Reflections on Old Norse Myths

This slim volume is the first in what promises to be an exciting, high-quality new series from Brepols publishers: Studies in Viking and Medieval Scandinavia. Reflections on Old Norse Myths stems from a symposium convened at the University of Aarhus in 2005, and comprises reworked versions of papers given there, together with supplementary articles by each of the three editors. As suggested by the title, the volume is broad in scope, and is consciously multi-disciplinary, aiming to gather together perspectives on Old Norse myths and mythology from various fields of study to allow an overview of current directions and developments in the area.

Jens-Peter Schjødt opens the volume with a critical, interdisciplinary review of recent research in the field (including pre-Christian Scandinavian religion in general), focussing on major (i.e. book-length) studies. Valuable in itself for those less familiar with the scholarship – indeed invaluable, as it includes a significant number of non-English-language publications and, like each of the subsequent essays, a sizeable current bibliography – the article also provides a useful orientation for the chapters to come, each of which takes a more specific focus.

Pernille Hermann revisits the staple Old Norse text Íslendingabók, drawing attention to its necessary subjectivity and showing, with reference to the Papar that the text claims to have been the first inhabitants of Iceland, how it conforms to patterns of medieval Christian thought on signs and their significance. John McKinnell considers the problem that, with a few exceptions, extant mythological writings were recorded in Christian contexts, and wonders why pre-Christian survivals were handled with more vigour, detail and literary sophistication in Iceland than in other Germanic contexts. Ultimately, he suggests, mythological poems afforded secular Icelanders the flexibility and freedom to 'experiment with human problems' (p. 50) in a way that Scripture could not.

Rory McTurk's article posits the existence of a fertility goddess Loþkona, traditions about whom, he suggests, became intertwined with various historical figures and memories of whom may be preserved behind the protagonists of Ragnars saga loðbrókar, Ragnarr and his wife Áslaug. Applying Jan de Vries' model of the heroic biographical pattern, McTurk speculates that the saga may reflect female as well as male initiation practices, but cautions that influence from Greek romance may provide another explanation for the phenomena he observes. Stephen A. Mitchell discusses Nordic aphrodisiac and anaphrodisiac charm magic, and reconsiders Skírnismál in this context, highlighting the importance of speech acts and performance.

Judy Quinn then looks at Snorri Sturluson's use of the valkyrie motif in his Edda, particularly in Háttatal, where the valmeyjar ('maidens of the slain') 'gather in numbers' (p. 97). Quinn's close reading sheds light not only on this relatively neglected part of the Edda, but also on the martial culture of thirteenth-century Iceland, where it seems that despite the incompatibility with Christian theology of the notion of an afterlife in Valhöll, the poetic concept of the valkyrie had an important role in glorifying battle and promoting the comfort of death.

Next, Catharina Raudvere examines themes and motifs in Völsunga saga, arguing that the fornaldarsögur ('sagas of ancient times') need not be dismissed as sources for the study of the history of religions, since their exploration of ideological concepts and values can be analysed as an alternative mode of religious expression to literal statements of belief.

This is followed by Jens Peter Schjødt's second contribution to the volume, a reading of Ibn Fadlan's account of a Rus funeral alongside what can be pieced together about pagan Scandinavian rites from Old Norse sources and Saxo's story of Hadingus. Using Van Gennep's (1909) model of rites of passage as a framework, Schjødt argues that structural and semantic parallels between the accounts demonstrate that the pagan rituals of the Rus and the Scandinavians were aligned, implying that Ibn Fadlan's account should be taken seriously as a model for the reconstruction of pagan Nordic rites.

Finally, Rasmus Tranum Kristensen's essay is a structural analysis of kinship in Old Norse mythological texts dealing with the creation and ending of the world, which draws attention to the structural parallels between Óðinn and Fenrir and suggests that this makes them natural adversaries at Ragnarök. Tranum Kristensen proposes that the boundary-testing relationships in Norse myth explained and justified the rules of Icelandic kinship systems.

Each of the papers found here is thought-provoking in its own right, but the volume is particularly welcome as a collection which covers a range of methodological approaches and a diversity of primary sources, both drawing to the fore little-studied material and bringing new insights to more familiar texts. It thus makes both a valuable introduction to work on Old Norse mythology for the relative newcomer, and a stimulating addition to the field for the more experienced.