IMC 2014: Sessions

Session 1231: The Sacral and the Profane: Territory in Viking Myth and History

Wednesday 9 July 2014, 14.15-15.45

Organiser:	David Hugh Varley, Department of English Studies, Durham University
Moderator/Chair:	Alaric Hall, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki
Paper 1231-a	A Hall of One's Own?: Frigg and the Narrative Function of Fensalir (Language: English) David Hugh Varley, Department of English Studies, Durham University Index terms: Gender Studies, Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Pagan Religions, Sexuality
Paper 1231-b	The Pagan and Christian Territories of Settlement Iceland (Language: English) Betsie Alice Malkin Cleworth, Department of English & Humanities, Birkbeck, University of London Index terms: Geography and Settlement Studies, Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Pagan Religions, Religious Life
Paper 1231-c	Public vs. Private, Þing vs. Hall: The Social Spaces of Pre-Christian Religious Rituals in the Viking Age (Language: English) Luke John Murphy, Institut for Kultur og Samfund, Aarhus Universitet Index terms: Geography and Settlement Studies, Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Pagan Religions
Abstract	The three papers of this session examine the concept of 'territory' in Old Norse culture, utilising a wide range of literary, social, and historical sources. In particular there will be a focus on the distinctions made between profane and sacral space and between pagan and Christian sites. The papers will explore the tensions generated when the borderlines between these types of space are contested. Individual topics include an analysis of the function of Frigg's hall of Fensalir in mythological literature, the interaction between social space and ritual practice in pre-Christian Scandinavia, and the tension between pagan and Christian characterisations of the landscape in Settlement Iceland.