The Cross Section by Alan Olmos

Letter from the Senior Editors Kalevala

TABLE OF

Continually Striving for Sexual Equality in Denmark Features of NineteenthCentury Swedish Agriculture and their Demographic Impact

Icelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Economic (In)stability Dangerous Women, or Obedient Vessels?

Old Norse Women of Inspiration Into the Silence: The Nordic World as Encapsulated in Skaldic Poetry

Letter From The Senior Editors

Letter from the senior editors

This journal has been the most rewarding project of our college careers. From brainstorming what the name should be, to managing operations while studying abroad, to handing off our brain child, we have grown with this journal over the past three years more than we ever expected. Now that our time with The Cross Section is coming to a close, we take a moment to reflect on all the memories and experiences it has given us. We have been able to grow closer to our professors and teachers in the Scandinavian Studies Department at UW-Madison, we have gotten to work with a diversity of students both in and out of the department, and we have learned quite a lot about the Nordic countries. Creating and sustaining this journal has involved hard work, high emotions, late-night discussions, and an incredible reward. It is with pride that we can provide the framework for so many undergraduate students to showcase their work. However, we would never have been able to accomplish such a feat on our own. While we worked behind the scenes to create the infrastructure of this project, the final product would be impossible if not for everyone who contributed. We would like to sincerely thank every author, illustrator, photographer, editor, and peer reviewer who has offered their talents and time in the three years that we have been working to get The Cross Section up and running. We would also like to thank the professors and graduate students in the Scandinavian Studies Department who gave us their support by promoting the journal, offering advice,

Letter From The Senior Editors and inquiring about the progress of each issue. In addition, the Scandinavian Studies Department itself deserves a tremendous amount of gratitude, especially because it allowed us to continue to print hard copies of each issue with its continued financial support and endorsement. For this issue, we would like to thank the following people: Professor Tom DuBois for his knowledge, wisdom, and support. He helped us to create the sustainable backdrop for the journal and guided us when we were in the early stages of development. Professor DuBois offered his experience and expertise whenever we needed it, and was always eager to help.

Letter From The Senior Editors bittersweet that we are leaving the journal, but we know we are leaving it in the best possible position. Thank you to those who made this issue possible, and good luck to those who will continue making The Cross Section a great opportunity for undergraduates. Again, we would like to thank everyone involved in the past three years, and we hope you enjoy this issue.

The Senior Editors, Meghan Radka Lauren Schwark

Marcus CederstrĂśm, without whom The Cross Section would never have been created. He continues to grant us endless patience and advice. We cannot properly express our gratitude for Marcusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s support, but we would like to sincerely thank him for all his encouragement, ingenuity, and help, and most especially, for offering us this opportunity. Brian Wiley and his students at Boise State University, who continue to bring the journal to life in their designs and allow us to stand out. Their hard work weaves together all the parts of this project and creates a beautiful final product.

We are excited to hand The Cross Section off to the next generation of Senior Editors and to see them develop this project even further. It is, understandably,

Paige Emily

kalevala

Paige Emily Finlandia University Graduating Senior

These works are inspired by the Kalevala, which is a Finnish epic poem. The two studies of the rabbits are from the scene of Ilmatarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death, and the rabbit is the messenger to all to announce her death. A mixture of hand-drawn marks and digitally rendered color and shading, the works are a fresh twist on a Finnish classic. With folk art sensibilities of the aesthetic connecting deeply to the origin of inspiration, they are meant to capture the character of the little rabbit in the story, whose personal story may have otherwise been overlooked.Â

Kalevala

Messenger 1

Kalevala

Messenger 2

Cori Garrett

Continually Strivin g for Sexual Equality in DenmarkCori Garrett Scandinavian countries have been global leaders in the race for social equality during the past two and half centuries, through the establishment of universal suffrage for women and the beginning of wage equality in Scandinavia prior to World War II. The granting of equality for women, the largest minority group in Scandinavia at this time, opened up the opportunity for other marginalized groups to advance their fight for universal equality. One group or community that used this time to gain momentum for their cause were individuals who identify as members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) community. Over the past 75 years in Denmark, some members of the LGBTQ community have begun to receive legal and social recognition to outwardly express their true identity, though others have met significant opposition while fighting against current laws and cultural norms preventing

Continually Striving for Sexual Equality in Denmark them to do so. These elements are contributing factors to the slow speed of the movement; however, the movement continues to progress. The fight for sexual equality in Scandinavia, in comparison to the women’s movement, has experienced a more troubling and longer path to acceptance due to religious stigmas and social paranoia resulting from a lack of understanding and ambiguity in identifying traits found among these marginalized groups. Many of the issues that surround the LGBTQ movement for sexual equality often stem from the synonymous use of gender and sex, the ignorance of individuals who do not understand the difference, and the idea of a strict binary splitting of society. Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women, while sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that are associated with a male and a female defined by the World Health Organization.1 Prior to and throughout the early 1900s these two words were used synonymously and attached with an automatic assumption of one’s preference in companionship. These misunderstandings and misrepresentations contribute to an entire population to become marginalized and these practices still continue in today’s culture of Scandinavia. In Denmark, as early as 1683, there has been documentation of a strong anti-homosexual society.

1 “What Do We Mean by “sex” and “gender”?,” World Health Organization, last modified 2015, http://apps.who.int/gender/whatisgender/en/.

Cori Garrett In 1683, the Sixth Book of Danish Law stated, “intercourse against nature is punished by fire and flames.”2 Later in 1866, the law was reduced to eight months to six years in prison or hard labor with a period of solitary confinement.3 These conditions were enforced until 1933, when the Danish Penal Code of 1930 was instituted which changed the legal definition of homosexuality to scientifically be that “homosexuality is a disease, not a crime.”4 The medical classification of “disease” attached to individuals who identify as homosexual or transgender means that there is a cure or solution, so individuals can be medically treated. The term transgender was not generally used at that time, though medical professionals still classified these individuals’ as diseased and curable. This medical classification of “disease” further legitimizes the claim that transgender and homosexuality is a choice, and does not occur naturally. In 1930, Lili Elbe was one of the first people in the world to successfully change genders through gender reassignment surgery. This practice is still continued today in most countries, an individual is considered cured through sterilization by removing their reproductive organs or through hormone therapy.5 This gender reassignment surgery 2 Jens Rydström, “Women and the Laws of Same-Sex Sexuality,” Criminally Queer : Homosexuality and Criminal Law in Scandinavia 1842-1999, ed. Kati Mustola, (Amsterdam: Aksant, 2007), 43, PDF e-book. 3 Wilhelm Von Rosen, “Denmark 1866-1976: From Sodomy to Modernity.” Criminally Queer : Homosexuality and Criminal Law in Scandinavia 18421999, ed. Kati Mustola, (Amsterdam: Aksant, 2007), 62, PDF e-book. 4 Alain Giami, “The Long Sexual Revolution: The Police and the New Gay man,” in Sexual Revolutions, ed. Peter Edelberg and Gert Hekma, (Macmillan: Palgrave, 2014), 46-59, PDF ebook. 5 Tom Lawson, “Denmark Becomes Second Country to Let Citizens Choose

Continually Striving for Sexual Equality in Denmark often was seen as a way to cure individuals of their disease and to prevent further contamination of the population. Through these early legislations, the tone expressed when discussing situations of people not conforming to predetermined gender stereotypes, or gender nonconformity, were either very structured, scientific, and dehumanizing, or morally disgusted. Neither of these attitudes were very welcoming. Denmark’s legalization of same-sex unions in 1989 began to suppress the degrading tone expressed in the Danish Penal Code in 1933. These civil unions, or partnerships, advanced the fight for gender equality, which marked Denmark as the first country to legally recognize same-sex unions.6 Prior to the new laws in Denmark, countries such as Sweden and the Netherlands adopted cohabitation laws, while in the United States a few states approved, but later rejected or voided, marriage licenses for same-sex couples.7 Over the next decade various countries across Europe and the United States adopted similar laws following Denmark’s footsteps.8 The increasing number of countries that incorporated same-sex couple unions into law eventually led to the Netherlands legalizing same-sex marriages in 2001. Afterward, on average,

Their Gender Without Having Surgery,”Yes! Magazine, last modified October 21, 2014, http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/no-surgery-requireddenmark-becomes-second-country-to-let-citizens-choose-their-gender. 6 Ibid. 7 “Working For a Gay-Friendly Sweden,” The Official Site of Sweden., accessed April 10, 2015, https://sweden.se/ society/working-for-a-gay-and-equal-sweden/. 8 “Same-sex Civil Unions: National Timelines,” Pink Families Healthy Proud Informed Gay Families LGBT Families, last modified May 17, 2013, http:// www.pinkfamilies.com/same-sex-civil-unions-national-timelines/.

Cori Garrett one country pre year legalized same sex marriage. No Scandinavian country legalized same-sex marriage until Norway, in 2009, and Denmark followed three years later, but by 2014, with the addition of Finland, all Scandinavian countries had legalized same-sex marriage.9 Even though Danish citizens were legally able to marry, regardless of the sex of one’s partner, there were still social stigmas that surround same-sex marriages, particularly ones cultivated within religious organizations. Until 2012, Lutheran churches could deny performing marriage ceremonies of same-sex couples. However, after a law passed that year, Lutheran churches who were a part of the state were required to perform ceremonies for anyone starting on June 15th, 2012. Individual Lutheran pastors are still able to refuse to perform the ceremonies themselves, though they cannot refuse any marriage to take place on the church’s premises.10 If a pastor refuses, bishops are required to find another pastor that is willing to perform the ceremony. Still, there is negative feedback on this law because it was voted in by Parliament, not by the pastors themselves, and about one third of the pastors across Denmark said that they would refuse to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies.11 Early on, there were worries that this 9 “The Freedom to Marry Internationally,” Freedom to Marry, last modified June 26, 2015, www.freedomtomarry.org/landscape/entry/c/International. 10 “Catholic Church Not Affected by New Same-sex Marriage Law in Denmark,” Vatican Radio, last modified June 10, 2014, http:// en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/06/10/catholic_church_not_ affected_by_new_same-sex_marriage_law_/1101583. 11 Richard Orange, “Gay Danish Couples Win Right to Marry in Church,” The Telegraph Media Group, last modified June 7, 2012, http://www.

Continually Striving for Sexual Equality in Denmark would cause a split between church and state, but that has yet to be seen. Another stigma that surrounds same-sex couples is the thought that they should not have the right to raise a family. It is easier for lesbian couples to create a modified nuclear family through artificial insemination, where it is more difficult for gay male couples because they must adopt or have a surrogate. This further entrenches the idea of gender roles since it is a female’s sexual duty to raise children, giving lesbian couples the qualification to raise a child and implying that two men are incapable of raising a child together. Adoption of children by same-sex couples is legal in Denmark and has been since 2010, however, most often adoptions take place abroad.12 This is where the issue occurs because many ‘donor’ countries reject same-sex applicants. In July of 2014 the first adoption abroad, from South Africa, by a gay Danish couple took place, an event which was “previously almost impossible.”13 The hope is that momentum will increase in the near future and homosexual and heterosexual couples alike will have equal opportunity to adopt. The progress seen by same-sex couples has not been as consistent for individuals of stronger gender nonconforming identities, transgender, and queer identities. People who identify as transgender have

telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/denmark/9317447/ Gay-Danish-couples-win-right-to-marry-in-church.html. 12 “First Gay Adoption from Abroad,” Dr.dk, last modified July 21, 2014, http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Andre_sprog/English/2014/07/21/130829.htm. 13 Ibid.

Cori Garrett not gained legal rights comparable to those who identify as cisgender, individuals whose gender identifies with sex assigned at birth. Cisgender individuals have received more rights than those who identify as genderqueer, individuals whose gender identity is not included in the female and male binary. While, genderqueer individuals’ rights have been basically non-existent, except for a brief period in the 1970s.14 Early on, transgender individuals were heavily affected by the medical classification of their identity, and this issue still exists today. The gender reassignment surgery that Lili Elbe went through was required for all persons wishing to switch their gender on any legal document in Denmark, the most important of these being the Centrale Person Register identification card (CPR), which is comparable to a social security number.15 These surgeries are irreversible, invasive, and the paperwork often awaits approval for months or years, prolonging the operation process for years. Transgendered individuals had to obtain a psychiatric mental disorder diagnosis of “transsexualism” prior to being granted the right to receive the operation as part of the required paperwork.16 Some doctors had gone as far as recommending against the procedure if there were “concerns of depression or the patient [was] too old.”17 Individuals also had to take into 14 “Welcome to LGBT Denmark,” LGBT Denmark, accessed April 14, 2015, http://lgbt.dk/english-2/. 15 Larson, “Denmark Becomes Second Country.” 16 Ibid. 17 “Norway’s Health Minister Promises to Improve Gender Recognition Laws,” PinkNews, last modified June 27, 2014,

Continually Striving for Sexual Equality in Denmark account the sterilization required as a part of the surgery denied transgender individuals the ability to be natural parents, which could have psychological implications. This was another action that further traumatized and degraded transgender individuals through medical classification. Not only did these laws attack an individual’s physical body, but also their mental stability and morale.

