniel Sävborg elva sådana berättelser om Sveriges forntid. Dessutom visar han hur de har förvandlats med tiden, tolkats och omtolkats och både roat och berört människor på djupet. Det gör han inte minst genom att diskutera de konst- och diktverk som bygger på berättelserna. För inte så länge sedan var dessa verk välkända, men i dag är de i hög grad bortglömda, eftersom de är svårbegripliga för en publik som inte känner till bakgrunden. Boken gör en försvunnen del av kulturarvet känd och levande igen. Med kunskap om de klassiska berättelserna om den svenska forntiden blir många konstnärliga verk tillgängliga på nytt, och många platser runt om i Sverige blir åter laddade med mening och mystik.
Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis. Stockholm Studies in History of Literature 36, 1997
Sorg och elegi i Eddans hjältediktning Akademisk avhandling som för avläggande av filosofie dokto... more Sorg och elegi i Eddans hjältediktning Akademisk avhandling som för avläggande av filosofie doktorsexamen vid Stockholms universitet offentligen försvaras i hörsal 11, hus F, Södra huset, Frescati, lördagen 15 november 1997, kl 10.00 av Daniel Sävborg, fil kand.
Nordistica Tartuensia 20, 2014
During the 20th century, Old Norse philology has been strongly textually oriented. This is eviden... more During the 20th century, Old Norse philology has been strongly textually
oriented. This is evident in saga scholarship, where the book-prose ideology turned the issue of the origin of individual sagas into an issue of direct influences from other written works. This focus has methodological advantages, but it has also meant that valuable folkloristic knowledge has been neglected. The present volume targets the advantages, the problems and the methods of using folklore material and theory in Old Norse scholarship. An important theme in folklore is the encounter with the Supernatural and such stories are indeed common in saga literature. Generally, however, scholars have tended to focus on feuds and the social structure of the sagas, and less on encounters with Otherworld beings. In this volume, the supernatural themes in the sagas are discussed by means of several approaches, some folkloristic, some traditionally philological.
Serien Svenska språkets historia höll 13-15 juni 2018 sin femtonde sammankomst vid Tartu universi... more Serien Svenska språkets historia höll 13-15 juni 2018 sin femtonde sammankomst vid Tartu universitet, grundat 1632 av Gustav II Adolf som Sveriges andra universitet. Arrangör var Institutionen för skandinavistik. Ca 90 personer deltog i konferensen. Vid konferensen framfördes 49 vetenskapliga presentationer: tre plenarföreläsningar, 39 övriga föredrag och 7 posterpresentationer. Det stora intresset är glädjande och arrangörerna noterar att den påtagliga ökning av antalet bidrag som märktes redan vid den föregående konferensen i Vasa 2016 har fortsatt. Här presenteras ett urval av 21 bidrag från konferensen. Artiklarna har genomgått dubbelblind referentgranskning.
This book addresses the narrative construction of places, the relationship between tradition comm... more This book addresses the narrative construction of places, the relationship between tradition communities and their environments, the supernatural dimensions of cultural landscapes and wilderness as they are manifested in European folklore and in early literary sources, such as the Old Norse sagas. The first section “Explorations in Place-Lore” discusses cursed and sacred places, churches, graveyards, haunted houses, cemeteries, grave mounds, hill forts, and other tradition dominants in the micro-geography of the Nordic and Baltic countries, both retrospectively and from synchronous perspectives. The supernaturalisation of places appears as a socially embedded set of practices that involves storytelling and ritual behaviour. Articles show, how places accumulate meanings as they are layered by stories and how this shared knowledge about environments can actualise in personal experiences. Articles in the second section “Regional Variation, Environment and Spatial Dimensions” address ecotypes, milieu-morphological adaptation in Nordic and Baltic-Finnic folklores, and the active role of tradition bearers in shaping beliefs about nature as well as attitudes towards the environment. The meaning of places and spatial distance as the marker of otherness and sacrality in Old Norse sagas is also discussed here. The third section of the book “Traditions and Histories Reconsidered” addresses major developments within the European social histories and mentalities. It scrutinizes the history of folkloristics, its geopolitical dimensions and its connection with nation building, as well as looking at constructions of the concepts Baltic, Nordic and Celtic. It also sheds light on the social base of folklore and examines vernacular views toward legendry and the supernatural.
The Icelandic historian, poet, and politician Snorri Sturluson was an exceptional figure of the N... more The Icelandic historian, poet, and politician Snorri Sturluson was an exceptional figure of the Nordic Middle Ages. The essays by renowned scholars gathered in this volume present the current state of research on Snorri while also suggesting new approaches. In addition to examining questions related to the history of religion and literature, they consider issues regarding the nature of biography, the history of science, and historical text transmission.
