Paper

A Window to Divinity: What Njal’s Saga Reveals About Dream Theory Sean Hill Professor Avery Cahill

2 Classical and medieval dream theory is principally different from modern dream theory. The main difference is that ancient theory argued that dreams were the result of a divine being acting upon the human mind, while modern theory posits that dreams are a creation of the human mind. Freud summarizes this aspect of the Classical view in his book, Interpretation of Dreams: “The ancients regarded dreams not as a product of the dreaming mind, but as something introduced by a divine agency.” (Freud 3) Among ancient and medieval cultures, the types of dreams and the things that are dreamt are just as unvaried and recurrent as divinities are. The similarities in these divinities support the fact that ancient pantheons were the creation of their worshipers. In the same way, finding cross­cultural similarities in dreams and dream theory supports the idea that dreams are a creation of one’s mind. The many archetypal dreams and visions in Njal’s Saga, which epitomize classical and medieval dream theory, help prove the modern theory that human cogitation is the source of such dreams.

One may argue that common themes imply authorship of dreams by a single God. This argument gives rise to a proof of monotheism; an argument not pursued by this paper. Additionally, since many of the dreamers discussed herein were polytheists, it is logical that if one believed the origin of a dream to be divine, one would have to credit the pantheon of that culture. Nonetheless, the purpose of this paper is not to prove the existence of one God or of many, but to show how mental patterns and archetypes explain connections between distant cultures.

Some of the first instances of dream interpretation are recorded in the Old Testament. In the book of Ezekiel, God sends a vision to Ezekiel telling him to be a

3 prophet: “I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light.” (Ezekiel 1:4) In visionary literature, lightning and brilliant light are almost always characteristics of divinity. The fact that God is coming towards Ezekiel stresses the fact that this vision is something being brought upon Ezekiel from God, not as a creation of Ezekiel’s mind.

In the book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams are tools used by God to warn people of future events. Nebuchadnezzar has a dream about a tree being chopped down by a figure from heaven. After none of his magicians, astrologers or diviners are able to interpret the dream, Daniel does so.

You, O king, are that tree! You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth…This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes. (Daniel 3:22,24­25) Daniel interprets the dream as an allegory forecasting things to come. Examples like these make it clear that in the Old Testament, dreams were seen as divinely imparted, not an action of the human mind.

Observing Classical dream theory reveals a similar point of view to the Old Testament. One of the most famous ancient philosophers, Aristotle, wrote a book on the subject, entitled On Dreams. Aristotle explored sense perception in dreams and the relationship between the conscious, the unconscious, and dreaming. He makes it clear that dreams are not just a biological function: “It is plain therefore that this affection,

4 which we name 'dreaming', is no mere exercise of opinion or intelligence.” On the other hand, Aristotle touches on an idea that might be called proto­modern; the notion that dreams do not carry prophetic significance. “It may be concluded that dreams are not sent

by God, nor are they designed for this purpose [to reveal the future].” (Aristotle 2) Aristotle posits that the majority of dreams do not predict future events and dreams that do so are merely coincidental. This scientific view of dreams invokes the type of approach that Greek physicians like Hippocrates took.

Hippocrates’ book, Ancient Medicine, deals with sicknesses and their causes and symptoms. In Part 10, Hippocrates talks about what happens when people who usually eat one meal, eat two meals a day. He says they might experience “troubled and disturbing dreams.” (Hippocrates 10) These examples from Hippocrates and Aristotle are some of the first to show a very scientific, non­mystical side of dream theory. Njal’s Saga shows that this theory was not dominant in Medieval Iceland. In one episode, Flosi describes to Ketil his dream in which an old man came out of a mountain and announced names of various warriors. Ketil remarks, “I have a sense that all those men who were called are doomed to die.” (Njal 233) Ketil automatically assumes that this dream has prophetic significance for the men who were called. This is an example of how, in Njal’s Saga, every dream or vision corresponds to a future event. By this, one can deduce that the characters’ dream theory presumes that dreams mainly prefigure future events and are linked to the supernatural. Icelanders adopted this tradition from another school of Greek thought, supported most strongly by someone who was a central character for classical thought on dreams.

