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

Intro Seminar - wk 3 History 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

Longhouses 9

10 Eiríksstaðir Erik (The Red)´s farm

Longhouses 11 Stöng Under Hekla´s 1104 eruption ash

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

Evolution of the longhouse

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

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

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

The Sagas  Sagas of Icelanders or Family Sagas - Prototypical novels…  Tales in prose, often extending 100s of pages, about the history of the people that settled in Iceland during the time of the Settlement ( )  Historical sources?  Written in XIII-XIV centuries  Sagas of Icelanders or Family Sagas - Prototypical novels…  Tales in prose, often extending 100s of pages, about the history of the people that settled in Iceland during the time of the Settlement ( )  Historical sources?  Written in XIII-XIV centuries Sagas online