Contributors: Heinrich Beck, Jan A. van Nahl, Thomas Krümpel, Olof Sundqvist, Jiri Stary, Matthias Teichert, Matthias Egeler, Richard North, Edith Marold, Rudolf Simek, Daniel Sävborg, Dieter Strauch.
Sorg och elegi i Eddans hjältediktning / Grief and Elegy in Eddic Heroic Poetry
According to the established view among scholars, the so-called "Eddic elegies" represent a layer... more According to the established view among scholars, the so-called "Eddic elegies" represent a layer of poems from the Christian middle ages, substantially separated from the "genuine" Eddic poems of the Viking Age, as regards both their character and their time of origin. This view is primarily based on the assumption that grief as a poetic phenomenon is something Young in Norse poetry. The aim of this study is to excimine the literary-historical tradition behind the poetic treatment of grief in the Edda and then, proceeding from the results of that examination, to raise the question of the origin and the particular character of the "Eddic
elegies". In addition, the study wants to discuss the role of grief in Eddie poetry. I use a comparative method and try in different ways to be as free as possible from presumptions and dependence of earlier scholarship. Therefore, I examine consistlently all Eddic heroic poems, not - like earlier "elegy"-scholars - only the "elegies". In the comparative studies where I want to establish the literary-historical context behind the grief descriptions of the Eddic poetry I search in many different periods, genres and poetic works for such literature that could have influenced the Eddic poetry and its poetic treatment of grief; unlike earlier "elegy"-scholars I do not proceed from a hypothesis about one particular model, nor do I test specifically the hypotheses of earlier scholars. My studies led me to the following main results:
—Grief as a poetic motif, its presentation and function in most Eddic poems - the so-called "elegies" as well as those that are supposed to be old - should be explained as proceeding from a Norse Viking Age tradition with roots directly in Old Germanic poetry, not as proceeding from later mediæval literature, either Norse nor continental.
—The grief in most poems of the heroic cycle of Codex Regius is directly linked to the heroic poetry as a genre; most of he "elegies", too, are genuine heroic poems and not, as has been claimed, lyrical poems or something of that kind. Further studies suggested that grief was one of the permanent components in Norse/Old Germanic heroic poetry.
—The established view that there is a sharp distinction between the group of "elegies" and the group of "old" Eddic poems is not correct. On the contrary, my studies demonstrated common basic characteristics, as regards both grief and other supposedly
distinctive features. These poems as entities belong to the same poetic tradition. Still, it is a fact that grief is a considerably more dominant ingredient in the "elegies" than in other Eddic poems. This characteristic, however, is due to the fact that these poems focus on women, not to a different origin.
A principal aim of the book is to establish the tendencies and technique in the literary treatmen... more A principal aim of the book is to establish the tendencies and technique in the literary treatment of love and eroticism in the Icelandic saga literature. How do the sagas tell about erotic themes and emotions of love? What literary function do these motifs have? What kind of differencies are there between the different parts of the Old Norse literature? On the basis of these examinations I analyze the theme of love in seven individual family sagas: Laxdoela saga, Bjarnar saga Hítdoelakappa, Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu, Kormáks saga, Hallfreðar saga, Fóstbroeðra saga, and Víglundar saga. Another principal aim is to examine how the continental/courtly tradition of love depiction was received in Old Norse literature and to examine how the indigenous and the courtly tradition influence each other. These are some of the main conclusions of the book:
• There is a well-developed and distinctive indigenous tradition of love depiction. Love is in several family sagas a more important motif than most scholars have realized, due to their misinterpretation of elements in the technique of love depiction in the sagas.
• The indigenous saga literature and the indigenous poetic tradition show in all essentials different tendencies. There is not only one indigenous tradition of love depiction in Old Norse literature.
• The translated riddarasögur reproduce to a great extent the courtly continental tendencies from their originals as regards love/eroticism.
• The indigenous saga tendency does hardly at all influence the treatment of the motif of love/eroticism in the translated riddarasögur, and the continental tendency does only slightly influence the depiction of love/eroticism in the family sagas.
• Fornaldarsögur connect in their treatment of love on to the tradition of the indigenous saga literature. The theory of a strong influence on the fornaldarsögur from the translated riddarasögur and courtly literature is refuted. The indigenous riddarasögur connect in their treatment of love principally to the tendencies of the translated riddarasögur. The prevalent theory of a close relationship between the groups of fornaldarsögur and indigenous riddarasögur is strongly overstated.
