Gripla - 20.12.2016, Page 311

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“regardless of Sex: Men, Women, and Power in Early northern Europe.”
that essay is not, however, a rewrite of any part of the film book; it shares
that book’s underlying premise, but if it’s a summary of anything, it’s
of the book I had in mind to write on norse gender. and then, once I’d
written this summary article, “regardless of Sex,” I felt I’d pretty much
said, though in abbreviated form, what I had to say, and decided to let the
project stand there.
***
and I think I’ll let this talk stand here. I hope I’ve made some sense of
the intellectual connection between my two fields – how they’ve fed each
other and fed off each other, whether the issue is revenge, trials, settler
origins, or gender. It’s not been easy to be in two fields – not least because
it’s not easy to be in two departments, with all that entails. But I wouldn’t
have had it any other way. My main response, at this point in my life, is
gratitude: that uC Berkeley allowed and even blessed my split arrange-
ment; that my two departments put up with it; and finally, that at least
some people in both scholarly communities found the results interesting.
It’s 56 years since I first gave myself to Njáls saga, and the idea that this
community has seen fit to honor me in this way means more to me that I
can say. I thank you so much.
SAME FRAME