Old Norse

Into the Silence: The Nordic World as Encapsulated in Skaldic Poetry

By Johanna Weissing University of Wisconsin–Madison Words, after speech, reach Into the silence. Only by the form, the pattern, Can words or music reach The stillness, as a Chinese jar still  Moves perpetually in its stillness.1 In any attempt to study and understand a culture, one must take into account the material and artistic products of that culture, including its architecture, tools and traditions of music, and visual art. Perhaps the aspect of a culture that conveys the greatest insights…

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Old Norse Women of Inspiration

By Linnea Rock University of Wisconsin–Madison From before the days of written history, women have endured societal hardships, as in most situations they were deemed subordinate. Thankfully there have been many examples of great women who have found ways to assert themselves in a male-dominated world, a contingency of which had taken root in medieval Scandinavia. In mythology and medieval stories, there are accounts of women possessing strength and a willingness to weaken boundaries between normal gender roles. Many of these…

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The War of Laws: Hen-Thorir’s Saga

By Thomas Malcom University of Wisconsin–Madison At first glance Hen-Thorir’s Saga[1] appears to be a simple family saga presenting to the reader a blood feud along with the moral code of the Icelandic society, but in truth it pertains to much deeper societal matters. After peeling back the false front of the saga, it can be seen that the saga discusses the conflict between natural law and positive law, and also how this conflict affected the nation. The question then…

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