Viking Dynasties: The Royal Families of Lejre and Uppsala Between Archaeology and Text, ed. Tom Christensen, John Ljungkvist & Neil Price, Jutland Archaeological Society Publications Vol. 127, 2024 [here on Academia.edu, the author's original Swedish text is uploaded, while an English translation..., 2024
This is the original Swedish text of the work, which has been published in Esnglish translation (... more This is the original Swedish text of the work, which has been published in Esnglish translation (by Charles Phillimore) under the title "The Uppsala Kings. Narrative - Tradition - Reality" in Viking Dynasties: The Royal Families of Lejre and Uppsala Between Archaeology and Text, ed. Tom Christensen, John Ljungkvist & Neil Price, Jutland Archaeological Society Publications Vol. 127, 2024.
The Literary Encyclopedia, vol.1.3.4, Icelandic Writing and Culture, ed. Ármann Jakobsson et al., 2024
Guðrúnarhvǫt [Guðrún's incitement] is an Eddic poem in the fornyrðislag metre, preserved in the m... more Guðrúnarhvǫt [Guðrún's incitement] is an Eddic poem in the fornyrðislag metre, preserved in the manuscript Codex Regius nr. 2365 4to (c.1270). In the manuscript, the poem is preceded by a longer prose passage with the heading Frá Guðrúnu [About Guðrún] preceded by the poem Atlamál, and followed by the last poem in the Edda manuscript, Hamðismál. The standard title is taken from the heading in the manuscript, Guðrúnar hvǫt. The poem is since Sophus Bugge's 1867 edition divided into 21 stanzas of remarkably irregular length, from one to twelve lines. Guðrúnarhvǫt is used in Vǫlsunga saga, where large parts of it are retold in prose. The preceding prose called Frá Guðrúnu links together the events in the preceding Atlamál and the following Guðrúnarhvǫt: After killing her husband Atli and her children with him, Guðrún tried to drown herself, but drifted to the land of King Jónakr, who married her. She had the sons Hamðir and Sǫrli with him. Her daughter with Sigurðr, Svanhildr, was married to King Jǫrmunrekkr who had her killed, trampled under the feet of horses. Then the poem proper begins. Guðrún incites Hamðir and Sǫrli to avenge their sister by accusing them of lacking heroic spirit, contrasting them to her heroic brothers Gunnarr and Hǫgni. The sons defend themselves by reminding her of Hǫgni's killing of Sigurðr and of her own killing of her sons by Atli, violent deeds which only caused Guðrún grief in the past, and claiming that if her sons by Atli had been alive, they could together have killed Jǫrmunrekkr. The sons accept, however, to take revenge, and laughing Guðrún gives them precious arms. Before the departure, Hamðir foresees that they will die during their revenge expedition and that Guðrún soon will drink funeral ale for both Svanhildr and her sons. Guðrún bursts into tears, and the rest of the poem consists of her monologue, where she relates the woes of her life-Sigurðr's death, her brothers' death, her own killing of her sons by Atli, and-the deepest of all her griefs-Svanhildr's death. In the last stanzas of the poem, Guðrún seems to have regained her strength, calling for the long-dead Sigurðr to come to her and ordering her court to build a funeral pyre, which will burn her. In the last stanza, she seems to express the hope that her lament or tregróf [chain of woes] will reduce the sorrow for other grieving people. The character of Jǫrmunrekkr has an ultimate origin in the historical Gothic king Ermanaric, who died in 376 and is mentioned in contemporary sources. He is an important character in many other works from Old English, Middle High German, and Old Danish literature. Jǫrmunrekkr's killing of Svanhildr and her brothers' attempt at revenge are also events attested in early sources, mentioned in Jordanes' Getica (c. 550), where Svanhildr corresponds to Sunilda and Hamðir and Sǫrli to Ammius and Sarus. In this work, there is, however, no indication of a family relation between the king and the woman. The end of the poem, where Guðrún orders a funeral pyre to be built where she will burn herself alive (st. 21),
W świecie bogów, ludzi i zwierząt, Festschrift for Leszek Slupecki, ed. Jakub Morawiec et al., Rzeszów, p. 177-201 [last draft], 2022
In a number of previous works, I have investigated the theme of love and the depiction of emotion... more In a number of previous works, I have investigated the theme of love and the depiction of emotions in Old Norse literature in its various genres. One recurring focus has been the dependence of native vs. forign tradition in the depiction love and emotions, and not least combinations of these traditions in Old Norse prose and poetry. In the present study, I focus on an aspect which the previous works have only briefly touched upon: the relationship between passion and harm-bringing witchcraft in Old Norse literature. I analyze the different types of combinations of passion and witchcraft, their origins and their transformations. The study involves cases of passion without witchcraft as well as cases of witchcraft without passion, but the main focus is on cases where passion and witchcraft seem to be inseparable.
