Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1999, Page 210
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Conclusion of Part One
poetry as a source for Old Norse religion without taking upon himself
the burden of dating the poems. However, the problem remains that
since Adelung’s time some mythological poems have been under suspis-
cion of being recent fakes, and this suspicion obviously aims at the con-
tent as well as the form. In faet, the principal arguments were originally
taken from elements of content which seemed to be derived from Clas-
sical mythology or Christianity. This suspicion is met by Meulengracht
Sørensen with two old and strong counterarguments. Firstly, there is no
mythological Eddie poem which contains any specific reference to
Christianity or Christian morals. Secondly, nothing indicates that people
interested in these poems in the Icelandic Middle Ages looked upon
them as anything but heathen.5
A similar position is taken by the Russian scholar Aron Ya. Gurevich,
who is an outstanding representative of the “history of mentality” ap-
proach. Also for him some of the Eddie poems are important sources,
thanks to their presumably long existence in oral tradition:
“OrapmaH 3Afla”, AOineAmaa ao Hac b 3anHCH XIII b., npeA-
CTaBJiaeT co6oh, kuk H3BecTHO, nocjieAHroio CTaAHio upe3BbiuaH-
ho AJtHTejibHoro, MHoroBeKOBoro cymecTBOBaHHH anoca, h
noaTOMy B03HHKaeT Bonpoc 06 ee mhotocjiohhocth, o tom, uto
b ee necHHx AOJixHbi 6bum 3aneuaTjieTbca cneAbi cabhtob b
MHpOBOCnpHHTHH repMaHCKHX HapOAOB Ha npOTSCKCHMH 300X11,
Hauajio KOTopoh cneAyeT OTHec™ k BeKaM, npeAHiecTByioiitHM
BenHKHM nepecejieHHBM, a KOHeu, npHXOAHTca Ha BbicoKoe
cpeAHeBeKOBbe. EIonbiTaeMCH hoaohth k 3toh npoøjieMe “ap-
XeOJIOTHH C03HaHHH” (b C3MOM nepBOM npHØJIHXeHHH). MHe
XOTejIOCb 6bl paCHJieHHTb 3TH CJIOH C TeM, HTOØbl AOKOnaTbCH,
5 “Det fremgår af det, jeg nu har sagt, at vi kan slutte os til en mytologisk tradition bag de
bevarede digte, uden at vi samtidig postulerer noget om disse digtes alder. Herved mister
dateringsproblemet, sådan som det diskuteres af litteraturvidenskaben, en hel del af sin
betydning for religionsvidenskaben, hvis genstand ikke er de foreliggende digte, men et
bagvedliggende betydningsunivers [...] - Jeg skal nævne to vigtige argumenter for, at dig-
tene har bevaret en genuin hedensk forstillingsverden. - For det første indeholder intet
gudedigt nogen explicit reference til kristendommen eller til kristen moral. Det gør det be-
tænkeligt at tale om digtene som kristne. - For det andet er der intet, der tyder på, at de
mennesker, der interesserede sig for digtene i islandske højmiddelalder, betragtede dem
som andet end hedenske” (Meulengracht Sørensen 1991: 224-25).