5 “In the later years of antiquity, Artemidorus of Daldis was regarded as the greatest authority on the interpretation of dreams.” (Freud 4) Artemidorus was as important to dream theory as Hippocrates was to medicine. He analyzed dream interpretation in the same systematic way a physician would analyze the physical symptoms of a patient: A man dreamt that he heard someone saying that his staff was broken. He got sick and was paralyzed. For the support of his body, that is, the strength and good health of his body, was signified by the staff. The same man, who was upset and annoyed that his paralysis lingered on, dreamt that his staff was broken. He regained his strength immediately. For he would no longer have any need for a support." (Artemidorus 5.51) Throughout his work, Artemidorus describes the fulfillments of the dreams he studies as logical and natural. He treats it as a science with the underlying assumption that the dreams he studied were indicative of events to come. A scientist thinking that dreams are merely a process created by the human mind would obviously not put prophetic importance on dreams. Perhaps as a way of reconciling Aristotelian thought with his own research, Artemidorus is credited with classifying dreams into two categories: the unprophetic, and the prophetic. Within the prophetic category are three sub­categories, which Freud discusses in Interpretation of Dreams: The other class, on the contrary, was supposed to determine the future. It included (1) direct prophecies received in a dream (the xrhmatismo/ς or oraculum), (2) previsions of some future event (the o(/rama or visio), and (3) symbolic dreams, which needed interpretation, (the o)/neiroς or somnium. This theory persisted for many centuries. (Freud 3) Much of Artemidorus’ work concerns these three prophetic types. For example, Artemidorus records a version of visio: A man who was at sea dreamt that he suffered shipwreck, and it actually came true in the way that it had been presented in sleep. For when sleep left him, the ship sank and was lost, and the man, along with a few others,

6 narrowly escaped drowning.” (Artemidorus 1.2) Notable is Artemidorus’ use of the passive voice when he says the dream “had been presented,” stressing the notion that dreams were acted upon the sleeper. This type of dream is mimicked in Njal’s Saga when Gunnar has a dream about an upcoming conflict with Starkad: I dreamed that I was riding past Knafaholar. There I saw many wolves, and they attacked me, but I got away and down to the Ranga river. There they attacked again, from all sides, and we defended ourselves. I shot all those who were in front, until they came too close for me to use my bow.

So I drew my sword…but they Trampled Hjort down and tore open his chest and one wolf had his heart in his mouth. I was so angry that I sliced the wolf in two, just behind the shoulder, and after that, the wolves fled.

(Njal 105) Though this dream does involve some symbolism in the wolves, it is also quite literal, foretelling details such as Gunnar slicing the wolf right behind the shoulder. When Gunnar has this dream, he assumes it is prophetic: “‘I dreamed something,’ said Gunnar, ‘that would have kept me from leaving Tunga with so few men, if I had dreamed it there.’” (Njal 105) Thus, from comparing Icelandic and classical dreams, it is clear that Artemidorus’ theory was an accurate analysis for both cultures. That the medieval mind assumes dreams are not mere biological workings, but constitute divine revelation is proven not only by Njal’s Saga, but can be seen everywhere from Arthuriana, to morality plays.

Perhaps one of the best examples of a quintessential medieval text is Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte D’Arthur. Aside from providing some of the most famous images and stories from the middle ages, Morte D’Arthur is ripe with allegorical figures and serious, even dark subject matter. This excerpt describes a dream Arthur has on the eve of battle.

7 So upon Trinity Sunday at night King Arthur dreamed a wonderful dream, and in his dream him seemed that he saw upon a chafflet a chair, and the chair was fast to a wheel, and thereupon sat King Arthur in the richest cloth of gold that might be made. And the king thought there was under him, far from him, an hideous deep black water, and therein was all manner of serpents and worms and wild beasts, foul and horrible. And suddenly the king thought that the wheel turned up­so­down, and he fell among the serpents, and every beast took him by a limb. And then the king cried as he lay in his bed, “Help! Help!” (Mallory 709) This dream obviously prophesies Arthur’s downfall as he is sitting with a gold robe in a chair (symbolizing his powerful kingdom) and falls into a pit of beasts, which represent Mordred, the illegitimate son he had with his sister, Morgan le Faye. The next day, Arthur is killed by Mordred in battle. An Icelandic version of this dream type is found in Njal’s Saga when Gunnar is approaching Hoskuldsstadir to avenge his sister and Hoskuld (his target) has a dream: At Hoskuldsstadir, Hoskuld woke up early in the night and woke all his household. ‘I want to tell you what I dreamed,’ he said. ‘I saw a big bear go out of the house, and I was sure that there was none to equal it, and two cubs went along with it, and they were fond of the beast. It headed towards Hrutsstadir and went into the house there. Then I woke up. (Njal.

