Snorri Sturluson qua Fulcrum: Perspectives on the Cultural Activity of Myth, Mythological Poetry and Narrative in Medieval Iceland
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- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- 8. Edda and Þrymskviða
- 9. Princess ’Edda’ and Bósa saga ok Herrauðs
- 10. Snorri, Edda , Mythology and Poetics
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insult of stanza 58 with two more developed from Snorri’s narrative, much as stanzas were added to Baldrs draumar, discussed above (§3). Snorri’s work seems to have echoed through the Codex Regius version of this text, and the progression of the three insults against Þórr may reflect their value as entertainment for a 13 th century audience without meaningful relation to a belief tradition, much as other insults in the poem may be little more than “slanderous jibes” at the pagan gods intended for the entertainment of a Christian audience without foundation in conventional or earlier myths. 78
8. Edda and Þrymskviða?
The evidence of the Lokasenna poem suggests that the rapid popularity of Snorri’s Edda not only enlivened mythological discourses generally but also – within decades of being written – it impacted popular forms and understandings of myths in circulating poetry. This is consistent with the immediate increase in mythological references in skaldic poetry and their reinterpretation, as discussed in the myth of the mead of poetry (§4). The poem Þrymskviða, preserved in the Codex Regius collection, is a version or adaptation of a Circum-Baltic myth, The Theft of the Thunder-Instrument (ATU 1148b). 79 Þrymskviða diverges from these traditions in several significant respects: a) the god does not orchestrate the action (the plan is not Þórr’s; he objects to it but remains passive); b) the stolen instrument (Þórr’s hammer) is not connected to rain or thunder; c) the adversaries do not fear thunder, lightning, the instrument or the god; d) the god’s disguise (as Freyja and bride rather than as a servant) is sexually compromising. Like Skrýmir, the giant-adversary is not attested in other early sources. The poem is constituted of mythological motifs and story-patterns, but these appear removed from the belief tradition: mythological material is used as a social resource subordinated to style (e.g. Heimdallr is referred to as an æsir-god and a vanir-god in parallel lines) and rhetoric (e.g. Freyja’s mythic necklace, her identity marker, bursts as a hyperbolic representation of outrage, yet this should be an event of cosmological proportions no less than breaking
78 Simek 2009, 78. 79 The following is summarized from the analytical survey in Frog 2011b. For earlier surveys and studies of this tradition, its sources and literature, see e.g. J. Balys, Griaustinis ir velnias baltoskandijos krašt
NY 2002, at 305–314. MIRATOR 12/2011 24
Óðinn’s spear). 80 The poem appears to be a burlesque 81 oriented to the humiliation of Þórr in the fashion of the visit to Útgarða-Loki (§7). Neither the overall adventure nor individual mythic ‘events’ specific to it (e.g. the breaking, loan or repair/reconstitution of Freyja’s necklace) are attested in other early sources. 82 Although Þórr explicitly states that the gods will use his transvestite act to insult him, it is neither encountered in insult exchanges nor elsewhere. This lack of early evidence for the myth contrasts sharply with the narrative’s later popularity in a Christian cultural milieu: it is one of only three mythological narratives known to be translated into the rímur tradition (the others being Lokrur and Skíðaríma, a mythological burlesque on a Christian’s visionary journey to pagan Valh ll), 83 and the only known mythological narrative translated into the ballad tradition, where it was clearly popular: the ballad-form was recorded throughout the Scandinavian world. 84 If Þrymskviða were composed for a Christian audience 80 This use of mythological material as well as unusual features in the metrics and poetics of this poem have been extensively discussed. See especially Jan de Vries, ‘Over de Datieering der Þrymskviða’, Tijdschrift voor nederlandsche Taal- en Letterkunde 47 (1928), 251–322, and the expanded discussion of textual parallels in Alfred Jakobsen, ‘Þrymskviða som allusjonsdikt’, Edda (1984), 75–80. Bernt Øyvind Thorvaldsen has resituated and overthrown early text-loan models with Oral-Formulaic Theory in ‘Om