Cori Garrett are transgender often have a harder time expressing who they are in public because, unlike many gay or lesbian cisgender individuals, it is unacceptable to dress as they perceive their gender to be. This fear especially accompanies transgender individuals who are not planning on having gender reassignment surgery. Without surgery or hormone therapy in Denmark, Danes’ CPR numbers are not legally able to change, forcing individuals to be officially classified inaccurately, as the last digit’s only purpose is to designate whether the individual is male or female. CPR cards are used for everything from going to the doctor to visiting the bank. When a transgender person presents their card, if their documentation has not been changed, they have to justify that they are truly the person on the card. Jacobsen, a transgender male, says, “it was the thought of what could happen that was stressful. I thought, what if I get pulled over by the police in some routine control and they don’t believe that this is my identification?”19

Research suggests that the emotional effects and social barriers resulting from the medical physical regulations have been harder to overcome than many of the physical procedures themselves. Individuals who enjoy same-sex partnerships often classify themselves as cisgender so their legal documentation reflects their gender. Whereas, people who identify as transgender often do not have legal documents that are in agreement with their outward expression of identity and are often reminded or even outed in public that their physical sex does not match their expressed gender. John Jeanette, a transgender female, had known from a young age that she was not like other boys her age and went through life like many others in her position, hiding who she was. Even as a grown married adult, she would often dress in women’s clothes and hid them in the cellar when she was done. She knew that she was a woman in a man’s body.18 People who

Denmark passed a law in 2014 that allows any individual over 18 to declare that he or she was transgender without a medical exam or operation, however, there was a required six-month waiting period prior to the official documentation change.20 This would also allow the legal changing of the CPR number to accurately express a person’s identity.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/06/27/norways-healthminister-promises-to-improve-gender-recognition-laws/. 18 Kristin H. Sunde, “A Breakthrough for Transgender People’s Rights in Norway: John Jeanette’s Journey,” Amnesty International, last modified April 13, 2015, https://www.amnesty.org/en/ latest/campaigns/2015/04/a-breakthrough-for-transgender-

peoples-rights-in-norway-john-jeanettes-journey/. 19 Larson, “Denmark Becomes Second Country.” 20 Emine Saner, “Europe’s Terrible Trans Rights Record: Will Denmark’s New Law Spark Change?” TheGuardian, last modified September 1, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2014/ sep/01/europe-terrible-trans-rights-record-denmark-new-law.

Continually Striving for Sexual Equality in Denmark Additionally, with the advent of this law, political conversations have been started to remove the last digit completely.21 This also allowed individuals to stay in existing marriages following the legal gender change.22 This law had been viewed as a large step for Denmark and transgender rights across the globe since Denmark was the first in Europe to legally allow gender identification change without invasive medical procedures or mental diagnosis. However, while this was “clearly a positive step forward, some members of the trans community have found fault” since there was an age requirement and still a waiting period.23 This new legislation in Denmark had started a trend that is spreading to other Scandinavian countries. As of April 15th, 2015, the Norwegian government had taken similar steps, since the Norwegian Ministry of Health’s Expert Committee had advised the Norwegian government to create and approve a similar law.24

Cori Garrett While there has been much accomplished in terms of homosexual rights, transgender rights have not been improved nearly to the same extent. Today Denmark does not require invasive medical procedures for individuals to gain legal recognition for their identity, as they once did. Although there are still social stigmas attached to both groups that will be hard to change, in the near future these too will hopefully be removed. Even with the significant improvements made towards equal sexual rights there are still groups being marginalized in Denmark. Progress for some members of the LGBTQ community is never an excuse for inequality and continual marginalization of other members, leaving room for improvement in future years.

Throughout the late twentieth century and today, Scandinavia (Denmark specifically) has made significant progress in the fight for sexual equality. Homosexuality has transitioned from being a criminally based offence to a medical disease and is now currently every bit as legal as heterosexuality.

21 Ibid. 22 “Denmark Becomes Europe’s Leading Country on Legal Gender Recognition,” The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights, last modified June 12, 2014, http://www.lgbt-ep.eu/press-releases/denmarkbecomes-europes-leading-country-on-legal-gender-recognition/. 23 Emily Tamkin, “Denmark’s New Trans Law Attracts Kudos and Criticism,” Slate, last modified September 2, 2014, http://www. slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/09/02/denmark_s_new_trans_ law_ends_sterilization_but_still_draws_criticism.html. 24 Sunde, “A Break Though for Transgender.”

Continually Striving for Sexual Equality in Denmark

Cori Garrett

Bibliography

www.freedomtomarry.org/landscape/entry/c/ International.

“Catholic Church Not Affected by New Same-sex Marriage Law in Denmark.” Vatican Radio. Last modified June 10, 2014. http://en.radiovaticana.va/ news/2014/06/10/catholic_church_not_affected_ by_new_same-sex_marriage_law_/1101583.

Giami, Alain. The Long Sexual Revolution: The Police and the New Gay man.” in Sexual Revolutions, edited by Peter Edelberg and Gert Hekma, 46-59. Macmillan: Palgrave, 2014. PDF ebook.

“Denmark Becomes Europe’s Leading Country on Legal Gender Recognition.” The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights. Last modified June 12, 2014. http://www.lgbt-ep.eu/press-releases/ denmark-becomes-europes-leading-country-onlegal-gender-recognition/.

Kristin H Sunde, “A Breakthrough for Transgender People’s Rights in Norway: John Jeanette’s Journey.” Amnesty International. Last modified April 13, 2015. https://www.amnesty.org/en/ latest/campaigns/2015/04/a-breakthrough-fortransgender-peoples-rights-in-norway-johnjeanettes-journey/.

Emily Tamkin, “Denmark’s New Trans Law Attracts Kudos and Criticism.” Slate. Last modified September 2, 2014. http://www.slate.com/blogs/ outward/2014/09/02/denmark_s_new_trans_law_ ends_sterilization_but_still_draws_criticism.html.

“Norway’s Health Minister Promises to Improve Gender Recognition Laws.” PinkNews. Last modified June 27, 2014. http://www.pinknews. co.uk/2014/06/27/norways-health-ministerpromises-to-improve-gender-recognition-laws/.

Emine Saner, “Europe’s Terrible Trans Rights Record: Will Denmark’s New Law Spark Change?” TheGuardian. Last modified September 1, 2014. http:// www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2014/ sep/01/europe-terrible-trans-rights-recorddenmark-new-law.

Richard Orange, “Gay Danish Couples Win Right to Marry in Church.” The Telegraph Media Group. Last modified June 7, 2012. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ news/worldnews/europe/denmark/9317447/GayDanish-couples-win-right-to-marry-in-church.html.

“First Gay Adoption from Abroad.” Dr.dk. Last modified July 21, 2014. http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/ Andre_sprog/English/2014/07/21/130829.htm.

“The Freedom to Marry Internationally.” Freedom to Marry. Last modified June 26, 2015.

Rydström, Jens. “Women and the Laws of Same-Sex Sexuality.” Criminally Queer : Homosexuality and Criminal Law in Scandinavia 1842-1999, edited by Kati Mustola, 43. Amsterdam: Aksant, 2007. PDF e-book. “Same-sex Civil Unions: National Timelines.” Pink

Continually Striving for Sexual Equality in Denmark

Cori Garrett

Families Healthy Proud Informed Gay Families LGBT Families. Last modified May 17, 2013. http://www. pinkfamilies.com/same-sex-civil-unions-nationaltimelines/. Tom Lawson, “Denmark Becomes Second Country to Let Citizens Choose Their Gender Without Having Surgery.” Yes! Magazine. Last modified October 21, 2014. http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/ no-surgery-required-denmark-becomes-secondcountry-to-let-citizens-choose-their-gender. Von Rosen, Wilhelm. “Denmark 1866-1976: From Sodomy to Modernity.” Criminally Queer : Homosexuality and Criminal Law in Scandinavia, 1842-1999, edited by Kati Mustola, 62. Amsterdam: Aksant, 2007. PDF e-book. “Welcome to LGBT Denmark.” LGBT Denmark. Accessed April 14, 2015. http://lgbt.dk/english-2/. “What Do We Mean by “sex” and “gender”?” World Health Organization. Last modified 2015. http:// apps.who.int/gender/whatisgender/en/. “Working For a Gay-Friendly Sweden.” The Official Site of Sweden. Accessed April 10, 2015. https:// sweden.se/society/working-for-a-gay-and-equalsweden/.

Benjamin Groth

features of nineteenthcentury swedish agriculture and their demographic impact Benjamin Groth The mid-nineteenth century was, in many ways, a period of pronounced transition in Sweden’s history and bore multifarious paradigm shifts in almost every facet of Swedish society. Of particular note are demographic and infrastructural development; Sweden, like much of Europe at this time, underwent industrialization and institutional reform, though the processes were sometimes more ambiguous and lateroccurring than continental trajectories.1 Pronounced urbanization and growth of per capita GDP began only in the later part of the century, and then still not to the extent that the same phenomena occurred in a country like the United Kingdom.2 However, the development of rural industry and economic 1 Lars-Erik Borgegård, et al., “Population Redistribution in Sweden: Long Term Trends and Contemporary Tendencies,” Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography 77, no. 1 (1995): 36. 2 Pernilla Jonsson, et al., “Towns and Rural Industrialisation in Sweden 1850–1890: A Spatial Statistical Approach,” Scandinavian Economic History Review 57, no. 3 (2009): 230.

Features of Nineteenth-Century Swedish Agriculture and their Demographic Impact growth were still very present features across the entirety of the century. Causally, this is related to an uptick in agricultural production and transportation technology, the consequences of which would initiate a bevy of both intra- and international migration and the redrawing of social structures. Consequently, happenings in the agricultural sector shaped the movement and consciousness of Sweden’s people significantly during this time.

Sweden began the nineteenth century with a boon in agricultural output; enclosure programs and lax taxation allowed for production at capacity. In addition, agriculture was becoming an increasingly efficient process due to technological advances and an increased awareness of agricultural axioms among farmers. The latter point was largely a consequence of the advent of education programs that taught scientific approaches to farming. This, in turn, gave rise to an increasing number of rural workers that could optimize the output of their land. On the former note, technological innovation was rapid and, as a result, agriculture became increasingly mechanized and less reliant on labor. Farming underwent a streamlining, with its practitioners able to rely on better seeds and animal breeding techniques, as well as tools like horse-drawn plows and mowers.3 For their part, the enclosure acts beget a wave of nascent freeholding in the form of individual homesteads (formed from the fragmentation of the previous open field system) and property consolidated by estates 3 Byron J. Nordstrom, “New Economies and New Societies,” in Scandinavia Since 1500 (Minneapolis: U of Minnesota Press, 2000), 243.

Benjamin Groth or purchased by crown tenants.4 This primed the transition of Sweden’s agriculture from a feudal to a quasi-capitalist enterprise, with changes to the practical and structural elements of farming giving rise to a new agricultural economy. Under the new model, the majority of a tract’s output was largely sold for profit rather than directly consumed by its proprietor and diverted toward the estate; the profits that did accumulate were invested back into production.5 The lapse in taxation furthered the drive to produce, and this, coupled with new markets and increased demand, propelled the development of agriculture. International trade had expanded as well, and Sweden became a net exporter of staple crops such as buckwheat and potato. This together with the beginnings of urban growth (along with its attendant value-added goods, improvements in transportation infrastructure, and merchant classes), meant an ample demand for rural product. In this way, urban growth and agricultural development can be seen as mutually beneficial; cities provided an outlet for a plenitude of rural product, while the large-scale production of agricultural goods ensured their availability to urban populations. The emergence of cities can, in multiple ways, be tied to changing modes of resource management and agrarianism. As touched on above, high-output, 4 Mats Olsson and Patrick Svensson, “Agricultural Growth and Institutions: Sweden, 1700–1860,” European Review of Economic History 14, no. 2 (2010): 284. 5 Jens Möller, “Towards Agrarian Capitalism: The Case of Southern Sweden during the 19th Century,” Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography 72, no. 2/3 (1990): 60.

