Gripla - 20.12.2017, Blaðsíða 136

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S U M M A R Y
“He has Long forfeited all Kinship ties”: Monstrosity, familial Disruption, and
the Cultural relevance of the outlaw Sagas
Keywords: Íslendingasögur, teratology, monster theory, outlaw sagas
The three Íslendingasögur about major outlaws have long fascinated scholars and
readers alike, and the question why medieval Icelanders told tales in which so-
cial outsiders play the part of the hero has been the concern of scholarship for a
number of years. at the heart of this scholarship has been a preoccupation with
the characters and their families, for these families play a prominent role in the
texts: Gísli is outlawed for killing one brother-in-law to avenge another; Hörðr
does not trust any of his male relatives, and this eventually leads to his downfall;
and Grettir’s difficult relationship with his father seems to lead to his reckless and
arrogant behaviour later in life. But why are these stories about outlaw heroes
so focussed on the relationships between the individual and his kin group? and
why were Icelanders – medieval and modern – so fascinated by these marginal,
destructive figures? In this article these questions are addressed by approaching
the outlaw from the perspective of monster theory. the monster, as a creature that
points towards or even embodies meaning beyond itself, lends itself well to such
an investigation into social and cultural concerns whose reflection we might see in
the literary products of said culture. So far, outlaws have not been included into the
corpus of Íslendingasögur monsters, and therefore, the article consists of four parts.
first, the concept of social monstrosity is established, based on Cohen’s monster
theory but more suited to the unique situation in the Íslendingasögur. this concept
is then applied to the three major outlaws before turning to the discussion of out-
laws within their matrix of family ties. In the final step, the monstrous outlaw in
his disrupted, disruptive family will be read as symptomatic of medieval Icelandic
socio-cultural concerns about the fragmentation of family structures.