Res, Artes et Religio. Essays in Honour of Rudolf Simek, ed. Sabine Heidi Walther et al. Leeds: Kismet Press, p. 511-533, 2021
The Literary Encyclopedia, vol.1.3.4, Icelandic Writing and Culture, ed. Ármann Jakobsson et al. , 2024
Guðrúnarkviða I is an Eddic poem preserved in Codex Regius nr. 2365 4to (c. 1270), where it is pl... more Guðrúnarkviða I is an Eddic poem preserved in Codex Regius nr. 2365 4to (c. 1270), where it is placed between the longer prose section titled Frá dauða Sigurðar (following Brot af Sigurðarkviðo) and Sigurðarkviða in skamma. The poem is composed in fornyrðislag, divided into 27 stanzas of considerable irregularity regarding the number of lines (Bugge 1867). The length of the stanzas varies between 6 to 12 lines in Sophus Bugge's edition (Bugge 1867); this irregularity is even more marked in the current standard edition (Neckel-Kuhn), where also the division of stanzas differs from Bugge. The standard name of the poem is taken from its heading in the manuscript, Guðrúnar kviða, without number. Nothing of the poem is preserved in other manuscripts, and it is not used in any of the prose works dealing with the Sigurðr legend. The presence of a stef (þeygi Guðrún gráta mátti three times) constitutes a rare feature in the heroic cycle of the Edda.
Germanisches Altertum und Europäisches Mittelalter: Gedenkband für Heinrich Beck, ed. Wilhelm Heizmann & Jan Alexander van Nahl, De Gruyter, 2023, p. 375-392 [final draft], 2023
This study aims to give a contribution to the history of passion as a motif in Old Norse literatu... more This study aims to give a contribution to the history of passion as a motif in Old Norse literature. It will be done by an examination of a distinct and clearly defined phenomenon: love-sickness. The material will primarily be a distinct literary type: the Old Norse poetry. A specific formula type, her called 'the woman causes the man grief', which has so far not been thoroughly investigated, will be in focus. The main purpose is to map the motif in the material and to examine its characteristics. The study will also try to establish its origin and its relation to courtly European tradition.
The Literary Encyclopedia, vol.1.3.4, Icelandic Writing and Culture, ed. Ármann Jakobsson et al. 2024., 2024
The Abyss as a Concept for Cultural Theory: A Comparative Exploration, ed. Marko Pajevic, Leiden/Boston: Brill, p. 92-113 [final draft], 2024
Using various Old Norse sources, this chapter analyses the description of the state that obtained... more Using various Old Norse sources, this chapter analyses the description of the state that obtained before the creation of the world in pre-Christian Nordic mythology by focusing on Ginnungagap and its relation to the concept of abyss. The philological and source-critical approach of the study leads to the conclusion that the famous description of the pre-creation state and of the creation in Snorri Sturluson's Edda is a late construction which never existed in pre-Christian times, and that the descriptions in the Eddic poems Völuspá and Vafþrúðnismál, although both genuinely pre-Christian, express completely different myths of both the creation and the pre-creation state. The study further demonstrates how many previous scholars have made erroneous interpretations based on harmonisation of the sources, while an examination of each source separately gives an entirely different picture. Snorri's interpretation of Ginnungagap is shown to become the later medieval standard, and the original idea of an empty void is abandoned. Finally, the study argues that the myth told in Völuspá is influenced by the biblical creation story although this influence took place in the pre-Christian times.