not equipped to address intertextual referential practice, although this played a significant role in Old Norse poetics (Harris 1983 121; on intertextuality in oral cultures, see further cf. Frog 2010, 197–222, 238–317). Opponents to the ‘authenticity’ of Þrymskviða as a pre-Christian myth have tended to focus on evidence of late composition while advocates of its authenticity have focused on explanations or justifications for the humiliation of Þórr through sexual transgression presented in the poem (e.g. John McKinnell ‘Eddic Poetry in Anglo-Saxon Northern England’, in J. Graham-Cambell et al. (eds), Vikings
the Þrymskviða presentation is a parody of a widespread mythological narrative, independent evidence for the Germanic form of the narrative being parodied becoming apparent in that frame (Frog 2011b, 88–91). At the same time, the handling of mythologically significant elements in Þrymskviða appears consistently divorced from belief traditions. There is nothing to support Þórr’s cross-dressing as any more connected to belief traditions than the bursting of Freyja’s necklace. 81 The burlesque quality of the poem is not disputed; cf. John McKinnell, ‘Myth as Therapy: The Usefulness of Þrymskviða’, Medium Ævum 69 (2000), 1–20; Margaret Clunies Ross ‘Reading Þrymskviða’, in P. Acker & C. Larrington (eds), The Poetic Edda: Essays on Old Norse Mythology, Routledge: New York 2002, 180–194. 82 Erik Noreen (Den norrsk-isländska Poesien, Norstedt & Söners Förlag: Stockholm 1926, at 80) observes, “Alla detaljer, däribland även namnet Þrymr, kunna vara nyskapade av Þrymskviðaskalden”. Cf. Peter Hallberg, ‘Om Þrymskviða’, Arkiv för Nordisk Filologi 69 (1954), 51–77. 83 The opening sequence of Völsungs rímur also includes narrative material involving Óðinn and the divine community in a curious partially euhemerized history. This parallels the epic cycle’s inclusion of opening events involving Óðinn and other gods in the earlier eddic and saga versions of the narrative. Þrymlur and Lokrur are, however, solely concerned with the mythological sphere. Although Skíðaríma is modelled on a Christian visionary experience, it is also centrally concerned with a portrayal of the ‘pagan’ mythological sphere. 84 See e.g. Knut Liestøl, Den norrøne arven, Universitetsforlaget: Oslo 1970, at 15–18. MIRATOR 12/2011 25
after Snorri was writing, 85 it is reasonable to consider that Snorri’s handling of mythology as burlesque may have provided a model for the construction of a new poem rather than simply referring to Snorri’s new myths or new interpretations. If this hypothesis is correct, it would reflect one more dimension of Edda’s role as an exemplar and model for uses of mythology as a referent: just as his impact on uses of vernacular mythology in skaldic verse was dynamic and generative, rather than simply providing a fixed list of expressions for poets to employ, Snorri may have presented generative models for eddic poetry as well. Unlike the stanzas added to Baldrs draumar composed in a milieu where rímur poetry was vital (§3), Þrymskviða was composed in the period before the generation of new poems directly from established texts had become fashionable. This may be a factor in its emergence in a transitional period of radical cultural change when Edda exerted tremendous influence over oral poetry. The long-term popularity of this narrative in a Christian cultural milieu, surviving even into 20 th century ballad traditions, would then both parallel and outstrip the popularity of Snorri’s account of Þórr’s visit to Útgarða-Loki, which similarly seems to have found its place precisely as a reworking of traditional material in a way that made it interesting and relevant to emerging Christian frames of reference.
