Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1997, Page 141

Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1997, Page 141
Riti Kroesen 139 about that extremely difficult problem at this moment is that there must be a link between the gods and the king, who is at least the centre of religious celebrations. Most scholars probably would agree on a sacral kingship with some limitations when it is compared with the god-kingships of kingdoms in the South/‘\ It is unknown whether any of these Scandinavian kings ever suffered sacrificial death, — and the controversy on this point is very great46 — but at Ieast some reminiscences of an older usage could have lingered on. In the Helgi Lays we meet Sigrún, the daughter of a king named Högni. She is also a valkyrie, who comes striding through the air with light shining upon her, to meet Helgi, chosen by her as her lover. Sigrún wants Helgi to fight against Höðbroddr, her unwelcome suitor, to whom her father has promised her. The tragic outcome of this fight is that, besides Höðbroddr, her father and all her brothers except Dagr, the youngest, are also slain. Nevertheless, the first Lay ends on a note of triumph, as Sigrún gladly offers both herself and her lands and other possessions to the victor (Helgakviða I, 15, Edda p. 132): Ok þér, buðlungr, samir bæði vel rauðir baugar ok in ríkja mær; heill skaltu, buðlungr, bæði njóta Högna dóttir ok Hringsstaða, sigrs ok landa; þá er sókn lokit. The second Lay tells how Dagr, the surviving brother, had to swear oaths of loyalty to Helgi, but how the urge to take blood revenge became too strong for him after a while. He rebelled against the king, and having borrowed Óðinn’s spear, killed him in Fjöturlundr. While Helgi departed to Valhöll, Sigrún stayed behind, sorrowing. One night Helgi was allowed to go back to his wife, and the poem ends with the famous episode of their sleeping together in the grave. Soon after Helgi’s second departure Sigrún died of sorrow. Here we have a very touching story about a “prepatriarchal” woman (Heinrichs, 1986), who makes the choice of her mate for herself and against her own clan. Moreover, she sticks to that choice despite the tragic death of her father and brothers. She has gone over to the clan of her husband unconditionally and she stays by him until the end. However, there are still other aspects to consider. By his victory Helgi not only obtains the person of Sigrún but also her lands: she makes him into a king indeed. If he is the successor of her father, we might say that here the matrilinear principle of succession prevailed over the patrilinear principle. Yet the latter was restored when Sigrún’s youngest brother killed Helgi. 45 See McTurk (1975-76 and 1994) The younger article defines the sacral king very tentatively as “one who is marked off from his fellow men by an aura of specialness which has its origins in more or less direct associations with the supernatural.” 4® See for instance Lönnroth (1986).
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
Page 21
Page 22
Page 23
Page 24
Page 25
Page 26
Page 27
Page 28
Page 29
Page 30
Page 31
Page 32
Page 33
Page 34
Page 35
Page 36
Page 37
Page 38
Page 39
Page 40
Page 41
Page 42
Page 43
Page 44
Page 45
Page 46
Page 47
Page 48
Page 49
Page 50
Page 51
Page 52
Page 53
Page 54
Page 55
Page 56
Page 57
Page 58
Page 59
Page 60
Page 61
Page 62
Page 63
Page 64
Page 65
Page 66
Page 67
Page 68
Page 69
Page 70
Page 71
Page 72
Page 73
Page 74
Page 75
Page 76
Page 77
Page 78
Page 79
Page 80
Page 81
Page 82
Page 83
Page 84
Page 85
Page 86
Page 87
Page 88
Page 89
Page 90
Page 91
Page 92
Page 93
Page 94
Page 95
Page 96
Page 97
Page 98
Page 99
Page 100
Page 101
Page 102
Page 103
Page 104
Page 105
Page 106
Page 107
Page 108
Page 109
Page 110
Page 111
Page 112
Page 113
Page 114
Page 115
Page 116
Page 117
Page 118
Page 119
Page 120
Page 121
Page 122
Page 123
Page 124
Page 125
Page 126
Page 127
Page 128
Page 129
Page 130
Page 131
Page 132
Page 133
Page 134
Page 135
Page 136
Page 137
Page 138
Page 139
Page 140
Page 141
Page 142
Page 143
Page 144
Page 145
Page 146
Page 147
Page 148
Page 149
Page 150
Page 151
Page 152
Page 153
Page 154
Page 155
Page 156
Page 157
Page 158
Page 159
Page 160
Page 161
Page 162
Page 163
Page 164
Page 165
Page 166
Page 167
Page 168
Page 169
Page 170
Page 171
Page 172
Page 173
Page 174
Page 175
Page 176
Page 177
Page 178
Page 179
Page 180
Page 181
Page 182
Page 183
Page 184
Page 185
Page 186
Page 187
Page 188
Page 189
Page 190
Page 191
Page 192
Page 193
Page 194
Page 195
Page 196
Page 197
Page 198
Page 199
Page 200
Page 201
Page 202
Page 203
Page 204
Page 205
Page 206
Page 207
Page 208
Page 209
Page 210
Page 211
Page 212
Page 213
Page 214
Page 215
Page 216
Page 217
Page 218
Page 219
Page 220
Page 221
Page 222
Page 223
Page 224
Page 225
Page 226
Page 227
Page 228
Page 229
Page 230
Page 231
Page 232
Page 233
Page 234
Page 235
Page 236
Page 237
Page 238
Page 239
Page 240
Page 241
Page 242
Page 243
Page 244
Page 245
Page 246
Page 247
Page 248
Page 249
Page 250
Page 251
Page 252
Page 253
Page 254
Page 255
Page 256
Page 257
Page 258
Page 259
Page 260
Page 261
Page 262
Page 263
Page 264
Page 265
Page 266
Page 267
Page 268
Page 269
Page 270
Page 271
Page 272
Page 273
Page 274
Page 275
Page 276
Page 277
Page 278
Page 279
Page 280
Page 281
Page 282
Page 283
Page 284
Page 285
Page 286
Page 287
Page 288
Page 289
Page 290
Page 291
Page 292

x

Skáldskaparmál

Direct Links

If you want to link to this newspaper/magazine, please use these links:

Link to this newspaper/magazine: Skáldskaparmál
https://timarit.is/publication/1141

Link to this issue:

Link to this page:

Link to this article:

Please do not link directly to images or PDFs on Timarit.is as such URLs may change without warning. Please use the URLs provided above for linking to the website.