The Literary Encyclopedia, vol.1.3.4, Icelandic Writing and Culture, ed. Ármann Jakobsson et al., 2024
Skírnismál is an Eddic poem consisting of 42 stanzas in ljóðaháttr, preceded by a prose introduct... more Skírnismál is an Eddic poem consisting of 42 stanzas in ljóðaháttr, preceded by a prose introduction. All the stanzas are in direct speech. The whole poem is preserved in the manuscript Codex Regius nr. 2365 4to (c.1270) and the first 27 stanzas also in A 748 Ia 4to (c. 1300). The former manuscript uses the name Fǫr Skírnis [Skírnir's journey], while the latter uses the name Skírnismál. Snorri Sturluson quotes st. 42 in his Edda (Gylfaginning, ch. 23) after a short summary of the poem. In Codex Regius, Skírnismál is placed between Grímnismál and Hárbarðsljóð, as the only Freyr poem in the collection. Skírnismál tells the story of how Freyr, assisted by his servant Skírnir, wins the giantess Gerðr as his wife or mistress. The poem itself is preceded by a prose introduction, telling that Njǫrðr's son Freyr once sat in Hliðskjálf and looked out over the world; in Jǫtunheimr, 'the Giant land', he saw a beautiful woman, which made him depressed. His father asks Freyr's friend and servant Skírnir to find out the cause. The poem proper starts thereafter. The first stanzas consist of a dialogue between Skírnir and Skaði and between Skírnir and Freyr. The stanzas describe Freyr's depressed behaviour, his passivity, and his isolation from other people, and Freyr reveals that his sadness is caused by his sight of a beautiful woman. He longs for her. She turns out to be Gerðr, daughter of the giant Gymir. Skírnir agrees to ride to Jǫtunheimr and bring her to Freyr. He is first stopped by a shepherd, but then he meets Gerðr and performs Freyr's request. She responds negatively. The following part of the poem is occupied by a scene where Skírnir uses various arguments and means to persuade Gerðr to give herself to Freyr. At first, Skírnir tries to convince her with precious gifts, which she rejects, then with threats of killing her and her father, and, most extensively, with a magic staff and a long curse that will strike her if she does not accept Freyr. She will suffer many pains, among them an unbearable, unfulfilled desire. This breaks down Gerðr's resistance, and she finally declares her willingness to give herself to Freyr. They will meet in the grove Barri after nine nights. Skírnir returns to Freyr and informs him about the agreement. In the last stanza, Freyr complains of his yearning which makes the wait seem too long.
The Literary Encyclopedia, vol.1.3.4, Icelandic Writing and Culture, ed. Ármann Jakobsson et al., 2024
Bárðar saga Snaefellsáss is an Icelandic saga, preserved in a number of fragmentary manuscripts f... more Bárðar saga Snaefellsáss is an Icelandic saga, preserved in a number of fragmentary manuscripts from the late Middle Ages; oldest are two vellum leaves from the so-called Pseudo-Vatnshyrna (AM 564a 4to, c. 1390-1425), a sister manuscript of the lost Vatnshyrna from the second part of the fourteenth century. A full text is preserved only in the paper manuscript AM 158 fol. (c. 1650), which, however, probably contains older readings than any of the vellum fragments, and is used as the main text in printed editions (Þórhallur Vilmundarson 1991). Bárðar saga is traditionally counted among the young, or "post-classical", sagas of Icelanders. Bárðr, the son of the giant king Dumbr and a human woman, is fostered by the mountain king Dofri in Dofrafjǫll and marries his daughter. He stays with Dofri in the mountain until he is 18 years old. Now his human side takes over. He settles in a village in Norway close to his fully human half-brother Þorkell. When Harald Fairhair establishes his tyrannic rule over Norway, Bárðr, Þorkell and their families and friends travel to Iceland. They settle at the peninsula Snaefellsnes. Bárðr clears the area from evil trolls. One day when Bárðr's daughter Helga and Þorkell's sons play together, Helga is playfully pushed onto an ice floe and drifts away. Bárðr is overwhelmed by grief and anger and kills his nephews. He then declares that, due to his non-human kin and his grief over his daughter, he cannot live among humans , anymore. For a second time he shifts identity and moves to a cave in the mountains, becoming a guardian spirit for the people in the area and is called Snaefells-áss [god of Snaefell]. Several episodes follow where people call for Bárðr in danger, he intervenes, often invisible, giving them help and protecting humans from ogres. During these events, Helga has drifted to Greenland with the ice. She falls in love with Miðfjarðar-Skeggi, well-known from other sagas of Icelanders, and becomes his mistress. Together they fight trolls and other ogres on Greenland, and Helga saves Skeggi's life. They return to Iceland and Helga unites with her father. She is full of grief after departing from Skeggi, who is married, and roams the country; she stays sometimes in the mountains, sometimes among the humans, without finding rest anywhere. Bárðr invites Tungu-Oddr, also well-known from other sagas, to stay with him in the cave to teach him law. Later Bárðr seduces Miðfjarðar-Skeggi's daughter Þórdís, apparently as revenge for Skeggi's seduction of Helga, and makes her pregnant. Their son Gestr grows up with Bárðr and Helga. A conflict between Gestr and the evil troll Kolbjörn leads to the involvement of Þórðr, Þórdís' son with a human man and thus half-brother of Gestr. Kolbjörn tricks Þórðr to become betrothed to his alleged daughter Sólrún, who is in reality an abducted human maiden, with the purpose to kill him. Gestr comes to his help, they defeat the trolls and free Sólrún. Together they travel to Norway where King Ólafr Tryggvason tries to convince Gestr to become a Christian, but he is reluctant. Gestr accepts, however, to travel to the remote Helluland to seek treasures from the mound of the undead king Raknarr. The journey is full of adventures, and in the mound Gestr has to fight Raknarr. In despair, Gestr calls for his father Bárðr, who appears magically but is unable to help him.