composed in the 14 th century or later. 86 Stephen Mitchell has emphasized that the Old Norse mytho-heroic sagas are grounded “in traditional heroic themes” qualifying them through their “lengthy continuity within the Nordic context.” 87 Although Bósa saga may participate in Mitchell’s “lengthy continuity”, its handling of strategies and contents is “characterized by an absence of this continuity” in the generation of a new and dynamic literary
85 This does not mean that Þrymskviða cannot manifest genuine archaic features. This has been suggested for “[V]Reiðr var þá Vingþórr” (Þrymskviða, st. 1.1) as an archaic alliteration, but this should not be conflated with the period of the poem’s origin: cf. “Reið varð þá Freyia” (Þrymskviða, st. 13.1) where alliteration is carried in /f/: reiðr need not alliterate in Þrymskviða (Vries 1928, 260–261, 270–271). On the use of expletive particles (cf. McKinnell 2000, 1), see Frog 2011b, 88n.18; cf. Fidjestøl 1999, 228. 86 Otto Luitpold Jiriczek (ed), Die Bósa-Saga in zwei Fassungnen nebst Proben aus den Bósa-Rímur, Trübner: Strassburg 1893. The comical and burlesque nature of this saga is not contested. 87 Stephen A. Mitchell, Heroic Sagas and Ballads, Cornell University Press: Ithaca, NY 1991, at 26–27. MIRATOR 12/2011 26
construction. 88 The saga engages names, narratives, genealogies, motifs and narrative patterns in order to situate the burlesque in relation to traditional mytho-heroic sagas. ‘Tradition’ is used as a referent in the generation of parody and comic effect. 89 In this respect, Bósa saga is similar to Þórr’s visit to Útgarða-Loki and Þrymskviða. Bósa saga is exceptional for the range of traditional material which it engages, from a runic inscription formula 90 to
bawdy fabliaux. 91 Bósa saga both manipulates tradition for comic effect and draws on a much broader range of traditions in circulation than was conventional.
Lars van Wezel points out that Bósa saga appears to make direct reference to Snorri’s Edda. 92 “Edda” appears as the name of a princess kidnapped by Bósi, but was not otherwise a personal name. 93 The common noun edda (‘great-grandmother’) was already archaic and falling out of use in Snorri’s time, 94 and may not have been recognized by the author of Bósa saga a century or two later. ‘Edda’ appears better attested in both verse and prose as a name for Snorri’s ars poetica. 95 The narrative episode in which Bósi kidnaps Edda is developed as a probable intertextual play on the rape of the goddess Iðunn, employing the episode of the Deception of the Tree, which I have discussed elsewhere. 96 This is only one of several mythological narratives engaged as an intertextual referent in the saga. 97 The use of the name “Edda” within the frame of an episode paralleling the opening narrative of Skáldskaparmál reinforces the probability of a conscious intertextual play, not simply with a mythological narrative, but with
88 Lars van Wezel, ‘Myths to Play with: Bósa saga ok Herrauðs’, in J. McKinnell et al. (eds), The Fantastic in Old Norse / Icelandic Literature, Durham University: Durham 2006, 1034–1043, at 1034– 1035.
89 See e.g. Vésteinn Ólason, ‘The Marvellous North and Authorial Presence in the Icelandic fornaldars gur’, in R. Erikson (ed), Contexts of Pre-Novel Narrative, Mouton de Gruyter: Berlin 1994, 101–134. 90 See e.g. John McKinnell & Rudolf Simek with Klaus Düwel, Runes, Magic and Religion: A Sourcebook, Fassbaender: Wien 2004, at 134–140. 91 See e.g. Sverrir Tómasson ‘Hugleiðingar um horfna bókmenntagrein’, Tímarit Máls og Menningar 50 (1989), 211–226, at 218–220. 92 Van Wezel 2006, 1042. 93 Erik Henrik Lind, Norsk-Isländska dopnamn ock fingerade namn från medeltiden, Uppsala: Lundequistska Bokhandeln 1905–1915, at 208. In the eddic poem Rígsþula, edda [‘great-grandmother’] is used among allegorical designations for figures (like ‘Father’, ‘Mother’), with nothing to suggest that they would be interesting or recognizable as ‘names’ outside that context, or that the saga-author was familiar with that poem. 94 Anatoly Liberman, ‘Ten Scandinavian and North English Etymologies’, Alvíssmál 6 (1996), 63–98, at 63–70. 95 Cf. DONP, s.v. ‘edda’; LP, s.v. ‘edda’. 96 See further Frog 2010, 34, 123–126. 97 Van Wezel 2006; Frog 2011b, 90. MIRATOR 12/2011 27
conscious reference to Snorri’s work. Van Wezel suggests that the appropriation of “Edda” by the hero reflects an acknowledgement of appropriating strategies and techniques of Snorri’s work – that Edda was an “inspirational source” 98 for Bósa saga. Whereas references to Edda in verse assert its role as an authority in vernacular poetics, the reference in Bósa saga appears to acknowledge Edda’s authority as a model for narrative burlesque and entertainment. Just as initial discussions of uses of Edda in Lokrur (§2) and the late stazas of Baldrs draumar (§3) support the probable role of narratives in Edda as a referent in contemporary or near-contemporary skaldic (§4) and eddic poetry (§6–7), the relatively unequivocal example of Bósa saga, which belongs to that same later milieu, supports the potential if not probable possibility that Edda may have supplied a model for handling mythological narratives in the generation of new eddic compositions – or radical recompositions – as may be the case of Þrymskviða (§8).