Features of Nineteenth-Century Swedish Agriculture and their Demographic Impact

profit-oriented agriculture allowed for the growth of communities with no direct access to cultivated lands and crops themselves. Consequently, established cities could host greater numbers of inhabitants, with basic goods being provided from the country. In addition, infrastructural improvements (themselves a product of trade profits, which were used to cover social overhead in the form of roads, railways, and the like)6 and increased resource extraction made possible new settlements near to remote sites of collection. These concomitant developments in transportation and agriculture were, aside from being individually stimulating, something of a synergetic unit as well. Raw material from the country was shipped to cities in increasing volume and diversity, whereupon it became the substrate for many new manufacturing and processing jobs. New industries and, consequently, an array of new stations and communities emerged. This period saw the arrival of an urban working class, as well as a rural and urban middle class. Many new migrants to the city came to staff factory positions, whereby a new proletarian collective was amassed, particularly in Stockholm. The new features of Sweden’s industrial economy also enabled some of the general populace to accumulate wealth and monetary security. As a result, a middle class with expendable income surfaced, comprising professionals like factory managers and engineers. Stockholm saw the larger part of this sort of growth, although a significant number of people also migrated to the north where mining jobs were 6 Jonsson, et al., 232.

Benjamin Groth prevalent. Regions around Stockholm and in the north of the country (near lumber and mineral deposits) experienced the most marked growth generally.7 Although the movement described above was the predominant pattern during this time, migration across rural regions was also prevalent and influxes of population were by no means exclusive to established cities and hinterlands. Extensive land reclamation and the aforementioned enclosures both increased the land available for production and gave rise to farms much larger than those seen previously. This was accompanied by changes in the tenant farming system, and many pre-enclosure farmers were evicted after the consolidation of their land and were replaced by overseers and statare (farmhands that typically received payment in kind and were employed on a yearly basis).8 This, along with the disappearance of villages in the process of enclosure, displaced a fair portion of Sweden’s rural population, who either moved to other parishes or became statare on the new farms. Therefore, much of the rural migration was to areas with a large proportion of freeholders, particularly Skåne, which offered newly diversified employment to supplant the labor duties of the previous tenant farmers.9 Even with the cultivation of formerly marginal land and the expansion of production, these positions could not absorb the entirety of the peasantry. To add to the problem, agricultural labor positions were 7 Borgegård, et al., 36. 8 Möller, 63. 9 Olsson and Svensson, 296.

Features of Nineteenth-Century Swedish Agriculture and their Demographic Impact increasingly undercut by machines. However, jobs opened by industrialization somewhat ameliorated the loss of jobs it precipitated and cities, peripheral lands, and small town factories saw the arrival of many from the countryside. Ultimately, the net effect of industrialization on available work for Sweden’s labor force was negative. Urban jobs did not account for the entirety of Sweden’s peasantry and, to add to the pressure, Sweden’s population was growing at a significant rate, outpacing the already rapid economic and infrastructural development. As a consequence, Sweden could not, at the time, fully accommodate its growing population and many had to look beyond its borders for employment.10 Many peasants and evicted farmers viewed America as a land with ample opportunities for rural work and, beginning around 1850, Sweden saw large swathes of its people leave with the aim of securing plot of land (or at the very least, a chance to work on one) overseas.11 America was in the midst of rapid development itself, and as Sweden’s agricultural and industrial sectors were quickly exhausted of permeability, emigration seemed an increasingly viable prospect. After some delay following the glut of domestic labor, the first wave of international migrants popularized and made feasible the journey and many emigrated in their wake.12 The exodus,

10 Richard L. Morrill, “The Development of Spatial Distributions of Towns in Sweden: An Historical-Predictive Approach,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 53, no. 1 (1963): 6. 11 Ibid. 12 Thor Norström, “Swedish Emigration to the United States Reconsidered,” European Sociological Review 4, no. 3 (1988): 230.

Benjamin Groth which continued into the latter half of the century, became increasingly motivated by necessity as the labor market became thoroughly saturated and many city-dwellers found themselves out of work.13 Factory positions were plentiful in America and in this way, Sweden’s few urban areas reached capacity without retaining an excess of urban poor. On the whole, work-motivated emigration did much to ensure Sweden was not overpopulated beyond its means. While it may be true that Sweden lacked the ability to fully accommodate an expanding population itself, it should not be forgotten that the years of the midto late-nineteenth century were very productive for the country.14 As mentioned, the rise of novel transportation systems such as the railway allowed for convenient exchange between the city and country and allowed both to develop and flourish.15 The number of production centers for goods and the scale of organization had also increased drastically and Sweden’s agricultural revolution spilled beyond the domestic economy and changed the country’s foreign trade relations; in particular, the export of grain became an important new fixture in Sweden’s exchange with other nations.16 However, later in the century, a surfeit of American and Russian grain invaded the international market, and Sweden’s grain exports declined.17 Though grain, and crops generally, became less important in the twilight 13 Ibid. 14 Jonsson, et al., 232. 15 Borgegård, et al., 36. 16 Olsson and Svensson, 275. 17 Nordstrom, 243.

Features of Nineteenth-Century Swedish Agriculture and their Demographic Impact years of the century, the effects of the progress of agriculture were lasting and numerous. The ramifications of Sweden’s agricultural industry make it the likely primary factor in changing the country’s makeup. However, such large-scale changes in the distribution of people are often multivariate in nature, and this holds true for the demographic reordering of Sweden. The movements of Sweden’s citizenry at this time were not exclusively motivated by the country’s agricultural revolution and the consequent changes to job and resource availability. For instance, many emigrated to America not just because of the “push” from a saturated labor market in the home country, but also because of the prosperity many associated with life overseas at this time. Also, toward the end of peak emigration in the mid-1870s, emigrants were increasingly culled from artisans and city-workers, as opposed to the peasantry, and most sought industrial jobs once in America.18 The greater diversity of activities and opportunities that arose in cities at this time can also be seen as significant attractants not necessarily bound to economic considerations.19 Considering the broadness and ubiquity of its consequences, though, agriculture still seems preeminent in initiating the large-scale demographic changes in nineteenthcentury Sweden.

Benjamin Groth impacts on the country. Sweden also experienced significant rearrangement of its demographic order at this time and, by applying factorial insight, it becomes apparent that the two phenomena are related. The demographic consequences of agriculture in nineteenth-century Sweden were manifest as an increasing urban population, a large emigration campaign, and new socio-economic categories. Agriculture and the industry associated with it induced population growth while at the same time extirpating a large number of rural Sweden’s inhabitants and channeling them to unfamiliar parts of the country, to Stockholm, and out of the country itself. The influence, both direct and indirect, that agriculture had on population shifts in nineteenth-century Sweden is hard to overstate and, though other developments also contributed to redistribution significantly, it can be seen as the paramount determinant thereof. Agriculture and its effects on population distribution and industry were, most importantly, instrumental in shaping Sweden’s evolution during this period; with an equilibrated populace, a consolidated infrastructure, and an established material supply, Sweden entered the twentieth century as a developed, modern nation.

During the nineteenth century, Sweden’s agricultural system underwent massive changes that had lasting

18 Norström, 230. 19 Morrill, 12.

Features of Nineteenth-Century Swedish Agriculture and their Demographic Impact

Bibliography Borgegård, Lars-Erik, Johan Håkansson, and Gunnar Malmberg. “Population Redistribution in Sweden: Long Term Trends and Contemporary Tendencies.” Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography 77, no. 1 (1995): 31-45.

Benjamin Groth Sociological Review 4, no. 3 (1988): 223-31. Olsson, Mats, and Patrick Svensson. “Agricultural Growth and Institutions: Sweden, 1700–1860.” European Review of Economic History 14, no. 2 (2010): 275-304.

Jonsson, Pernilla, Fredrik Sandgren, Erik Lindberg, and Tord Snäll. “Towns and Rural Industrialisation in Sweden 1850–1890: A Spatial Statistical Approach.” Scandinavian Economic History Review 57, no. 3 (2009): 229-51. Morrill, Richard L. “The Development of Spatial Distributions of Towns in Sweden: An Historical-Predictive Approach.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 53, no. 1 (1963): 1-14. Möller, Jens. “Towards Agrarian Capitalism: The Case of Southern Sweden during the 19th Century.” Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography 72, no. 2/3 (1990): 59-72. Nordstrom, Byron J. “New Economies and New Societies.” In Scandinavia Since 1500, 228-234. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota Press, 2000.

Norström, Thor. “Swedish Emigration to the United States Reconsidered.” European

Thomas Malcolm

icelands economic (in)

stability

Thomas Malcolm Iceland has an incredibly spotty history in regard to its economy. After Icelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s latest economic crash of 2008, its name actually began to be associated with crisis and economic disaster.1 This notion, however, is more appropriate than one may come to believe from the crash of 2008 alone. For the last century, Iceland has been riddled by a cycle of economic expansion and collapse. However, I believe that despite its history, in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world it is possible for Iceland to finally stabilize itself. That is, only if it has learned from its past mistakes. Based off of early US economic studies of Iceland (see Sorensen 1928 and Bureau of Labor Statistics 1956), one should first understand the unique isolation of Iceland before diving into the economy. Iceland, located in the Northern Atlantic Ocean between 1 Eirikur Bergmann, Land Use and Urban Form (Houndsmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), 5.

Iceland’s Economic (In)stability the north latitude lines of 63º 24’ and 66º 32’, is an island of volcanic beginnings featuring environmental extremes such as hot springs, glaciers, deserts, and mountains.2, 3 Coast to coast, measuring distance between closest coastal points of each nation, from Iceland to Norway and Iceland to England are both greater than 500 miles. This distance is even larger (nearing 1,000 miles) when taking into account that the large ports are not the closest coastal points. This rather isolated island has a total land area of 39,760 square miles.4 American reports often compare Iceland’s size to the states of Virginia or Kentucky. This decently sized, isolated nation is for the most part barren of natural resources, has a limited amount of arable land (most of which is used for cattle grazing), and has a complete lack of timber. To say that Iceland is isolated and has a unique foundation to try and build an economy upon is an understatement. Before the twentieth century, Iceland did not have much of anything to actually call an economy. In 1262, Iceland came under Norwegian rule due to internal dissonance.5 When Norway came under Danish rule in 1380, Iceland came under the Danish crown as well, where they stayed until their eventual break with Denmark in 1944. Being under the Danish Crown, Denmark controlled many things including

2 Harry Sorensen and United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Iceland: A Brief Economic Survey (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1928), 1. 3 United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor in Iceland (Washington, D. C., 1956), 1. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid., 2.

Thomas Malcolm Iceland’s international trade. Due to Denmark’s mismanagement of Iceland and its trade, Iceland’s economy was stifled for many centuries.6 This coupled with the country’s isolation left Iceland in a state similar to feudalism until the late nineteenth century.7 When Iceland began actually enlarging its economy, it was primarily based upon the export of fish. This is significant, considering that in the 1880s, the primary occupation was agriculture.8 The expansion of the fishing industry came at the expense of the agricultural industry. In 1900, Iceland caught roughly 14,897,000 fish (cod, small cod, haddock, ling, and “other”), and by 1920, this number had become 35,883,000 fish.9 The fishing industry simply continued to grow. In 1920, Iceland exported 945 tons of herring oil bringing in 673,000 crowns, and by 1924, this had increased to 2,568 tons and 1,985,183 crowns.10 The fishing industry is so incredibly important for the Icelandic economy that it was stated in 1954 that “Iceland’s economy is based on fish and fish products which constitute 90 percent of the country’s exports.”11 One might argue that without the fishing industry, Iceland may have taken longer to industrialize. 6 Guðmundur Hálfdanarson, “Iceland: A Peaceful Secession,” Scandinavian Journal of History 25, no. 1-2 (2000): 96. 7 Eirikur Bergmann, 29. 8 Magnús S. Magnússon, Iceland in Transition: Labour and Socio-Economic Change before 1940 (Lund: Ekonomisk-historiska föreningen i Lund, 1985), 16. 9 Harry Sorensen and United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, 5. 10 Ibid. 11 United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, 3.

