Freshman Seminar -

Death, Revenge & Madness in Icelandic literature and culture

Freshman Seminar -

Death, Revenge & Madness in Icelandic literature and culture

Welcome to class #2 !Welcome to class #2 !

Freshman Seminar - wk 2 What IS Iceland??Freshman Seminar - wk 2 What IS Iceland??

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Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland (Icelandic: Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland) is an island nation, a volcanic island in thenorthern Atlantic Ocean between Greenland, Norway, Ireland, Scotland (Great Britain), and the Faroe Islands.

Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Facts about the country Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Facts about the country

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Area▪ Whole country: 39,768.5 sq. m. (103,000 ﾊ km²)▪ Vegetation: 9,191 square miles (23,805 ﾊ km²)▪ Lakes: 1,064 square miles (2,757 ﾊ km²)▪ Glaciers: 4,603 square miles (11,922 ﾊ km²)▪ Wasteland: 24,918 square miles (64,538 ﾊ km²)

Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Facts about the country - ComparisonFreshman Seminar - wk 2 Facts about the country - Comparison

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Area Total 9,631,418 km² Water 3,718,711 mi² 4.87%Population ﾊ - 2006 est. 298,290,000 2000 census ﾊ - 282 mill.Density 30/km² 3/mi²

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Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Facts about the country - Cont.Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Facts about the country - Cont.

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-Second largest island in Europe-By plane: 3 hrs to mainland Europe, 6 to US

Population: about 300.000180.000 in Reykjavík

Climate: subartic _ Gulf StreamAverage temp. in July 56ºFIn January: 32ºFPrecipitation: 32 inchesMidnight sun in June4 hrs a day of daylight in Dec.

Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Facts about the country - Cont.Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Facts about the country - Cont.

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-Government: parliamentary democracy

Fully independent since 1944

Language: Icelandic, the Norwegian of1000 years ago. Fundamental part of culturalIdentity - fiercely defended by purists,Conservative tongue…

Currency: Icelandic krona (about 70 kr - 1 USD)QuickTime™ and a

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Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson

Religion: Lutheran is the state religion of Iceland. Icelandic children receive mandatory religious training in public schools, and priests are state employees.

Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Facts about the country - GeologyFreshman Seminar - wk 2 Facts about the country - Geology

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• A young country: about 17 million years• Compared to its neighbours:

•Scotland and parts of continental Scandinaviaare 500 million years* The Earth as a whole is 4600 million years

The origin of Iceland has to do with Plate Tectonics: the theory that maintains that the earth's crust is composed of plates that float around slowly on the earth's molten interior. The heat and stresses created and released when these plates run into, slide past, slide under or over one another account for most if not all of the earth's earthquakes and volcanic activity

Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Tectonic plates - Geology ctd.Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Tectonic plates - Geology ctd.

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Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Distribution of volcanic systems -Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Distribution of volcanic systems -

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Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Distribution of earthquakes - worldwideFreshman Seminar - wk 2 Distribution of earthquakes - worldwide

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Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Dynamics of plate tectonic movementFreshman Seminar - wk 2 Dynamics of plate tectonic movement

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island over hot spot (G)

Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Dynamics of plate tectonic - IcelandFreshman Seminar - wk 2 Dynamics of plate tectonic - Iceland

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* An island over a hot spot AND on the mid Atlantic ridge

Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Type of volcanic activity - Kröflueldar 1977Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Type of volcanic activity - Kröflueldar 1977

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Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Type of volcanic activity - Lakagígar 1783Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Type of volcanic activity - Lakagígar 1783

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Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Earthquakes - distribution in IcelandFreshman Seminar - wk 2 Earthquakes - distribution in Iceland

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Freshman Seminar - wk 2 The positive side - geothermal energyFreshman Seminar - wk 2 The positive side - geothermal energy

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1 Mineral water2 water under 70C3 water 70-100 C4 150 C at 1000 m

Freshman Seminar - wk 2 A negative side ? Climate in numbersFreshman Seminar - wk 2 A negative side ? Climate in numbers

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Freshman Seminar - wk 2 A negative side ? Climate in numbersFreshman Seminar - wk 2 A negative side ? Climate in numbers

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Freshman Seminar - wk 2 A negative side ? Erosion - BúlandstindurFreshman Seminar - wk 2 A negative side ? Erosion - Búlandstindur

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Freshman Seminar - wk 2 A negative side ? Erosion of the soilFreshman Seminar - wk 2 A negative side ? Erosion of the soil

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Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Why are there no trees? Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Why are there no trees?

