Dólgr í byggðinni: Meeting the Social Monster in the Sagas of Icelanders
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Rebecca Merkelbach
Abstract
Monstrosity has long been regarded as only a physical category in medieval literature and culture as well as possessing an inherent essentialism. This article aims to challenge both of these ideas, instead offering a reading of monstrosity as a fluid spectrum based on contemporary monster theories, and as a concept that, in the Íslendingasögur, depends more on behavior than on looks.
Abstract
Monstrosity has long been regarded as only a physical category in medieval literature and culture as well as possessing an inherent essentialism. This article aims to challenge both of these ideas, instead offering a reading of monstrosity as a fluid spectrum based on contemporary monster theories, and as a concept that, in the Íslendingasögur, depends more on behavior than on looks.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction: The Paranormal Encounter 1
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Part I: Experiencing the Paranormal
- “I See Dead People”: The Externalization of Paranormal Experience in Medieval Iceland 9
- It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: Haunted Saga Homesteads, Climate Fluctuations, and the Vulnerable Self 21
- Happy Endings: The (Para)Normality of Miracles 39
- Þórgunna’s Dinner and Other Medieval Liminal Meals: Food as Mediator between this World and the Hereafter 49
- A Troll Did It?: Trauma as a Paranormal State in the Íslendingasögur 71
- Traversing the Uncanny Valley: Glámr in Narratological Space 89
- On the Threshold: The Liminality of Doorways 109
- The Burial of Body Parts in Old Icelandic Grágás 131
- Paranormal Prose: “Para-Narrative” and Ice in the Icelandic Sagas 151
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Part II: Figures of the Paranormal
- Encounters with Hliðskjálf in Old Norse Mythology 175
- “Ok flýgr þat jafnan”: Icelandic Figurations of Böðvarr bjarki’s Monster 193
- Demons, Muslims, Wrestling Champions: The Semantic History of Blámenn from the Twelfth to the Twentieth Century 203
- The New Faith vs. The Undead: Christmas Showdowns 227
- Following up on Female fylgjur: A Re-Examination of the Concept of Female fylgjur in Old Icelandic Literature 245
- Dólgr í byggðinni: Meeting the Social Monster in the Sagas of Icelanders 263
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Part III: Literature and the Paranormal
- Even a Henchman Can Dream: Dreaming at the Margins in Brennu-Njáls saga 279
- A Normal Relationship?: Jarl Hákon and Þorgerðr Hǫlgabrúðr in Icelandic Literary Context 295
- Priest Ketill’s Journey to Rome 311
- “Darraðarljóð” and Its Context within Njáls saga: Sorcery, Vision, Leizla? 327
- Paranormal Tendencies in the Sagas: A Discussion about Genre 347
- Reading the Landscape in Grettis saga: Þórhallur, the meinvættur, and Glámur 367
- Trolling Guðmundr: Paranormal Defamation in Ljósvetninga saga 395
- “Meir af viel en karlmennsku”: Monstrous Masculinity in Viktors saga ok Blávus 421
- Index 433
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction: The Paranormal Encounter 1
-
Part I: Experiencing the Paranormal
- “I See Dead People”: The Externalization of Paranormal Experience in Medieval Iceland 9
- It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: Haunted Saga Homesteads, Climate Fluctuations, and the Vulnerable Self 21
- Happy Endings: The (Para)Normality of Miracles 39
- Þórgunna’s Dinner and Other Medieval Liminal Meals: Food as Mediator between this World and the Hereafter 49
- A Troll Did It?: Trauma as a Paranormal State in the Íslendingasögur 71
- Traversing the Uncanny Valley: Glámr in Narratological Space 89
- On the Threshold: The Liminality of Doorways 109
- The Burial of Body Parts in Old Icelandic Grágás 131
- Paranormal Prose: “Para-Narrative” and Ice in the Icelandic Sagas 151
-
Part II: Figures of the Paranormal
- Encounters with Hliðskjálf in Old Norse Mythology 175
- “Ok flýgr þat jafnan”: Icelandic Figurations of Böðvarr bjarki’s Monster 193
- Demons, Muslims, Wrestling Champions: The Semantic History of Blámenn from the Twelfth to the Twentieth Century 203
- The New Faith vs. The Undead: Christmas Showdowns 227
- Following up on Female fylgjur: A Re-Examination of the Concept of Female fylgjur in Old Icelandic Literature 245
- Dólgr í byggðinni: Meeting the Social Monster in the Sagas of Icelanders 263
-
Part III: Literature and the Paranormal
- Even a Henchman Can Dream: Dreaming at the Margins in Brennu-Njáls saga 279
- A Normal Relationship?: Jarl Hákon and Þorgerðr Hǫlgabrúðr in Icelandic Literary Context 295
- Priest Ketill’s Journey to Rome 311
- “Darraðarljóð” and Its Context within Njáls saga: Sorcery, Vision, Leizla? 327
- Paranormal Tendencies in the Sagas: A Discussion about Genre 347
- Reading the Landscape in Grettis saga: Þórhallur, the meinvættur, and Glámur 367
- Trolling Guðmundr: Paranormal Defamation in Ljósvetninga saga 395
- “Meir af viel en karlmennsku”: Monstrous Masculinity in Viktors saga ok Blávus 421
- Index 433