Iceland’s Economic (In)stability Fishing was a huge part of the Icelandic economy, but it is dangerous to put all your eggs in one basket. For example, Íslandsbanki was established in 1904 and invested heavily in the fishing sector, but “...a single bankruptcy of a fishing company in 1914 almost killed off Íslandsbank when it lost more than [a] quarter of its equity.”12 Fortunately for Iceland, with the outbreak of World War I, it saw the revenue from fish exports increase sharply, and because of this, Íslandsbanki managed to pull through.13 Although the world was in peril, the increased cost of food saved the bank. Iceland’s economy was similarly fragile due to its dependence on a single industry. Even though Íslandsbanki had been saved by the outbreak of World War I, Iceland’s economy was still fragile and its economic rollercoaster was only beginning. With the end of World War I, Iceland was hit economically with more than one event. Firstly, the price of fish and fish products dropped dramatically at the end of 1920, and correspondingly, so did Iceland’s profits.14 This drop can be seen clearly from the numbers on herring oil. In 1920, Iceland exported 945 tons of herring oil and brought in 637,000 crowns, but in 1921, they exported merely 300 tons and brought in 75,106 crowns.15 Not only had their exports dropped to a third of what they had been, prices also dropped to roughly a third of what they had been, meaning that their gross was one-ninth of

12 Eirikur Bergmann, 30-31. 13 Ibid, 31. 14 Ibid, 32. 15 United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, 5.

Thomas Malcolm the prior year on herring oil alone. Secondly, at the end of World War I, Iceland did away with tying their currency to the gold standard, and the central banks were then allowed to print new currency freely. This in turn allowed inflation to set in.16 A great way to see this inflation is to look at the average hourly wage of an unskilled male. In 1939, the average hourly wage of an unskilled male worker was 1.45 kronur, by 1950 this was 9.99 kronur, and in 1955 it had reached 16.85 kronur.17 Unions were pushing for higher wages constantly to try and keep up with inflation, which in turn increased the cost of exported goods. As the prices of their goods increased, they became less competitive on the international market the government had to intervene by subsidizing goods to keep them competitive.18 This was probably a large contributor to the inflation itself, thus intensifying the cycle. The rapid devaluation of the currency can also be seen in the Icelandic Krona to US Dollar exchange rate. In 1938, one krona was equivalent to 22.01 cents, by 1956 one krona had become equivalent to 6.140 cents.19 This trend continued for many years. The economy would grow and then fall, and as the cycle continued, the devaluation of the ISK continued as well.20 During the mid-1990s, Iceland’s economy entered another expansion phase. By the early 2000s, this expansion had gained momentum and was 16 Eirikur Bergmann, 32. 17 United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, 22. 18 Ibid, 5. 19 Ibid, 30. 20 Eirikur Bergmann, 32.

Iceland’s Economic (In)stability accelerating quickly. However, in 2008, it peaked and turned into a nosedive. In 1994, Iceland entered into the Single European Market, and shortly after, in 1998, they began privatizing the financial system.21 Iceland had been seduced by the American Wall Street, and these developments in the mid- to late 1990s were just the beginning of Iceland’s massive deregulation of the financial sector. Money was now flowing into Iceland. Companies were even using Iceland as a tax haven by having their “headquarters” there – their headquarters typically being an office with a conference room connected and multiple businesses being listed under the address. Iceland was rolling in cash and did not see it as something that would collapse. Young confident “Viking” investors were flooding privatized banks and investing wildly abroad.22 At the same time, there was expansion and massive investment in aluminum smelting plants in Iceland.23 One of the arguments for investing in aluminum was that it would increase jobs, and it would also give Iceland another product to export.24 However, Iceland did not have any raw aluminum, so it had to import it first from Australia.25 Problems were on the horizon. The torrent of incoming cash flow suddenly reversed in 2008.26 Towards the end of 2008, the price of aluminum began to drop off.

21 Ibid, 68. 22 Ibid. 23 Jonathan Barnes and Reina Peter, “Largest Iceland Investment Draws Environmentalist Fire,” ENR: Engineering-News Record 250, no. 13 (2003): 18. 24 Jim Motavalli, “Iceland’s Abundance of Energy,” The Environmental Magazine 19, no. 2 (2008): 14-16. 25 “Iceland: The Danger of Hydro,” The Ecologist 31, no. 9 (2001): 16. 26 Eirikur Bergmann, 97.

Thomas Malcolm The combined effect of flopping foreign investments and dropping export profits was hugely detrimental, so much so that the banks were beginning to fail. In the late afternoon of Monday 6 October 2008, Prime Minister Geir Haarde addressed the nation on TV: the state would not be able to bail out the banks. Over the following three days, the entire financial system collapsed - Landsbanki on Tuesday, Glitnir on Wednesday and finally Kaupthing on Thursday.27 The damage was done; a domino effect had begun. The economy was a speeding car on icy roads, doomed to crash. It has been a little less than seven years now since the crash, and Iceland is rebuilding. They eventually managed to reach settlements with countries, such as England, whose population had invested in Iceland.28 The reputation of Iceland has been hurt, but the country can recover. In my opinion, there are three main things Iceland can do to stabilize its economy: investing in tourism, investing in expanding alternative energy, and diversifying exports. Tourism is a great way to bring money into an isolated economy. The idea is to attract people, to have them come and spend money inside your borders. Iceland is incredibly unique in terms of its geography, history, and culture. This is very attractive to many people, and traveling internationally has becoming easier, financially speaking, than it has ever been 27 Ibid, 110. 28 Ibid, 7.

Iceland’s Economic (In)stability throughout history. Iceland is currently capitalizing on this. They have lowered the price of round trip tickets to Reykjavik from select large airports. They have also introduced a direct option of a “stop-over” to wherever one’s destination is, so one can stopover in Iceland and then continue on one’s journey. With its arts, culture, hot springs, and mystifying landscape, Iceland has the potential to attract a diverse range of people. Iceland has the ability to develop tourism into a sizeable income. The second thing Iceland can do is expand its alternative energy programs, and with the technological advances we have compared to fifty or sixty years ago, the country has no reason not to. Granted, Iceland has a fairly large alternative energy program as is. They have been a testing ground for many energy solutions over the years simply because of its geographic uniqueness. Investing to expand their geothermal and wind energy sources could reduce further their dependence on imported fossil fuels. Thus, instead of having money leaving the economy for energy imports, the money would stay within the country.

Lastly, Iceland needs to diversify its industrial base of exports. They have seen multiple times what happens when they put all of their eggs in one basket, with the near crash of Íslandsbanki in 1914 or the aluminum fiasco in 2008 and the ensuing economic collapse. They need to develop multiple industries of importing natural resources and exporting products of greater value, like furniture, cars, fishing boats, or any other

Thomas Malcolm product. They have the energy to power industry, they should develop an industrial workforce of varying expertise. That way, if one export drops in value for a period of time it does not adversely affect the economy to a large degree. Iceland has had an incredibly unstable economy in the past, marked by specific narrow investments, expansions, and collapses. However, there are three main industries that they can utilize to bring money in and stabilize their economy. Iceland has a history of rapid expanses and even faster busts, but in today’s age, the nation has ample opportunity to expand intelligently and stabilize itself. To borrow from Thomas Edison, Iceland has not failed, it has simply found a multitude of ways of how not to run its economy.

Iceland’s Economic (In)stability

Thomas Malcolm

Bibliography Barnes, Jonathan, and Peter, Reina. “Largest Iceland Investment Draws Environmentalist Fire.” ENR: Engineering-News Record 250, no. 13 (2003): 18. Bergmann, Eirikur. Land Use and Urban Form. Houndsmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. Hálfdanarson, Guðmundur. “Iceland: A Peaceful Secession.” Scandinavian Journal of History 25, no. 1-2 (2000): 87-100. “Iceland: The Danger of Hydro.” The Ecologist 31, no. 9 (2001): 16. Magnússon, Magnús S. Iceland in Transition: Labour and Socio-Economic Change before 1940. Lund: Ekonomisk-historiska föreningen i Lund, 1985. Motavalli, Jim. “Iceland’s Abundance of Energy.” The Environmental Magazine 19, no. 2 (2008): 14-16. Sorensen, Harry, and United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Iceland: A Brief Economic Survey. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1928. United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. Labor in Iceland. Washington, D. C., 1956.

Linnea Rock

dangerous women, or obedient vessels ? Linnea Rock Amidst the entirety of entertainment available and loved today, it is relieving to discover thoughtprovoking content occasionally exists. Using modern forms of entertainment is a great way to criticize social norms and to inform others about different ideas. This makes it possible for one’s ideas to reach a wide audience because of the popularity and accessibility of media to people of all class levels. Today’s popular media forms are full of societal critiques, but in the nineteenth century literature was the only popular medium. Hans Christian Andersen utilized his skills as a fairy tale author to write stories that contained commentary of nineteenth century Denmark and its social norms. He criticized everything from the monarchy, to women’s rights, and even the class system. Andersen carefully employed symbolism in order to elevate his superficially innocent children’s stories to be analyzed and contemplated by adults

Dangerous Women, or Obedient Vessels? as well. This façade proved to be such a powerful and significant style that we still explore his stories today. Since the beginning of human communication, folklore has been a popular way to entertain. Traditional folktales were well known and Scandinavia had a wealth of them. Andersen saw this infatuation with folklore as an opportunity to showcase his specific talents. By writing literary imitations of folktales, he could change the stories to have new suggestive or consequential meanings. He used techniques such as adding autobiographical information, elements of Christianity, Romantic ideas, and plot changes to give his stories new meanings.1 His writing gave him lasting fame as the stories are still enjoyed today. Some of his works have even been adapted into film versions further proving his timelessness. There are many examples of Andersen’s folktale imitations, yet one fabliau is especially riveting to consider. Andersen’s retelling of “Haaken Grizzlebeard” as “The Swineherd” is a powerful satire of traditional women’s roles as subordinate beings. It is important to have an understanding of the expectations for men and women when analyzing a nineteenth century story that criticizes gender roles. There were, and often still are, stereotypes of what it means to be masculine or feminine. Men are supposed to acclimate to the public world in which they are “powerful, active, brave, worldly, logical,

1 Scott Mellor, “Scandinavian Tale and Ballad” (Lecture, University of Wisconsin, April 9 2015).

Linnea Rock rational, individual, independent, able to resist temptation, tainted, ambitious, and sensual,”2 while women must acclimate to a private sphere and be “weak, passive, timid, domestic, illogical, emotional/ susceptible to madness, social/familial, dependent, unable to resist temptation, pure, content, and not sensual.”3 The abovementioned traits are opposites for the sexes and force women into a submissive role while the men are impelled to be in a more dominant and oppressive role. Straying from these traits could cause one to be ostracized, especially when it comes to the rigid roles of sexual expectations. Women’s sexuality was very scrutinized and therefore unfortunately misunderstood during the nineteenth century. Sexuality was frowned upon for men as well as women; the difference being that a man’s sexual desire was recognized, but it was thought that only abnormal women shared these desires. Even having sex too often was deemed to be evil, only moderate sex after marriage was accepted.4 Feminist authors Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar wrote about the difference between male and female sexuality compared to literary power in that, “if male sexuality is associated with the assertive presence of literary power, female sexuality is associated with the absence of such power, with the idea expressed by the nineteenth-century thinker Otto Weininger 2 Kimberly Radek, “Women in the Nineteenth Century,” Women in Literature, last modified 2001, http://www2.ivcc.edu/ gen2002/women_in_the_nineteenth_century.htm. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid.

Dangerous Women, or Obedient Vessels? that ‘woman has no share in ontological reality.’”5 Gilbert and Gubar recognized that men held all the sexual power. It was unthinkable that women could hold any power, as it was believed that women could not even fathom existence. This power difference between genders can be seen through many cultural aspects, including folklore. Women are portrayed as inactive, weak, and clueless characters who are secondary to men in many folktales. In Sandy Feinstein’s article examining folktales and ballads, she found many similarities between most of the women in the stories. One of the most relevant is that “men are the heroes, women secondary to them.”6 Women, however, “serve an important role in folktales … they make possible the achievements of men.”7 This analysis shows how the goal of the characters in a classic folktale is to get married and live happily ever after. Many folktales depict female characters who require a man in order to survive. The women do not, however, realize they are searching for a man, yet he is often aware of his quest. When he finds his femme fragile he “gains knowledge of who he is and thus fulfills his identity during the course of the tale.”8 Women in folktales are used as accessories by the male heroes to help obtain their reward. A woman who strays

5 Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, “The Queen’s Looking Glass: Female Creativity, Male Images of Women, and the Metaphor of Literary Paternity,” in Madwoman in the Attic: The Nineteenth-century Literary Imagination (New Haven:Yale University Press, 1979), 8. 6 Sandy Feinstein, “Whatever Happened to the Women in Folktale,?” Women’s Studies International Forum 9, no. 3 (1986): 251. 7 Ibid., 256. 8 Ibid., 251.