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•2500 ago 1/2 the country wooded• 900 CE 1/4 of the country• Ari Thorgilsson (XII century)says the country was covered in forests•Now: 1/100 of the surface

• Causes: wind and erosion•Ash and pumice close to volcanoes•Goats, cows and horses•Worsening climate

Freshman Seminar - wk 2 History Freshman Seminar - wk 2 History

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Freshman Seminar - wk 2 History Freshman Seminar - wk 2 History

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•Germanic migrations from northern Germany, Southern Scandinavia 4th, 5th century AD•Germanic origins - mysterious? Possibly related and derived from Celtic (both language families are IE)*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 marryingbelow her status (part of Sigfried myth)

*Reason for migration? Possibly climate changes*Important consequences - Fall of the Roman Empire*Britain becomes Anglo-Saxon

Germanic migrationsGermanic migrations24

Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Characteristics of the Germanic peoples Freshman Seminar - wk 2 Characteristics of the Germanic peoples

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•Tribes whose social structure was based on the Sippe, the extended family.•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 obligationBetween members of the group

*essentially oral culture - runeshttp://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MA/GERMANS.HTM

Freshman Seminar - wk 2 History - Populating IcelandFreshman Seminar - wk 2 History - Populating Iceland

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•Further waves of Germanic migrations in the 8th century bring about the settlement of Normandy (886, 911 ratified by Charles the Simple and Rollo)•Repeated attacks to Celtic monasteries in the British Isles (Lindisfarne 789, 793 Jarrow 794 etc.)•Establishment of the Danelaw 886•Settlement of Scandinavian peoples in Ireland and the Hebrides•Settlement of Iceland 870-930 CE

•Documented in the Book of the Settlement•Mostly Norwegian, some Danish, occasional Swedeand Scandinavian people previously settled in the British Isles

Freshman Seminar - wk 2 History - Reasons for later migrationFreshman Seminar - wk 2 History - Reasons for later migration

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•Complex factors:

•Climate worsening and agricultural consequences

•Demographic increase - the land could not sustain everyone

*Political reasons - a few regional political &military leaders were concentrating power in their hands

*Ship-building techniques improved

Freshman Seminar - wk 2 History - Settlement of IcelandFreshman Seminar - wk 2 History - Settlement of Iceland

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•Norsemen that came to Ice. were not a planned migration

•Various waves over that period of 60 years

•10.000-20.000 people settle in Iceland during that time

*No leaders - a new land, empty for the most part, limitedhabitable area

*The new society’s development was dictated by competition among succeeding generations for the land’slimited resources

Byock, Jesse. 1988. Medieval Iceland. Berkeley:UCP

Freshman Seminar - wk 2 History - Settlement of Iceland ctd.Freshman Seminar - wk 2 History - Settlement of Iceland ctd.

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•Practices of land-taking (landnáma): 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-wideassembly of representative. *It meets for two weeks at the end of June at Thingvellir,‘Parliament plains’*The representatives are regional leaders to whom localfarmers plead allegiance and in exchange get protection,legal representation at the althing and support in legal disputes

Freshman Seminar - wk 2 History - Settlement of Iceland ctd.Freshman Seminar - wk 2 History - Settlement of Iceland ctd.

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•For the establishment of the Althing in 930, a code oflaws is collected in various parts of Norway, on whichIcelandic laws are based.•Insistence on respect of laws (see Njál’s saga)•The President of the assembly was the Law Speaker, who recited one third of the legal code by heart each year(his term lasted 3 years, in fact)•The Althing was the place where laws were made, modified, the Supreme court convened and judged casesthat could not be solved in the local tribunals - but it wasalso much more: county fair, trade, news, marriages,social and cultural point

ThingvellirThingvellir

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Althing at ThingvellirAlthing at Thingvellir

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Importance of parliament:-Conversion to Christianity 1000 CE-Surrendering sovereignty to Norway in 1264 following what can be considered a civil war lasting about 50 years- That sovereignty will not be recovered until 1944

Parliament and the legal systemParliament and the legal system

No death penalty during the commonwealth Problems: apart from limited natural resources

Two powers: legislative & judicial And the executive function? Who makes people

respect the laws? In the hand of the wronged party - or his/her

family compensation (weregild) or revenge Sometimes both

No death penalty during the commonwealth Problems: apart from limited natural resources

Two powers: legislative & judicial And the executive function? Who makes people

respect the laws? In the hand of the wronged party - or his/her

family compensation (weregild) or revenge Sometimes both

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Cultural developmentCultural 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 version we have are probably from the 10th century (MS XIV)

Attila - historical figure 406-453

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 version we have are probably from the 10th century (MS XIV)

Attila - historical figure 406-453

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The problem of sourcesThe 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

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The SagasThe 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 (870-930)

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 (870-930)

Historical sources? Written in XIII-XIV centuries

Sagas online - http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/tarristi/sagas.htm

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