Supernatural Encounters in Old Norse Literature and Tradition ed. by Daniel Sävborg, Karen Bek-Pedersen (review)

This volume, drawn from papers presented at the third conference of the Old Norse Folklorists Network hosted in Tartu in 2014, brings together a number of leading researchers of the 'supernatural' in Old Norse literature. The collection, according to the editors, aims to shine a light on liminal encounters in lesser-known texts and, perhaps more importantly, on texts traditionally categorized among the more 'realistic genres' (pp. 5–6).

Ármann Jakobsson certainly adheres to this brief in an opening chapter on Bergbúa þáttr, a scantly studied þáttr that is often considered to fall within the Íslendingasögur tradition. Interestingly, however, he begins his contribution with a terminological discussion eschewing the word 'supernatural' as one implying abstraction from human experience, preferring 'paranormal.' In the introduction, the editors themselves note that 'supernatural' has unhelpful connotations of Christian duality, though yield to convention in using the term in the volume title (pp. 6–7). In truth, while Ármann's linguistic justification for the use of 'paranormal' is logical, the modern implications of that term make it too a problematic one (I shall use the term 'liminal encounters' in this review). Setting aside the non sequitur opening to the chapter, Ármann's analysis of Bergbúa þáttr is compelling. He focuses on the human aspect of the liminal encounter, taking little interest in the otherworldly creature lurking at the back of the cave, being more concerned with how the þáttr's hero and his servant experience their encounter. Taking this approach allows Ármann to speculate on authorial intent and reception, concluding that the audience was invited to identify with the Christian hero of the tale.

Chapters 3–6 deal with Guðmundar saga biskups, hardly an obscure text, though, as a narrative likely intended to serve as a saint's life, one in which a liminal encounter with seal-headed woman (Selkolla) may be unexpected. This event is narrated in a passage of Guðmundar saga known as Selkollu þáttr, and is the focus of chapters by Bengt af Klintberg, Margaret Cormack, and Mart Kuldkepp. That all discuss Selkolla provides these contributions a remarkable thematic coherence. However, the complementary nature of the chapters does not mean they are necessarily in conversation with one another and, indeed, their thematic similarities introduce an element of redundancy to the volume. All three authors retell Selkollu þáttr, with Cormack even providing the entire episode in translation (pp. 76–79). Cross-referencing within these chapters would seem to have been a logical editorial approach (indeed, this is a critique that can be applied to the volume as a whole). Nonetheless, though they could have been better integrated, each chapter offers new insights and deserves its place in the book. Klintberg identifies examples of 'seal women' in more recent folklore, locating Selkollu þáttr within wider Scandinavian tradition and arguing for the utility of folklore studies to the parsing of Old Norse literature. Cormack identifies the strong moralistic messages of Selkollu þáttr as a medieval composition—a caution against both leaving babies unbaptized and engaging in transgressive sex—before tracing the motif's adoption and adaptation in later folklore. In turn, Kuldepp considers Selkolluvísur, a mid-fourteenth-century dróttvæt poem retelling the Selkolla story, inserted after Selkollu þáttr in two extent manuscripts. He reads the poem as both evidence that skaldic poetry could still be imbued with meaning in the late Middle Ages and that, in that context, Icelandic folklore with apparent pre-Christians elements could be repurposed to Christian aims. The final chapter on Guðmundar saga, provided by Marteinn Helgi Sigurðsson, turns to a comparative analysis between the liminal encounters of Guðmundar saga and Grettis saga. Marteinn does not posit the existence of direct intertextuality between Guðmund and Grettir, but in noting the similarities between...