Linnea Rock from this becomes a freak of nature, exhibiting how “assertiveness, aggressiveness, all characteristics of a male life of ‘significant action’ are ‘monstrous’ in women precisely because [they are] ‘unfeminine’ and therefore unsuited to a gentle life of ‘contemplative purity.’”9 Characters who do not obey the standard laws of female expectations were seen as monstrous, and therefore could not obtain a man who will supply them with a home and a life. “Haaken Grizzlebeard” and “The Swineherd” are both tales that deal with courtship. The story is a fabliau a story that is often tragic or carnivalesque. It is often more realistic than a magic tale but the distinctions between good and evil may not be very clear.10 It is classified under the AT tale type 900,11 which has many variants about a prince who disguises himself as a beggar to teach a haughty princess her place in order to marry her. “The Swineherd” is Andersen’s literary imitation of “Haaken Grizzlebeard”. Between Andersen’s story and the tale, these same motifs can be seen: a beautiful, proud, arrogant princess, a disguised prince, the princess’s promiscuity, and an angry king. One of the first variants of “Haaken Grizzlebeard” is a German poem written around the year 1260. The variant discussed here was collected by P. 9 Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, “The Queen’s Looking Glass: Female Creativity, Male Images of Women, and the Metaphor of Literary Paternity,” 28. 10 Scott Mellor, “Scandinavian Tale and Ballad” (Lecture, University of Wisconsin, Feb. 10 2015). 11 “Notes for “Haaken Grizzlebeard,”” in Folktales of Norway, ed. Reidar Christiansen, trans. Pat Shaw Iverson (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964), 186.

Dangerous Women, or Obedient Vessels? Chr. Asbjörnsen between 1837 and 1839 in Sörum, Romerike, Norway, yet has known variants all over Europe, India, Turkey, North America, and Central America.12 One thing to note in the tale is that the male figure has a name while the woman remains nameless, a peek into the implied unimportance of women. The folktale “Haaken Grizzlebeard” presents a reality that women faced throughout history when marriage was looming. At the beginning of the story we are introduced to a king’s beautiful daughter and a separate king’s son, Haaken Grizzlebeard. This is a quintessential pairing of characters for this type of folktale. The two are expected to get married and live happily ever after, with the wife being a good queen and housewife and the husband is the moneymaker. The princess is not only beautiful, but she is proud and hotheaded as well. She behaves like a typical magic tale princess, yet when suitors came to woo her, “she made fun of them all and sent them packing one after the other. But even though she put on such airs, suitors always came to the manor, for she was very pretty – the hateful shrew!”13 From the beginning of the story, the audience learns that male characters only care about the woman’s appearance and not her attitude. Behavior is unimportant because once they are married, she will be his property and he could make her do whatever he wanted, or so it was believed. The princess at the beginning of the story embodies

12 Ibid. 13 “Haaken Grizzlebeard,” Folktales of Norway, ed. Reidar Christiansen, trans. Pat Shaw Iverson (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964), 186.

Linnea Rock the idea of a monstrous woman who will never be married; a woman who thinks for herself and does not want a man to change her. Women like this would never be respected at a time in which she needs a man to escalate her social class. The princess was acting on her own accord by rejecting Haaken Grizzlebeard like all the other suitors, thus putting gender roles under inspection. Haaken Grizzlebeard further plays into the story archetype by disguising himself as a beggar and tempting the princess with objects to teach the outof-line girl a lesson. The princess wanted the things the beggar had, so she let him in at night. In this way, Haaken Grizzlebeard tricks her into letting him sleep closer and closer to her over the course of three nights until he finally shares her bed and has sex with her. When he made noise, she exclaimed, “if my father hears there’s a man in here, I’ll be most unhappy! I do believe he’d put an end to me on the spot!”14 She fears the anger of her father if he were to discover her promiscuity. This is a great example of the double standards for men and women. She was always expected to be pure and virginal; straying from that would cause outrage especially for the men who are in charge of her, i.e., father then husband. When the princess gives birth nine months later, her father is so angry that she fears for her and her child’s lives. She leaves to go live with the beggar and exclaims about Haaken Grizzlebeard, “I could have taken him, then I would not have to be wandering 14 Ibid., 188.

Dangerous Women, or Obedient Vessels? about here like a ragamuffin”.15 She is beginning to acquiesce to the reality of life for a woman and how “women in patriarchal societies have historically been reduced to mere properties, to characters and images imprisoned in male texts.”16 She regrets rejecting the prince because now she is brought down to the social class of the beggar on whom she now depends. The prince remains disguised as the beggar because he is not satisfied with her yet, because “any heroine who departs from the norm, e.g. by rejecting suitors or breaking promises, will be suitably humiliated before achieving her happy ending – which is, naturally, to obtain a husband.”17 He must make sure that she is fully reduced to a traditional housewife before he can marry her. The princess is now forced to learn the skills associated with being a wife – baking, cooking, and sewing – by getting a job in Haaken Grizzlebeard’s kingdom. The most important lesson, however, is that she learns to obey her husband figure, because “the anxiety implicit in such storytelling urgently needs… the reassurances of male superiority that patriarchal misogyny implies.”18 Women had to obey their male superiors at the time this story was told as it was crucial to their survival. When the beggar told her to steal things from the castle, she would do it despite

15 “Haaken Grizzlebeard,” in Folktales of Norway, 189. 16 Gilbert and Gubar, “The Queen’s Looking Glass: Female Creativity, Male Images of Women, and the Metaphor of Literary Paternity,” 12. 17 Jacqueline Simpson, “’Be Bold, but not too bold’: Female Courage in Some British and Scandinavian Legends,” Folklore 102, no. 1 (1991): 16. 18 Gilbert and Gubar, “The Queen’s Looking Glass: Female Creativity, Male Images of Women, and the Metaphor of Literary Paternity,” 5.

Linnea Rock the trouble she was risking. At one point she says to the beggar, “you’ll probably be the ruin of me in the end, for you only want me to do what’s wrong.”19 She does not realize that she is the ruin of herself because, as a female character, she is forbidden to be able to think and act for herself. It is only after this test of obedience that Haaken Grizzlebeard is finally content with his accomplishment in achieving marriageability in the girl. He then proceeds to reveal his true self and, “only then was there real merriment and joy.”20 The two are then married and they live as a family in the kingdom. This happily-ever-after ending is achieved through marriage, but instead of feeling cheery, the reader should sympathize with the woman who was forced to lose her independence and pride in order to receive this so-called happy ending. Hans Christian Andersen’s imitation of “Haaken Grizzlebeard” entitled, “The Swineherd,” was published in 1842, in the collection Fairy Tales, Told for Children.21 Unlike the folktale, both the main characters in “The Swineherd” are unnamed, a change that puts them on a more level plane in the story. The details about the princess are also used to cause alarm, as Andersen depicts her as just a girl, too young for marriage. There are many subtle differences in the story, but the starkest is that Andersen discarded the second half of the 19 “Haaken Grizzlebeard,” in Folktales of Norway, 192. 20 “Haaken Grizzlebeard,” in Folktales of Norway, 193. 21 Hans Christian Andersen, “Notes for My Fairy Tales and Stories,” Hans Christian Andersen: The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories trans. Erik Christian Haugaard (New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1974), 1073.

Dangerous Women, or Obedient Vessels? folktale and ended it in such a way that causes the audience to contemplate his intention. Through the literary changes to the folktale in “The Swineherd,” Andersen criticizes the typical nineteenth century roles for women. At the beginning of the “The Swineherd,” a poor prince and an emperor’s beautiful daughter are introduced. The prince is poor but kind and famous while the princess is pompous and proud. The change in class difference is interesting here, as now the woman is of a higher class than the man. Marrying him would result in the princess losing some of her status, but “there were at least a hundred princesses who would have said thank you very much to his proposal.”22 The prince felt entitled to having this girl’s acceptance as well. He sent his two best possessions, a rose and a nightingale, to the princess in order try to woo her. When she received them, “she almost wept with disappointment” and “the emperor cried like a baby,”23 for they were real gifts and not luxurious artificial imitations of the bird and flower. In this way, she is described as a very selfish and materialistic girl of poor upbringing. The court is also criticized here, because they all are happy to see the beauty of the gifts, but quickly change their points of view when the princess and emperor are upset. In return, the princess proceeds to send a messenger to the prince rejecting his proposal.

22 Hans Christian Andersen, “The Swineherd,” Hans Christian Andersen: The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories, trans. Erik Christian Haugaard (New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1974), 193. 23 Ibid., 194.

Linnea Rock Just like Haaken Grizzlebeard, this poor prince decided to disguise himself in order to get closer to the princess and perhaps teach her a lesson about her fate as a nineteenth century woman. He disguised himself as a swineherd to work in the kingdom. He tricked the princess into kissing him in exchange for the lovely gifts he was making. Because of her greed, she gave into his request of kisses, even after trying to give him her ladies in waiting instead. The fear of her father’s wrath if he were to see her kissing a swineherd, prompts her to instruct her ladies in waiting to, “stand around me so no one can see it.”24 She should, of course, fear her angry father, for when he saw that she was behaving promiscuously, “both the swineherd and the princess were thrown out of his empire.”25 Just like the folktale, the woman is now outside of her home and looks to the swineherd for help as he is the only man that she now knows. Of the prince that proposed earlier, she said, “if only I had married the prince, oh, I am so unhappy!”26 Just like in “Haaken Grizzlebeard,” this princess realized her mistake in being unmarriageable, for she went from emperor’s daughter to a poor beggar in a matter of moments. Alas, she finally realized her existence as a woman of the nineteenth century. The swineherd revealed himself as the prince, but would not marry her because of her actions had made her impure. Her greed and selfishness that compelled her to kiss the swineherd were unattractive to the prince. He said to her, “you do not want an honest prince. You did not 24 Ibid., 195. 25 Ibid., 197. 26 Ibid.

Dangerous Women, or Obedient Vessels? appreciate the rose or the nightingale, but you could kiss a swineherd for the sake of a toy. Farewell!”27 Her beauty was not enough reason for the prince to invest in making her his wife. Along with the beauty and haughtiness of the princess in “The Swineherd,” Andersen also gives details of her age. This is another change from “Haaken Grizzlebeard.” The first problem can be seen by her actions at the beginning of the story. They show that she is very young; too young, in fact, for marriage. When the prince’s gifts arrived to her kingdom, she was “playing house with her ladies in waiting [because] that was their favorite game and they never played any other.”28 When the gifts were brought to her she “clapped her hands and jumped for joy.”29 These actions, playing house and jumping for joy, are not things that a woman usually does, but rather the actions of a young girl. Then when she found the gifts to be a real rose and a real bird, she was not happy because they were not toys. This is a great criticism of women in Andersen’s society who are mainly young girls and often forced into marriage before they were mentally and physically ready. Along with being too young, the princess was also portrayed as being very cruel, selfish, and greedy. At one point when her ladies in waiting were celebrating her new gifts, she exclaimed, “keep your mouth shut.

27 Hans Christian Andersen, “The Swineherd,” Hans Christian Andersen: The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories, trans. Erik Christian Haugaard (New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1974), 197. 28 Ibid., 193. 29 Ibid., 193.

Linnea Rock Remember, I am the princess.”30 She was cruel to her friends and her rejection was harsh to the prince. In this way, Andersen carefully brings the audience’s sympathy to the prince because, “the ideal woman that male authors dream of generating is always an angel,”31 yet this girl was certainly not depicted as being angelic. This is ironic because the prince apparently had “at least a hundred princesses”32 who he could have chased instead of this child. Andersen’s portrayal of the princess as a child and as a cruel woman was able to draw attention and raise questions to the roles of women during the nineteenth century. Andersen’s imitation of the well-known folktale “Haaken Grizzlebeard” was an effective way to influence his audience into questioning the norms imposed onto women during the nineteenth century. By leaving off the ending of the folktale in “The Swineherd,” he denies the commonality of men demoting women to achieve marriageability. Through the subtle language of a folktale he cleverly showed his audience how the typical father’s house to husband’s house routine did not allow women to be themselves and live full lives. Andersen’s influential way of changing folktales into modern literary works opened up a world of creativity and allowed him to critique many social norms that were present during his lifetime, not just women’s rights. 30 Ibid., 196. 31 Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, “The Queen’s Looking Glass: Female Creativity, Male Images of Women, and the Metaphor of Literary Paternity,” 20. 32 Andersen, “The Swineherd,” in The Complete Fairly Tales and Stories, 193.

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When Anderson adapted stories with which people were familiar, he forced them to inspect the implications of his differences. He took well-known stories that portrayed social norms and made changes, sometimes small, such as suggesting the age of the princess, and sometimes large, such as eliminating the entire ending. All of his alternations have one thing in -common â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they make an impact. When we read an Andersen story versus a folktale, his story raises discussions about right and wrong, urging the reader to question the existence of social norms. His criticisms in â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Swineherdâ&#x20AC;? may still be pondered today as women and many other minorities continue to fight for sexual and economic equality.

Dangerous Women, or Obedient Vessels?

Linnea Rock

Bibliography

Hall, Madison, WI. 09 April 2015.