40) In both dreams, there is a betrayer symbolized by animals that have connotations associated with stealing (the bear in Hoskuld’s dream) and treachery (the snake in Arthur’s dream). At the same time, these two dreams have an interesting element in that they both invoke the positive connotations of the bear as leader and ruler. The hero, Gunnar is represented by the bear and it is also quite possible that Arthur’s name comes from the Greek word for bear, a)/rktoς . From dreams like this, it is obvious that the medieval mind typically sought to allegorize anything in the physical realm to something

8 in the spiritual realm, resulting in the popularity of symbolic dreams.

Another example of a typical dream found in medieval literature is one of the more popular books of the 14th century, Piers the Ploughman. Almost the entire book is a narrative that takes place in the main character’s dreams. It is a morality play, the main theme of which, according to the introduction, is “the meaning of man’s life on earth in relation to his ultimate destiny.” (Langland 11) At the beginning of each chapter, the main character, Will, falls asleep and has a dream.

But on a morning in May, among the Malvern Hills, a strange thing happened to me, as though by magic. For I was tired out by my wanderings, and as I lay down to rest under a broad bank by the side of a stream, and leaned over gazing into the water, it sounded so pleasant that I fell asleep. And I dreamt a marvelous dream. (Langland 25) In this case, even the falling asleep is something that is acted upon Will, as if someone is performing magic on him. This book is a special case, in that it is fiction that is supposed to be representing reality in the spiritual realm. All the characters in the book are allegorical personifications (a fat man named Gluttony, a calm man named Peace, seven characters representing the seven deadly sins). Since the author is the one giving his character these dreams, one could construe that he is the God figure and his character, Will, represents humanity. Will receives the dreams, while the author gives them with the intention that, since they represent things in the spiritual realm, they will be interpreted. This trope of a figure who seems to be an emissary of God is reflected in Njal’s Saga by a dream in which a shining man comes to Kolskegg: “The man spoke to him: ‘Rise and come with me.’ ‘What do you want with me?’ asked Kolskegg. ‘I shall find you a wife, and you shall be my knight.’ Kolskegg dreamed that he agreed to this

9 and then he woke up.” (Njal 132) In addition to this episode in which Kolskegg learns he is to become God’s knight, Njal’s Saga provides another example of a divinely sent authoritative figure: Earl Gilli in the Hebrides dreamed that a man came to him and gave his name as Herfinn, and said he had come from Ireland. The earl asked him for news, and Herfinn spoke this: ‘When swords screamed in Ireland and men struggled, I was there; many a weapon was shattered when shields met in battle. The attack, I hear, was daring; Sigurd died in the din of helmets after making bloody wounds; Brian fell too, but won.’ Flosi and the earl talked at length about this dream. A week later Hrafn the Red came to them and told them all about Brian’s battle, about the death of the king and Earl Sigurd and Brodir and all the Vikings. (Njal 307­308) In both works, men receive word from God through an authoritative figure; Earl Gilli through a prophetic Irish emissary, Kolskegg through a shining man and Langland in a roundabout way through the author who writes his dreams. Works like Morte D’Arthur and Piers the Ploughman are significant to an oneiric study since they exemplify the medieval model of dream theory, in which dreams are divinely inspired.

Did Mallory and Piers the Ploughman influence Icelandic literature through direct communication? It seems Iceland had some communication with mainland Europe as parts of the sagas are almost exact copies of Southern European literature. An example is one of the dreams in Njal’s Saga, on which the Penguin Press endnotes comment: The dream which Flosi is about to recount, in which a figure comes out of a mountain and calls out, in groups, the names of men about to die, has a literary source in the following passage from the dialogues of Gregory the Great, which were known in medieval Iceland. (Njal 335) While there was a link between Iceland and Europe, most dreams from the sagas are the creation of the Icelandic author. The fact that original stories in dreams fulfill Artemidorus’ oneiric categories buttresses the modern view of dreams. Because of the

10 similarities that have been discussed, modern psychologists argue that dreams are a result of archetypal themes and images, from which the human mind draws.