The Literary Encyclopedia, vol.1.3.4, Icelandic Writing and Culture, ed. Ármann Jakobsson et al., 2024
Guðrúnarkviða II is an eddic poem in fornyrðislag metre, preserved in the Codex Regius, GKS no. 2... more Guðrúnarkviða II is an eddic poem in fornyrðislag metre, preserved in the Codex Regius, GKS no. 2365 4to (c. 1270) where it is placed between the prose chapter Dráp Niflunga [The Killing of the Niflungs] and the poem Guðrúnarkviða III. Since Sophus Bugge's edition (1867), it has usually been divided into 44 stanzas of irregular length. The name Guðrúnar kviða [without number] is found in the heading of the poem in the manuscript. There is a reference to the poem (concerning different versions of the killing of Sigurðr) in a prose section after Brot af Sigurðsarkviðo, where it is called Guðrúnarkviða in forna. This section is also used in Norna-Gests þáttr, where the poem is called Guðrúnarroeða [Guðrún's speech]. Much of the poem are retold in prose in Vǫlsunga saga (ch. 34-35), where three stanzas from the poem are also quoted (st. 19, 22, and 23 in Guðrúnarkviða II).
The Literary Encyclopedia, vol.1.3.4, Icelandic Writing and Culture, ed. Ármann Jakobsson et al., 2024
Kjalnesinga saga is counted among the so-called "post-classical" sagas of Icelanders. It is prese... more Kjalnesinga saga is counted among the so-called "post-classical" sagas of Icelanders. It is preserved in a vellum manuscript from the later part of the fifteenth century (AM 471, 4to) and in a number of paper manuscripts from the seventeenth century. Two of these, AM 503, 4to, and AM 504, 4to, have texts which are probably close to the text in the now lost Vatnshyrna from the late fourteenth century, while AM 551 b, 4to represents a revised and expanded version. In the last two manuscripts, the saga continues with a sequel, Jǫkuls þáttr Búasonar. In its opening section, the saga recounts the settlement of Kjalarnes, about the year 900. After some time, Búi Andriðsson, son of a Christian Irishman, appears as the main character of the saga. He is fostered by Esja, who is a Christian from Ireland, too, but also skilled in magic. Búi is soon in conflict with the local chieftains due to his refusal to sacrifice to the gods. His pagan opponents repeatedly attempt to attack him, but he is consistently protected by Esja's magic. During the conflict, Búi kills one of his enemies in the pagan temple and then burns the temple down. A second plot is introduced, where Búi in rivalry with two other men court the beautiful Ólǫf. One of the rivals is killed and the other is defeated, Búi abducts Ólǫf and hides with her in a cave, once again attacked by his enemies. Búi takes farewell of Ólǫf and travels abroad. In Norway, King Harald Fairhair aims to kill him as a punishment for the burning-down of the pagan temple. The king gives him a chance to save his life on the condition that he can get a gaming board from the giant king Dofri in Dofrafjǫll and bring it to the king. Búi succeeds in this task, and during his winter in the mountain he makes Dofri's daughter pregnant. Back at King Harald's court he succeeds in another difficult test, fighting and killing a wild blámaðr, an episode with close parallels in Finnboga sagaand Gunnars saga Keldugnúpsfífls. He returns to Iceland and has to fight with his rival, who during Búi's time abroad has abducted Ólǫf. After Búi has killed his enemy, he rejects Ólǫf since she is spoiled by another man. He reconciles with this other enemies. In the end, a young man called Jǫkull arrives, Búi's son with the giant princess in Norway. Búi questions his identity and demands that he should prove it by a wrestling match with him. During the fight Jǫkull's mother intervenes invisible on Jǫkull's side, and Búi is killed by his son. Búi is given a Christian funeral. Kjalnesinga saga is hardly possible to analyse from the feud scheme which has proved useful for most classical Sagas of Icelanders (Danielsson 1986). The main section of the saga concerns the adventures in Norway, not the feuds in Iceland. Both revenge and a clear climax are lacking. The saga circles around three conflicts-one rooted in Búi's resistance to pagan activity, another in rivalry about a woman, and the third in his questioning of his son's identity-which are not connected to each other at all. Sometimes, the conflict between Christianity and paganism has been claimed to constitute the governing main theme of the saga (AEgidius 1981; partly Cook 1994), but that could only account for one of the conflicts. The idea that the saga, instead, almost allegorically
Temenos. Nordic Journal for the Study of Religion, 2023