Andersen, Hans Christian. “Notes for My Fairy Tales and Stories.” In Hans Christian Andersen: The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories, trans. Erik Christian Haugaard, 1073. New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1974.

“Notes for “Haaken Grizzlebeard.” In Folktales of Norway, ed. Reidar Christiansen, trans. Pat Shaw Iverson, 186. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964.

Andersen, Hans Christian. “The Swineherd.” Hans Christian Andersen: The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories, trans. Erik Christian Haugaard, 193-97. New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1974. Feinstein, Sandy. “Whatever Happened to the Women in Folktale?” Women’s Studies International Forum, 9.3 (1986): 251-56, doi: 10.1016/02775395(86)90060-9.

Radek, Kimberly M. “Women in the Nineteenth Century.” Women in Literature. Last modified 2001. Accessed 13 March 2015. http://www2.ivcc.edu/ gen2002/women_in_the_nineteenth_century.htm. Simpson, Jacqueline. “‘Be Bold, But Not Too Bold’: Female Courage in Some British and Scandinavian Legends.” Folklore 102.1 (1991): 16-30, doi: 10.1080/0015587X.1991.9715802.

Gilbert, Sandra and Susan Gubar. “The Queen’s Looking Glass: Female Creativity, Male I m a g e s of Women, and the Metaphor of Literary Paternity.” In The Madwoman in the Attic: The Nineteenthcentury Literary Imagination, 3-14. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979. “Haaken Grizzlebeard.” In Folktales of Norway, ed. Reidar Christiansen, trans. Pat Shaw Iverson, 18693. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964. Mellor, Scott, “Scandinavian Tale and Ballad.” Lecture at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Van Hise Hall, Madison, WI. 10 February 2015.

Mellor, Scott, “Scandinavian Tale and Ballad.” Lecture at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Van Hise

Linnea Rock

old norse women of inspiration

Linnea Rock From before the days of written history, women have endured societal hardships, as in most situations they were deemed subordinate. Thankfully there have been many examples of great women who have found ways to assert themselves in a male-dominated world, a contingency of which had taken root in medieval Scandinavia. In mythology and medieval stories, there are accounts of women possessing strength and a willingness to weaken boundaries between normal gender roles. Many of these women did this through knowledge of runes and magic - a wisdom and practice that allowed them to influence others and even obtain authority. The Saga of the Volsungs is the story of a dragon slaying hero, but the women are also heroes because of their strength through the crafts of shape-shifting, potion-making, and divination-practicing. Medieval Scandinavian women in literature refuse to accept their place in

Old Norse Women of Inspiration traditional gender roles and exhibit their knowledge and wisdom without boundary. Women greatly influenced Norse mythology with their knowledge of magic. It is said that, “divination… is normally associated with volur, or ‘prophetesses,’ known from several sagas.”1 Even more stunning, “not only were these volur all women, but the little we know about the seidr necessary for the performance suggests that it originally had been a female specialty reserved for the goddesses.”2 This great power was exclusively for women’s use, giving them an authoritative edge over typical male brawn. Even more, magic was a female specialty and considered unmanly. Men could not perform divination without being greatly criticized thus giving women an instrument to propel their societal status. A significant example of such a prophetess is the Völva from the poem “Völuspá” when, “she looked far into the future, [she] spoke with the wisdom of all the worlds.”3 This quote captures a power that gave her great insight and surpassed many men who held esteem. This is just one example of the many women who used magic in order to heighten and expand their authority, wisdom, and power. The magic of women is speckled throughout Norse mythology, but is strong in The Saga of the Volsungs. Early in the story, King Rerir and his wife have been

1 Jenny Jochens, “Old Norse Magic and Gender,” Scandinavian Studies 63 (1991): 310. 2 Ibid., 307. 3 “Völuspá,” in Poems of the Elder Edda, trans. Patricia Terry (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990), 4.

Linnea Rock married for a while but have no children. They pray to the gods to give them a child and Frigg, Odin’s wife, hears this. She tells Odin of their humble request, however, being male, he cannot produce the magic. He instead sends one of his wish maidens with an apple – a symbol of fertility – to King Rerir and his wife. Although he is the god of all the Nordic gods, even he needs a woman’s help to perform some types of magic. When the king receives the apple, both he and his wife eat it and soon have a child.4 Norse male gods understand the differences between genders in regards to magic and mostly respect the dichotomy. There are examples of male deities using magic in Norse mythology, but it was not honorable. Loki criticizes Odin for using magic, calling him cowardly and womanly. Loki says to Odin, “who changed charms on the Isle of Sams, who murdered by magic? In a wizard’s guise you walked the earth – that I call craven.”5 This is quite an embarrassing accusation and brings up the point of gender transgressions, asserting “the general notion, that sexual difference used to be less a wall than a permeable membrane, has a great deal of explanatory force in a world in which a physical woman could become a social man, a physical man could… become a social woman, and the originary god, Óðinn himself, played both sides of the street.”6 Odin’s use of magic consequently 4 Saga of the Volsungs: the Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer, trans. Jesse L. Byock (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), 36. 5 “The Insolence of Loki,” in Poems of the Elder Edda, trans. Patricia Terry (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990), 76. 6 Carol T. Clover, “Regardless of Sex: Men, Women, and Power in

Old Norse Women of Inspiration put him into a woman’s world opening himself up to shame. This piece of mythology clearly shows how gender boundaries could be crossed; however, men faced consequences while women were revered. Women had a unique ability to transgress the boundries between typical maleness and femaleness. That is, women could be powerful and work amongst men. In Carol Clover’s article about gender roles and power in Northern Europe, she explained, “when commentaries on Viking and medieval Scandinavian culture get around (most do not) to the subject of ‘women’ or ‘sex roles’ or ‘the family,’ they tend to tell a standard story of separate spheres.”7 She criticizes other commentaries for not delving into Viking age women’s issues in order to see how there were actually an “extraordinary array of ‘exceptional’ or ‘strong’ or ‘outstanding’ or ‘proud’ or ‘independent’ women – women whose behavior exceeds what is presumed to be custom and sometimes the law.”8 These great role models helped show the world they were as strong as men and “most women [even] participated in practically all varieties of outside labor in addition to their housework.”9 The Saga of the Volsungs contains excellent examples of these extraordinary women who were very influential during their lifetimes. Many women in medieval Scandinavian sagas and

Early Northern Europe,” Speculum 68, no. 2 (1993): 387. 7 Ibid., 365. 8 Ibid., 366. 9 Jenny Jochens, “Leisure,” in Women in Old Norse Society (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995), 99-100.

Linnea Rock mythology experienced times in which they held great power through their wisdom. A wise woman was a powerful resource for humanity’s survival. Brynhild is very wise and has an extensive knowledge of the runes. To Sigurd, Brynhild is the key to knowledge and he asks her to “teach [him] the ways of mighty things.”10 Brynhild is needed by the great dragon slayer in order to fulfill his quest. Once she completes her lesson in runes, Sigurd requests that she counsels him in the ways of being a good man and warrior. After this second lesson, Sigurd replies, “no one is wiser than you [Brynhild]. And I swear that I shall marry you, for you are to my liking.”11 To this Brynhild answers, “I would most prefer to marry you, even should I choose among all men.”12 Here she takes his proposal and makes it her own choice to marry Sigurd, something every woman should be able to do. Brynhild’s individualism is mirrored through confidence and wisdom. She uses her influence here to help someone that she loves as many women do throughout the saga. The Saga of the Volsungs contains instances of women acting as shape shifters in order to obtain what they want. Shape shifting is an interesting magic that was performed by both men and women in the saga. Siggeir’s mother uses this magic for familial gain. After the Volsung brothers are captured by Siggeir in battle and tied up in the woods, there is a she-wolf who comes and eats all the brothers 10 Saga of the Volsungs, trans. Byock, 67. 11 Ibid., 71. 12 Ibid., 71-72.

Old Norse Women of Inspiration except one, Sigmund, who is able to kill her. It is believed that “the she-wolf was Siggeir’s mother, who had assumed this shape through witchcraft and sorcery.”13 She does this to help her son who wants to kill the brothers. Signy also uses shape shifting in order to preserve her family line. Signy and Siggeir’s sons have no greatness in them from the Volsung side and this makes Signy very upset. Therefore, Signy seeks out a woman who is “exceedingly skilled in the magic arts.”14 The sorceress “used her craft so that they changed shapes. The sorceress now took Signy’s place as Signy wished.”15 This allows Signy to go to her brother Sigmund in disguise and have sex with him so that a full Volsung child can be brought into the world. Signy embodies the idea of the “important function of woman in the sagas: the strong-willed woman as catalyst in the complicated formulas of human events,”16 Without this audacious act, the Volsung line would not have continued. From this incestuous bastard, the strength and greatness of the Volsungs continues until finally producing the dragon slayer. Women showcase their ability to be active participants in the male dominated society by performing most of the divination in The Saga of the Volsungs. As noted earlier, divination was an art reserved for women

13 Saga of the Volsungs, trans. Byock, 42. 14 Ibid., 43. 15 Ibid. 16 Susan Clark, “‘Cold are the Counsels of Women’: The Revengeful Woman in Icelandic Family Sagas,” in Women as Protagonists and Poets in the German Middle Ages, ed. Albrecht Classen (Güppingen: Kümmerle Verlag, 1991), 5.

Linnea Rock and was considered a feminine trait. Divination was something that occurred in dreams but was not always clear, although some women had a gift for explaining dreams and reading people’s futures. Women garnered respect through the act of divination and it gave women influence in the male-dominated world. Brynhild was famous for her divination power and many sought her guidance. Brynhild tells Sigurd what their relationship has in store and how Sigurd will betray her for Gudrun. But Sigurd and Brynhild were in love and so swore oaths to each other anyway.17 The importance of Brynhild warning Sigurd gives her the right to avenge her honor after he betrays her. Women in the sagas were notorious for seeking revenge even after events were previously prophesied. Both Brynhild and Gudrun use their influence to get revenge on the men who hurt them after Brynhild foretells these events. In her article about vengeful women in the sagas, Susan Clark explains, “the anomalies, the revengeful woman, stand out, precisely because they are not the historical norm.”18 These women stray from the typical woman’s role in the household and think for themselves outside of what society instills upon them. For that reason, they become powerful in their time and famous for all eternity. Brynhild causes Sigurd’s death after he betrays her and marries Gudrun; she “heard it [Sigurd’s death] 17 Saga of the Volsungs, trans. Byock, 75. 18 Clark, “‘Cold are the Counsels of Women’: The Revengeful Woman in Icelandic Family Sagas,” 26.

Old Norse Women of Inspiration and laughed when she heard Gudrun sobbing.”19 In this case, Brynhild used her profound influence to seek revenge rather than killing Sigurd herself. Gudrun has a dream that holds a prophecy but she cannot understand it, and she seeks out Brynhild to tell her of her dream’s meaning. From this dream, Brynhild foretells Gudrun’s relationships with Sigurd and with King Atli including the hardships that accompany these men.20 When the prophecies come true and King Atli betrays Gudrun’s brothers, she avenges her family by killing King Atli herself. She and her nephew went into the king’s chamber while he slept and “Gudrun took a sword and thrust it into King Atli’s chest.”21 For both Brynhild and Gudrun, the act of killing the man in bed inverted gender roles because it was unmanly to be killed in bed, which gave the women dominance. Gudrun’s killing transgressed the gender boundaries even more than Brynhild’s killing because Gudrun wielded the sword herself. In Brynhild’s case, as in many sagas, “a bloody family feud is not complete without a ruthlessly determined woman urging her kin to retaliation and revenge.”22 It should be noted that, “Frequently the revenge is entirely personally oriented, or it may be motivated by a strong concept of familial and personal honor.”23 For Brynhild, the revenge was about personal honor

19 Saga of the Volsungs, trans. Byock, 90-91. 20 Ibid., 77-78. 21 Ibid., 104. 22 Clark, “‘Cold are the Counsels of Women’: The Revengeful Woman in Icelandic Family Sagas,” 6. 23 Ibid., 26.

Linnea Rock and for Gudrun it was about familial honor. Using action and influence as these women did are great ways to achieve one’s goals regardless of intent. Women actively participated in the man’s world by causing and preempting losses as they saw fit to their existence. It was common in the sagas for women to have symbolic, premonitory dreams. Often times however, men would misinterpret these dreams and would only realize their mistake after meeting their fates. Before Hogni and Gunnar go to see King Atli – who plans to kill them – their wives, Kostbera and Glaumvor, have such prophetic dreams. The women explain their dreams foretell the husbands’ deaths and beg them not to go. The men ignore the women’s predictions and make up another meaning for the dreams and proceed with their journey. They are subsequently killed by King Atli just as Kostbera and Glaumvor had predicted.24 Although Kostbera’s and Glaumvor’s husbands did not respect their divination, they still have a unique ability that is reserved only for women. Women in the sagas often attempt to prevent losses using their knowledge of runes, as well. When Kostbera realizes that the runes from Gudrun to her brothers were sloppily written, she says, “I read the runes and wondered how so wise a woman could have carved them so confusedly.”25 Gudrun did not make a mistake in writing the runes. In fact, they are a warning to her brothers of King Atli’s malicious 24 Saga of the Volsungs, trans. Byock, 98-102. 25 Ibid., 98.

