Gripla - 20.12.2009, Side 54

GRIPLA54
that of the central regions of Western Christendom. A certain amount of
egalitarianism may therefore go back to the Middle Ages but we may also
point to significant later changes, such as the reduced importance of the
Scandinavian states from the 18th century onwards and their withdrawal
from the great power struggles, as well as the growth of towns, trade and a
middle class of burghers, wealthy farmers and bureaucrats in the service of
the state.
A unique culture? the use of the vernacular
Let us then turn to the cultural aspect, where the strongest claims have
been made for Scandinavian or rather Icelandic uniqueness. How unique
was this culture? Can it be understood as the expression of a society differ­
ent to that of the rest of europe, thus confirming the claims for a greater
amount of democracy or egalitarianism in Scandinavia?
one of the claims made for this kind of uniqueness is based on the
early and extensive use of the vernacular. This applies only to Norway and
Iceland, not to Denmark and Sweden. Moreover, it is less unique than
often assumed. The rise of the vernacular was a general trend in most of
Western Europe from the late 12th and early 13th century; in other words,
from about the same time as the rise of the saga literature.8 this applies to
france, Germany, Spain and Italy. england represents a similar trend,
except that the literary language was French rather than English until the
mid-14th century. However, this development came considerably later in
the “new” countries of Western Christendom, i.e. those countries
Christianised from the 9th–10th centuries onwards: Denmark, Sweden
and the kingdoms of East Central Europe. Thus Norway and Iceland con­
stitute the exceptions, not in the use of the vernacular as such, but in con­
forming to the pattern of the “old” rather than to the “new” countries of
Western Christendom. this increased use of the vernacular is usually
thought to reside in a more extensive degree of lay literacy, or the develop­
ment of a literature intended for a lay audience, or both.
Whereas the literary use of the vernacular had become quite wide­
8 erich Auerbach, Literatursprache und Publikum in der lateinischen Spätantike und Mittelalter
(Bern: francke, 1958), 205–59.