Snorri presumably learned his gods as well as verses with the education of his own upbringing. 99 He effectively validated eddic poetry and mythological narrative through asserting their relevance and significance (if not their centrality) to the education of young poets, while affirming their value as entertainment. The uniqueness of Snorri’s work appears directly related to the interface of oral and written cultures in the early phases of vernacular literature. The centrality of knowledge of mythology for the still- valued high rhetoric of vernacular oral poetics seems to have presented conditions which allowed – or even demanded – the presentation and discussion of vernacular mythology in a pedagogical work.
This work emerged in a Christian cultural milieu using technologies and pedagogical models imported with the Church before culturally relevant conventions for vernacular writing had become established. It appears to have had immediate impacts on the cultural activity of mythological narratives. This is reflected in the statistical rise of mythological references in skaldic verse, manuscript activity of eddic poems (§1, §5), and immediate impacts on conceptions and interpretations of myths
98 Van Wezel 2006, 1042. 99 Hermann Pálsson, Úr Landnorðri: Samar og ystru rætur íslenskrar menningar, Bókmenntafræðistofnun Háskóla Íslands: Reykjavík 1997, at 134. It is unlikely that Snorri’s pedagogical emphasis lacked vernacular precedent in a poetry where mythological references are so essential to poetic practice.
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reflected in both skaldic (§4) and eddic verse (§7). The role of Edda as a resource and authority for narrative material and its treatment is clearly evident in rímur poetry (§2) and later traditions of eddic poems (§3), yet this seems to have already been happening in the earliest phases of their manuscript documentation and circulation (§6–7). Moreover, Snorri’s handling of mythological narrative material may have provided a model for utilizing mythology and poetry more generally – strategies which made vernacular mythology a valuable and interesting social resource in a Christian cultural milieu, leading to the generation of new poems (§8) and even impacting prose literature (§9). Rather than being constrained by conventions for the attitudes and approaches to vernacular mythology in written literature, Edda shaped those models with impacts resounding for generations to come. Although no one influence can be strictly demonstrated, their relative probabilities increase with the extension of the horizons of this overview. This directly parallels the increasing relative probability of individual impacts on Lokasenna as these are situated within the cumulative context of multiple influences (§5–7). By situating individual probable and potential cases in a broader pattern of socio-historical processes, each potential case is lifted from isolation into the context of a broader phenomenon. Amid the ebb and flow of these waves of impact, Snorri recedes, as just a man – one man whose interests and undertakings resonated through his community, and whose name was only fleetingly attached to Edda. In contrast, Edda emerged as a work, a voice carrying an authority far beyond the reach of any one man – a voice echoing through history and reshaping Old Norse mythology into the imaginal world we recognize today.
Frog, PhD Folklore Studies Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies University of Helsinki. misterfrogfrog[at]yahoo.de Yüklə 340,68 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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