Perhaps the most famous supporter of this modern theory is Sigmund Freud, whose Interpretation of Dreams is still the standard for dream analysis. In this work, Freud observes other theorists’ views, which go in two different directions. The more popular branch argues that dreams are a way of connecting us with reality. Freud cites the philosopher, Haffner, as a major proponent: In the first place, dreams carry on waking life. Our dreams regularly attach themselves to the ideas that have been in our consciousness shortly before. Accurate observation will almost always find a thread which connects a dream with the experiences of the previous day. (Freud 7) Thus, on the one hand is the idea that dreams are directly linked to the literal world and are actually a result of its happenings. The other school teaches that dreams are the mind’s effort to disconnect us from the stress and struggles of consciousness. In Interpretation of Dreams, I. H. Fichte is quoted by Freud: “In dreams, daily life, with its labors and pleasures, its joys and pains, is never repeated. On the contrary, dreams have as their very aim to free us from it…a dream will do no more than enter into the tone of our mood and represent reality in symbols.” (qtd. in Freud 7) “Symbols” is a word that is central to this argument. Another extremely well known modern dream theorist, C. G. Jung, worked to unlock the potential of this concept in its application to dream interpretation.

While he did not argue strongly for the concept of dreams taking one away from reality, Carl Jung made the idea of “symbols” and “archetypes” central to his school of thought. The appearance of an old wise man giving a prophecy in a dream is common

11 even to cultures that are alienated from each other. This is evident from examples like the one above, in which a shining man comes to Kolskegg, giving him instructions on how to become God’s knight. While addressing the subject of archetypes, Jung says that these ideas have “been stamped on the human brain for aeons. That is why [they] lie ready to hand in the unconscious of every man.” (Jung Essential 70) Only certain conditions are needed to cause them to appear. The notion that dreams are a product of the human mind lies at the heart of his argument. In commenting on one of his patient’s dreams, in which an old woman chases a man around in a circle in a room with a clock reading five minutes to the hour, Jung gives this explanation: The unconscious pesters him like an exacting woman. The situation also explains the clock, for a clock’s hands go round in a circle. Five minutes to the hour implies a state of tension for anybody who lives by the clock: when the five minutes are up, he must do something or other. He might even be pressed for time. (Jung Psychology 104) Thus, Jung seeks an explanation for his patients’ dreams somewhere in the physical realm and sees dreams as the unconscious mind’s way of expressing feelings the conscious might be ignoring, such as anxiety or tension.

Post Jungian psychologists have posited that it is impossible to derive much meaning from dreams. J. Allan Hobson and Robert W. McCarley are famous for saying that “the primary motivating force for dreaming is not psychological, but physiological.” (qtd. in Kruger 1) In other words, dreaming is a natural, biological process that indicates very little about the conscious world. Francis Crick and Graeme Mitchison take this idea a step further in The Function of Dream Sleep when they argue that since dreams are hard to remember, dreaming is the mind’s way of getting rid of things it doesn’t want to keep:

12 Attempting to remember one’s dreams should, perhaps, not be encouraged, because such remembering may help to retain patterns of thought which are better forgotten. These are the very patterns the organism was attempting to damp down. (qtd. In Kruger 1) This theory, which encourages repression of dreams, shows a complete turnaround from the historical view, which portrays dreams as a means of divination.

Dreams were once thought to be a window to the divine, the supernatural and the future. Observing common oneiric archetypes has helped modern theorists determine the source of dreams. Comparing Njal’s Saga to the classical and medieval world provides an example of how distant societies share certain mental archetypes such as similarities between pantheons. The similarity of the oneiric tropes in Njal’s Saga to those of classical literature supports the modern theory that these tropes were mental archetypes.

In this way, the saga helps prove that the dreams it depicts are not a divine act, but an incredibly complex working of the human mind.

13 Works Cited Aristotle. On Prophesying By Dreams. 26 Nov. 2007. <http://www.greektexts .com/library/Aristotle/On_Prophesying_By_Dreams/eng/1261.html.> Artemidorus. Excerpts from Interpretation of Dreams. University of Texas. 9 Nov. 2007 <http://web.archive.org/web/20020616155923/http://www.utexas.edu/courses/ ccmyth/artemidorus.html.> Freud, Sigmund. The Interpretation of Dreams. London: Hogarth Press, 1953.

Hippocrates. On Ancient Medicine 26 Nov. 2007 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology <http://classics.mit.edu/Hippocrates/ancimed.mb.txt> Jung, Carl G. The Essential Jung, Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1983.

Jung, Carl G. Psychology and Alchemy, Princeton: Princeton University Press.

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Kruger, Steven F. Dreaming in the Middle Ages. Cambridge: University Press, 1992.

Langland, William. Piers the Ploughman. London: Penguin Books, 1966.

Mallory, Sir Thomas. “Morte D’Arthur.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, Volume 1: The Medieval Period. Ed. Joseph Black. Broadview Press, 2006.

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