Old Norse Women of Inspiration

Linnea Rock

intent but the message was crudely altered. It takes Kostbera’s runic wisdom to discover this falsification because none of the men were able to recognize the disheveled attempt at changing Gudrun’s runes. Nordic women’s extensive knowledge of runes was something to be proud of. It gave women an intellectual advantage over the men who did not understand the runes as well as they did. Runes were not only used for communication; they were also an aspect of supernatural power.

she remembered none of her grievances” and it was found that “inside the drinking horn was carved with all manner of runes.”27 Grimhild has done it again, for “in that ale were evils aplenty.”28 Once Gudrun forgets her loss, Grimhild compels her to marry King Atli despite Bryhnild’s warning of Gudrun and King Atli’s fate. Although Grimhild is a deceitful woman, she uses her magic to accomplish her goals and that gave her great strength, as magic does for women in a male-dominated world.

Sorcery such as potion making and runic magic were used by Grimhild to cause disturbances and harm in the saga. Grimhild is upset that Sigurd has promised himself to Brynhild because she wishes for him to marry her daughter, Gudrun. Grimhild uses her sorcery to blend “the ale of forgetfulness” and offers it to Sigurd saying, “take the horn and drink.”26 Once he has drunk the potion, he no longer remembers Brynhild or his oath to her and as Brynhild prophesied earlier, and he marries Gudrun. Here, Grimhild’s use of magic was for familial gain, yet still dishonest. Through the marriage of Gudrun and Sigurd, Grimhild obtains a great and powerful ally for her family but at the cost of using an evil trick. This is not the only time she uses a potion to better her family. After Sigurd’s murder, Grimhild is upset about losing a family ally and so sets her sights on a new husband for her daughter. Gudrun, however, is reluctant to marry King Atli for she is distraught over the loss of Sigurd. Grimhild goes to her daughter and makes her drink an evil potion, “and afterward

Women in medieval Scandinavian literature used their intelligence and resources to defy the typical gender codes of masculinity and femininity. The women in The Saga of the Volsungs use their wisdom and power to achieve personal goals. In this way, women such as Brynhild and Gudrun seek revenge while Signy and Grimhild better their families. Although some of these actions have bad consequences, there is no denying the fact these women were powerful and held authority in their families and society. The women presented here are not classic secondary characters serving as quiet wives often met in stories, but rather they are independent and active characters who earn respect and loyalty. They are admired for their honor and dignity to themselves and their families. It is this admiration that gives them eternal fame and lasting inspiration for women all over.

26 Saga of the Volsungs, trans. Byock, 78.

27 Ibid, 94. 28 Ibid, 95.

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Bibliography Clark, Susan. “’Cold are the Counsels of Women’: The Revengeful Woman in Icelandic Family Sagas.” In Women as Protagonists and Poets in the German Middle Ages, ed. Albrecht Classen, 5-26. Güppingen: Kümmerle Verlag, 1991. Clover, Carol T. “Regardless of Sex: Men, Women, and Power in Early Northern Europe.” Speculum 68, no. 2 (1993): 363-387. doi: 10.2307/2864557. “The Insolence of Loki.” In Poems of the Elder Edda, trans. Patricia Terry, 76. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990. Jochens, Jenny. “Leisure.” Women in Old Norse Society, 99100. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995. Jochens, Jenny. “Old Norse Magic and Gender.” Scandinavian Studies 63 (1991): 305-317. Saga of the Volsungs: the Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer, trans. Jesse L. Byock. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. Print. “Völuspá.” In Poems of the Elder Edda, trans. Patricia Terry, 4. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990.

Johanna Weissing

into the silence the nordic world as encapsulated in skaldic poetry

Words, after speech, reach Into the silence. Only by the form, the pattern, Can words or music reach The stillness, as a Chinese jar still Moves perpetually in its stillness.1

Johanna Weissing In any attempt to study and understand a culture, one must take into account the material and artistic products of that culture, including its architecture, tools and traditions of music, and visual art. Perhaps the aspect of a culture that conveys the greatest insights into the internal workings of the society that produced it, however, are its words. Language, through oral traditions or written literature, provides people with a means of discussing, reflecting upon, and preserving those things most important to them. Language becomes particularly important when studying an ancient society whose material culture has left little in the way of archeological finds and whose daily habits and social customs would thus be largely left open to conjecture without written documentation. Such is the case with the 1 T.S. Eliot, Collected Poems (New York: Harcourt,Brace, and Company, 1936), 219.

Into the Silence: The Nordic World as Encapsulated in Skaldic Poetry culture of the Scandinavian peoples from the age of migrations through the early Middle Ages. As the Scandinavians built primarily in wood, it is not possible to analyze their material culture in the same way that one can study ancient Greek society, for example, with its substantial archeological record. However, the Scandinavians had long memories, and much regarding their history and social customs was written down in the early Middle Ages after the introduction of Christianity and writing, especially in Iceland. Literate Icelanders committed to vellum many stories and poems that had circulated for generations in Scandinavian oral tradition, and it is these poems in particular that are the focus of this paper. As a condensed and focused form of language, poetry can convey not only the history, stories, and legends of a people, but even more fundamentally, it encapsulates the ideas and ideals of that people and provides the reader or listener with a view of their culture in concentrated form.

Poetry from early medieval Scandinavia has traditionally been divided by scholars into two genres: eddic and skaldic. Eddic refers particularly to the poems found in the so-called Elder or Poetic Edda, a collection of poems, some dated as early as the ninth century, which are contained in the late thirteenth century manuscript of the Codex Regius.2 The designation ‘eddic’ has been extended to poems from other manuscripts that share certain features with the poems in this anthology. The stanzaic 2 Margaret Clunies Ross, A History of Old Norse Poetry and Poetics (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 2005), 21.

Johanna Weissing poems of the Codex Regius are characterized by their treatment of the Norse gods, mythology, and legendary heroes of old. They make use of several different meters, including ljóðaháttr (song meter), often used in didactic mythological poems; málaháttr (speech meter); and galdralag (spell meter), often used in poems dealing with gnomic or proverbial wisdom, such as the Hávamál. The most common meter found in the Elder Edda is fornirðislag, or ‘old story’ meter, which is comprised of alliterative lines of no fixed syllable number divided with a cesura. Fornirðislag is derived from a common Germanic meter and has counterparts in the poetic traditions of other languages, including Old High German and Old English, although the length of a line in fornirðislag meter is generally much shorter due to the syncope of unstressed syllables, a phenomenon unique to Scandinavian among the Germanic languages.3 In addition, many of the characters commemorated in eddic poems can be found in other Germanic traditions. For example, the smith Vǫlundr, whose story is related in Vǫlundarkviða, is also known in German legend, where he is called Wielant, and in Old English he is called Weland.4 The terms eddic and skaldic have been challenged by some scholars in recent years as being inadequate, as there is some overlap between the two categories and it is sometimes unclear to which genre a poem 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid., 7.

Into the Silence: The Nordic World as Encapsulated in Skaldic Poetry belongs.5 For example, while dróttkvætt (court meter) is the most common meter used in skaldic poetry, fornirðislag is also frequently used.6 Other meters generally identified as skaldic are likely derived from fornirðislag, including runhenda (end rhyme), which uses the same alliterative patterns as fornirðislag but makes use of end rhyme instead of internal rhyme, as the name implies.7 The boundary is indeed unclear at times, especially as regards the use of various meters. However, one can make certain broad distinctions between the categories. The poems tend to be found in different genres within the Icelandic corpus. Aside from the Elder Edda, eddic poetry is most often found in fornaldarsǫgur (the mythical-heroic sagas), in which it comprises most of the poetry quoted. Skaldic poetry tends to be the dominant form found in konungasǫgur (kings’ sagas) and Íslendingasǫgur (the sagas of Icelanders), to name a few.8 Again, in contrast to eddic poems, whose authorship is anonymous, skaldic poems are most often the work of a known poet.9 The two genres also deal with different topics. While eddic poems are concerned with events in a hazy, undefined, and thus mythical age long past, skaldic poems generally deal with contemporary events, sometimes experienced by the poet himself, and they often sing the praises of a

5 Martin Chase, introduction to Eddic, Skaldic, and Beyond: Poetic Variety in Medieval Iceland and Norway, ed. Martin Chase (New York: Fordham University Press, 2014), 1-6. 6 Clunies Ross, 21. 7 Ibid., 22. 8 Ibid., 10-11. 9 Vésteinn Ólason, Dialogues with theViking Age: Narration and Representation in the Sagas of Icelanders, trans. Andrew Wawn (Reykjavik: Heimskringla, 1998), 38.

Johanna Weissing great military leader or king. In his Dialogues with the Viking Age, Vésteinn Ólason says, “[Skaldic] poetry is characterised by extreme simplicity of subject matter and world view and an almost infinite variety of expression made possible through its formal rules.”10 In fact, the feature that most clearly defines skaldic poetry is this adherence to strict rules of form. Stanzas consist of eight lines divided into two helmingar (halves) of four lines each, which generally express a complete thought. Each line has six syllables, three stressed, three unstressed, and ends in a trochee (a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable). The form also requires the use of internal half-rhyme, or skothending (assonance) in the a-line, followed by aðalhending (full internal rhyme) in the b-line.11 The following poem about the death of Óláfr Tryggvasonr, taken from Fagrskinna, provides a good example. The italicized syllables denote rhyme: half-rhyme in the a-lines—in which postvocalic consonants agree, but the vowels do not—and full-rhyme in the b-lines, in which both vowels and the consonants following are identical. Denoted in bold, the alliteration typical of skaldic verse can also be seen in this stanza, tying together each pair of a- and b-lines: orðmanna hygg ek enninn (a) — ú er þengill fram genginn, (b) ýrr hné róttar stjóri— (a) róttinn und lok sóttan; (b) 10 Ibid., 40. 11 Clunies Ross, 23.

Into the Silence: The Nordic World as Encapsulated in Skaldic Poetry rams dauði brá œði (a) óðs úfárar þjóðar. (b) Allr glepsk <r>iðr af alli (a) lug<s>tyggs sunar Tryggva. (b)12

[I think the undaunted lord of Norwegians (is) finally overcome. Now the noble lord is departed: the ruler of troops sank down. The death of the good ruler broke the well-being of no few nations. All peace is destroyed by the fall of the son of Tryggvi, reluctant to flee.] In order to accomodate these requirements, skaldic poets had little regard for normal prose word order. Again, this can be illustrated with the preceding poem, which runs as follows when re-stated as prose in the Old Norse: Hygg ek neninn dróttin Norðmanna und lok sóttan—nú er þengill dýrr fram genginn, stjóri dróttar hné—dauði grams góðs brá gœði úfárar þjóðar. Allr f<r>iðr glepsk af falli flug<s>tyggs sunar Tryggva.

In addition, subject and object nouns are often referred to using special poetic words called heiti and complicated, multi-level metaphors referred to as kenningar. Understanding the kennings requires an extensive knowledge of Norse mythology, because while one could translate a phrase correctly as, for example, “the strong drink of giants,” it requires a 12 A New Introduction to Old Norse, Part II: Reader, ed. Anthony Faulkes (Exeter: Short Run Press Limited, 2007), 71.

Johanna Weissing familiarity with the myths to understand that this circumlocution simply means “poetry.” In contrast to the more straightforward word order and vocabulary of eddic poetry, the unusual syntax, specialized vocabulary, and constant use of kennings referring to mythology renders skaldic poetry difficult to unravel and understand. Because of this, it was even in its own day the poetry of the elite, developing primarily in the courts of the powerful kings and jarls in Norway, where it was practiced by highly trained skalds.13 Unlike eddic poetry, which shares some features with other Germanic poetic traditions, skaldic poetry is unique to Scandinavia and has no counterparts in other Germanic languages. The form is thought to have originated in ninth-century Norway, possibly with the poet Bragi Boddason the Old, the earliest skald whose poetry survives in writing.14 It is curious to note that the Norse god of poetry also bears the name Bragi. In her History of Old Norse Poetry and Poetics, Margaret Clunies Ross says, “The rise of Bragi as a divine or semi-divine figure seems particularly associated with the ascendancy of skaldic poetry as the dominant kind of poetry in Norway and its colonies during the Viking Age. Most scholars who have written about this subject have come to the conclusion that Bragi... is a deified form of Bragi Boddason inn gamli.”15 As Clunies Ross mentions, the art of skaldic poetry 13 Clunies Ross, 104. 14 Ibid., 34. 15 Ibid., 105.