'The Woman Causes Me Grief': An Old Norse Formula and Concept of Passion
Germanisches Altertum und Europäisches Mittelalter: Gedenkband für Heinrich Beck, ed. Wilhelm Heizmann & Jan Alexander van Nahl., 2023
This study aims to give a contribution to the history of passion as a motif in Old Norse literatu... more This study aims to give a contribution to the history of passion as a motif in Old Norse literature. It will be done by an examination of a distinct and clearly defined phenomenon: love-sickness. The material will primarily be a distinct literary type: the Old Norse poetry. A specific formula type, here called ‘the woman causes the man grief’, which has so far not been thoroughly investigated, will be in focus. All instances of this formula type in Old Norse literature are mapped and the concept expressed in it is analyzed. The article concludes that this concept must be described as a clear form of love-sickness. It further discusses the similarities and differences, as well as the possible relationship, of this Old Norse tradition of love-sickness with the continental European one. The article argues for an independent, native Old Norse, background of the formula type and the concept of passion expressed there.
Respons, 2020
Ulf Olsson för i Paradoxografi fram tesen att Strindbergs senare skrivande syftar till att förkla... more Ulf Olsson för i Paradoxografi fram tesen att Strindbergs senare skrivande syftar till att förklara det oförklarliga. Men om Strindberg strävade efter att bringa ordning i det obegripliga tycks Olsson sträva efter det motsatta. Trots ett överflöd av metaforer och abstraktioner förblir själva forskningsresultatet magert. Samma problem genomsyrar Olssons och Florins bok med utvalda Strindbergtexter. Fragmenten laddas med en mystik som i själva verket bara beror på bristfällig kontextualisering. Strindberg blir ett redskap i ett estetiskt projekt, inte föremål för en vetenskaplig undersökning.
Ethnologia Scandinavica, 2023
In 2016, the Danish parliament enacted the infamous ‘jewellery law’, which allowed the Danish pol... more In 2016, the Danish parliament enacted the infamous ‘jewellery law’, which allowed the Danish police to appropriate possessions of refugees for payment of the costs they caused the Danish state (for accommodation, health service etc.). The law included the right to seize jewellery of the refugees, something which gave the law its nickname. The law was heavily criticized, both internationally and in Denmark. The supporters of the law defended it against the criticism; they described it as a purely rational economic solution: it was only about the importance that the refugees should earn their own living, precisely as native Danes. But the arguments of the critics of the law – some of them refugees themselves or descendants of refugees – made it clear that they saw something which the politicians arguing rationally did not see: that belongings of refugees, often the very few things they are able to take with them from their home, are not just any objects. They are not primarily property with a certain economic value. This is relevant to bear in mind when reading the book Föremål på flykt by Mirja Arnshav (text) and Anneli Karlsson (pictures), about objects connected to refugees fleeing from the Baltic states to Sweden during World War II.
The 14th Annual Gustav Adolf Celebration in Tartu , 2023
On 6 November, 2023, The Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Tartu will arran... more On 6 November, 2023, The Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Tartu will arrange a symposium focussing on Scandinavian values and their role in present-day post-communist countries.
The symposium will focus especially on the following sub-topics:
• Trust
• Creativity and innovation
• Safety from fear of authorities
• Respectful communication
The four topics of the symposium all concern fundamental Scandinavian values, and it is likely that the values were similar in the Baltic countries and Central Europe before the Soviet rule. The Soviet dictatorship did, however, to a high extent represent the opposite at these points.
The symposium aims to stimulate a discussion on the Scandinavian values in general, what they signify, to what extent thet are actually present in today’s Scandinavia and what history and origin they have. It also aims to discuss the value system of the Soviet Union and the countries under its domination in the light of the four Scandinavian values in focus. How can the Soviet value system be characterized and what effect did it have on people’s behavior and the society as a whole?