Into the Silence: The Nordic World as Encapsulated in Skaldic Poetry was carried by Norwegians throughout the Northern world and was practiced in the Viking colonies. Skaldic poets could be found among the earls of Orkney and, most famously, among the farmerchieftains of Iceland. Iceland was settled in the ninth century, about the time that skaldic poetry was growing popular in Norway, and the developing art was something that the settlers brought with them. Lacking material for arts such as wood and metal working, which were so highly developed in their homeland in Norway, the Icelandic people turned their attention instead to developing their facility with language, an area in which they excelled. The practice of skaldic versifying was to become in large part the province of educated Icelanders for the next five centuries, during which time they provided most of the prominent court poets for foreign kings in mainland Scandinavia and the British Isles. Many are remembered, along with their poetry, to this day.

Skaldic versifying has its roots in an oral culture. The Scandinavians had a runic writing system, but its uses were limited from a practical point of view and it was primarily used for short messages and burial markers. Thus, Scandinavian history, mythology, laws, and poetry were handed down orally from generation to generation. As Guðrún Nordal acknowledges in her lecture Skaldic Versifying and Social Discrimination in Medieval Iceland, “We know frustratingly little of the way skaldic verse was communicated or understood in an oral, pagan culture.”16 It is possible, however, 16 Guðrún Nordal, “Skaldic Versifying and Social Discrimination in Medieval Iceland,” The Dorothea Coke Memorial Lecture in Northern Studies (University

Johanna Weissing to infer some of its social functions. Margaret Clunies Ross says that “poetry and medieval Norse attitudes towards it developed first in an oral society and many signs are displayed of a close relationship between poetic genres and social interactions.”17 Vésteinn Ólason argues that in Iceland, poetry and storytelling went hand in hand and that together they “played an important part in preserving oral traditions, whether from the pre-settlement period or from the first centuries after settlement.”18 With regard to skaldic court poetry specifically, Ólason says that its oral preservation most likely occurred within the context of stories told about the kings and jarls memorialized in the poems. In fact, the most important function of skaldic poetry and the reason it was composed in the first place was to do just this: praise and immortalize the great military and political leaders of the day. Again, Clunies Ross points out the multitude of Old Norse terms for poems of praise and blame, and argues that these “point to one of poetry’s main social purposes, to serve as a public endorsement of the dominant values of early Norse, especially Norwegian, court society and the figure of its ruler, in particular, as a leader in war, a tough fighter himself, and a generous rewarder of his personal entourage.”19 In this sense, skaldic poetry was a highly effective form of propaganda, as it continues a millennium later to shape our opinion College London: The Viking Society for Northern Research, 15 March 2001), 3. 17 Clunies Ross, 29. 18 Ólason, 42. 19 Clunies Ross, 40.

Into the Silence: The Nordic World as Encapsulated in Skaldic Poetry of the historical figures it commemorates. At root, this connection between poetry and social norms was based on the high regard that the Scandinavians had for the power of words. As many have noted with regard to the sagas (to take an example slightly younger than skaldic poetry, but one springing from the same cultural source), the style of writing is forthright and direct, and characters communicate what they have to say as succinctly as possible. Words were seen as something to be used sparingly and with thought and care, as they could have powerful effects in the real world. As Ólason says, The hypersensitivity of saga characters to what other people say often seems remarkable to the modern reader. The explanation lies in the faith placed in the power of the word and, at the same time, in the importance attached to what is said about people in a society which relentlessly measures the deeds and status of men, and which assigns honour or dishonour on the basis of such judgements…The potency of verse has its roots in [this] same belief in the power of the word…but nowhere is this power more clearly in evidence than in poetry.20

A case in point is the issue of mansǫngskvæði (love poetry) and nið (slander poems), which were banned by law in Grágás (a medieval Icelandic legal code) and were punishable with full outlawry. Interestingly, this was a punishment greater than the partial 20 Ólason, 121-129.

Johanna Weissing outlawry often dealt out in cases of manslaughter. It was believed that such poems had “powers akin to sorcery,” and that mansǫngskvæði was in fact “capable of turning a woman’s affection to a particular man, without her knowledge and often against her will.”21 While this is an extreme example of belief in the power wielded by words, it nevertheless helps to explain the important place held in pre-Christian Scandinavian society by the skalds and their verses, which were viewed as a commodity to be paid for in gold. Because of the requirements of the form, skaldic poetry was easy to memorize and difficult to alter, and thus could define a man’s reputation for good or ill as long as the verses about him were remembered and understood. Regardless of the lack of information with respect to the social customs surrounding the communication of skaldic poems in their original context, they were a firmly established part of Scandinavian culture by the time Christianity was introduced, and with it, writing. The transformation of Scandinavian society from an oral to a written culture differed from similar scenarios in other parts of Europe in that elsewhere, writing—which was almost always in Latin— generally superseded the local oral traditions in the vernacular. The fact that traditional Norse poetic forms survived the transition is important and worthy of serious consideration, particularly since they not only survived orally for many years concurrently with written texts, but they entered into the new Scandinavian literary culture, becoming canonized 21 Clunies Ross, 41.

Into the Silence: The Nordic World as Encapsulated in Skaldic Poetry in the process. In fact, they exerted a considerable influence on the development of vernacular literary traditions, especially in Iceland. Nordal points out that “skaldic and eddic poetry are the only known literary genres to have been transmitted from an oral culture and adapted to a written one.”22 She says: The apparent continuity and consistency in skaldic versifying belies the radical social and cultural changes that took place over a five-hundred year period; changes that in themselves might seem to undermine the very foundations of skaldic verse-making and weaken its attraction and function in society. But not so. The strong and elevated position of skaldic verse in a Christian culture comes as a surprise, and we need to ask why verse firmly rooted in pagan myth held its own in the face of Christian Latin learning, even becoming the preferred medium for deeply religious poetry in the twelfth century, and how it redefined its role in the newly Christianized culture.23 Nordal goes on to propose an answer to these questions, arguing that the survival and acceptance of skaldic verse in Catholic Iceland was based on the use of skaldic poems in the formal education offered at schools such as the one at Skálaholt.24 While not much is known about the details of the curriculum in such schools, Nordal explains that, as with schools of the time elsewhere in Europe, the study of grammatica was central. In continental schools, this

22 Nordal, 16. 23 Ibid., 3. 24 Ibid.

Johanna Weissing subject was taught primarily through the study of Classical authors, especially the poets, from whom students would learn how to analyze language and use it well. Nordal structures her argument around the life of Einarr Skúlason, an Icelandic priest from the first half of the twelfth century who was educated at Skálaholt. He went on to become one of the foremost court poets of his day, composing skaldic poetry in honor of his patrons as well as specifically Christian poems such as Geisli, a drápa (a long skaldic poem with refrains) composed in memory of St. Oláfr and in honor of the miracles attributed to him after his death.25 Over the course of his career, Einarr served a number of continental Scandinavian rulers in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Nordal argues that through Einarr’s participation in the old oral poetic tradition, he, along with other learned Icelanders of his time such as the First Grammarian, contributed to the acceptance of Norse poetry as a substitute for the study of the Latin poets. Skaldic poems in particular were well suited for this purpose, as their strict rules of meter and alliteration placed them on a plane of linguistic sophistication on par, at least as educational tools for Icelandic students, with Vergil and Ovid. Nordal asserts, “Our earliest sources seem to suggest that the theoretical analysis of language and composition included in the study of grammatica was from the very first period applied to Icelandic vernacular literature and to this end skaldic poetry proved the only fitting genre.”26 25 Clunies Ross, 49. 26 Nordal, 5-6.

Into the Silence: The Nordic World as Encapsulated in Skaldic Poetry In addition, this genre was particularly well suited to the work of the First Grammarian, who cites skaldic poems twice. The rigid requirements of internal rhyme and assonance provided him with examples for explaining the particularly complex nature of the Old Norse vowel system and allowed him to make suggestions for an orthography that would more accurately represent it. Nordal says, “Our twelfthcentury sources are too scarce to allow us to determine whether their view of the pagan indigenous tradition was accepted by the whole learned community as early as the mid-twelfth century.”27 Nevertheless, the twelfth-century movement exemplified by Einarr and the First Grammarian served to legitimize the Norse poetic tradition, and by the thirteenth century skaldic poets and their verses were widely known and well respected.

Johanna Weissing with the various types of kennings, and the fourth, Háttatal (List of Verse Forms), exemplifies over one hundred different variations of skaldic verse form. Throughout this work, but especially in Skáldskaparmál, Snorri makes use of skaldic poetry as examples to illustrate his discussion of verse form and as sources to support his historical claims.

Inevitably, the poetry of the skalds assumed a different role after being absorbed into Christian written culture, and this role was summarized and defined to a large extent by none other than Snorri Sturluson, who was born in 1179, probably about twenty years after the death of Einarr Skúlason. Snorri’s Prose Edda is divided into four parts, the first of which “places Old Norse pre-Christian myth and religion in the context of medieval Christian explanations for pagan beliefs.”28 The second part, called Gylfaginning (the tricking of Gylfi), provides a summary of the Norse mythology necessary for understanding kennings. The third, Skáldskaparmál (Poetic Diction), deals

Nordal asserts that it was this interest in skaldic poetry that led to the development of a vernacular literary culture in Iceland in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. She says, “There is an unequivocal tie between the art of the skaldic poet and the vernacular prose writings of the thirteenth century.”29 This connection is amply illustrated in many saga genres, including the sagas of Icelanders and the kings’ sagas, which preserve a large number of skaldic verses. In this context, they appear to serve various functions. It is likely, as Snorri indicates, that skaldic poems were often a part of the oral tradition surrounding the story being committed to writing, and that the poems were thus used as authenticating devices to support and illustrate the veracity of historical claims. This is especially the case in the kings’ sagas. In a literary form that did not tend to dwell on the interior, emotional life of its protagonists, the verses also function on the narrative level as an acceptable medium through which saga characters can be portrayed as expressing their emotions. As a rhetorical device, skaldic verse is also used to add emphasis to important moments in the narrative.30

27 Ibid., 6. 28 Clunies Ross, 161.

29 Nordal, 8. 30 Ólason, 125.

Into the Silence: The Nordic World as Encapsulated in Skaldic Poetry

Johanna Weissing

Skaldic poetry lasted as a living tradition in Scandinavia for five hundred years, a time span that encompassed radical changes. From its origins in the oral culture of the Viking Age in the ninth century, through the advent of Christianity and the introduction of writing, skaldic poetry held its own, displaying a notable resilience and ability to adapt along with the culture that produced it. Although in the end the written culture replaced the oral culture and skaldic versifying as a living tradition disappeared, the fact that it survived as long as it did is startling. The Romantics of the nineteenth century despised the art of the skalds, saying that â&#x20AC;&#x153;nothing could be more artificialâ&#x20AC;? than its formal, stylized mode of expression.31 Fortunately, this view has disappeared, and skaldic poetry once again holds a place of honor for its historical and literary value. It is a poetry that demands much training and patience, with its difficult syntax and strange idiom, but it is a purely Scandinavian art form that succeeds in capturing the essence of the society out of which it grew, emphasizing its values of heroism, courage, and loyalty, and embodying a respect for language and a delight in word play that can only be characterized as remarkable. In so doing, skaldic poetry gives voice to a bygone age and, in a rare and arresting way, rewards the persistent reader with a glimpse of a culture now long gone.

31 Chase, 6-7.

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Bibliography A New Introduction to Old Norse, Part II: Reader, Edited by Anthony Faulkes. Exeter: Short Run Press Limited, 2007. Chase, Martin. Introduction to Eddic, Skaldic, and Beyond: Poetic Variety in Medieval Iceland and Norway, Edited by Martin Chase. New York: Fordham University Press, 2014. Clunies Ross, Margaret. A History of Old Norse Poetry and Poetics. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 2005. Eliot, T.S. Collected Poems. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Company, 1936. Nordal, Guðrún. “Skaldic Versifying and Social Discrimination in Medieval Iceland.” The Dorothea Coke Memorial Lecture in Northern Studies. University College London: The Viking Society for Northern Research, 2001. Ólason, Vésteinn. Dialogues with the Viking Age: Narration and Representation in the Sagas of Icelanders, Translated by Andrew Wawn. Reykjavik: Heimskringla, 1998.

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