Since the regained independence in 1991, the Baltic countries have aimed at a Nordic identity, including its value system. Still, the background in a dictatorship during the Soviet occupation, makes Estonia different from the Nordic countries proper. The symposium attempts to shed light on what the life in the Soviet dictatorship and people’s upbringing in its organizations and institutions, do with people’s values in a long-term perspective. How does this experience affect the post-communist states’ way to the Scandinavian values, which are generally described as an ideal? To what extent does this difference in background lead to differences between these countries and Scandinavian values today? How have the Baltic and Central European states worked with the experiences from the dictatorship in the replacement of its value system with a Western democratic one? What remains to do?
The symposium is based on the idea that openness is necessary for solving problems and increse understanding. By drawing these, sometimes painful, matters into light, and discuss and analyze them openly, the symposium aims to increase the understanding between Sweden and Estonia, and between Scandinavia and the post-communist states in general, and to develop the respect and the cooperation between the countries, based on the values of the Nordic culture to which Estonia and other Baltic countries should natually belong.
Scripta Islandica, 2022
Det är inte svårt att se att norrönforskare precis som normala människor tenderar att tänka i gru... more Det är inte svårt att se att norrönforskare precis som normala människor tenderar att tänka i grupp. Man följer moden vad gäller val av problem områden och tillvägagångssätt. Med ett vidare tidsperspektiv blir stora förändringar tydliga. Krákumál var under flera århundraden den mest kända norröna dikten; idag är den okänd även för många inom facket. Islänningasagan är idag den ojämförligt mest uppmärksammade saga genren, men under sagaforskningens första århundraden, under 1600 och 1700talen, gavs inte en enda islänningasaga ut, trots det stora antalet saga utgåvor, saga analyser och saga baserade diktverk under denna tid. Vilka genrer och verk som står i centrum för forskningens intresse har förändrats i grund. Trots en uppenbar mångfald inom forskningen finns ändå en konsensus vad gäller såväl kanon som problemställningar. Den nyutkomna volymen Unwanted: Neglected Approaches, Characters, and Texts in Old Norse-Icelandic Saga Studies vill utmana just detta slags tendenser till kanon och standard frågor. I stället vill man ge sig de uppfattade anomalierna i våld: "aspects of saga literature and its study that, in our view, have often been overlooked, neglected, marginalised, or even dismissed" (9). Det låter onekligen spännande. Att tänka nytt är oftast gott.
Samlaren. Tidskrift för forskning om svensk och annan nordisk litteratur, 2022
Bidrag till Samlaren insändes digitalt i ordbehandlingsprogrammet Word till info@svelitt.se. Kons... more Bidrag till Samlaren insändes digitalt i ordbehandlingsprogrammet Word till info@svelitt.se. Konsultera skribentinstruktionerna på sällskapets hemsida innan du skickar in. Sista inlämningsdatum för uppsatser till nästa årgång av Samlaren är 15 juni 2023 och för recensioner 1 september 2023. Samlaren publiceras även digitalt, varför den som sänder in material till Samlaren därmed anses medge digital publicering. Den digitala utgåvan nås på: http://www.svelitt.se/ samlaren/index.html. Sällskapet avser att kontinuerligt tillgängliggöra även äldre årgångar av tidskriften. Svenska Litteratursällskapet tackar de personer som under det senaste året ställt sig till förfogande som bedömare av inkomna manuskript. Svenska Litteratursällskapet PG: 5367-8. Svenska Litteratursällskapets hemsida kan nås via adressen www.svelitt.se.
The Wild Hunt for Numinous Knowledge: Perspectives on and from the Study of Pre-Christian Nordic Religions in Honour of Jens Peter Schjødt. Religionsvidenskabeligt tidsskrift, årgång 74, 2022
The Eddic poem Skírnismál depicts erotically associated suffering in several instances. The god F... more The Eddic poem Skírnismál depicts erotically associated suffering in several instances. The god Freyr is filled with pain and grief when he first lays eyes on the beautiful jǫtunn maiden Gerðr. Later in the poem, Gerðr is threatened with horrible punishments if she refuses to give herself to Freyr, and one of these punishments consists in unfulfilled desire. The present study examines the sorts of emotions that are in play in these instances and attempts to determine the origins of the ways in which these emotions are depicted. The study also focuses on whether, and if so in what way, the two cases of erotically associated suffering are related to one another.
Den poetiska Eddan, översättning Lars Lönnroth (2016).
Njals usling har blivit skitstövel
Svenska Dagbladet, Nov 12, 2006