Orð og tunga - 2023, Síða 11

2 Orð og tunga
swear words and vulgar phrases have a long and illustrious histo­
ry, for which the changing cultural context is of much significance.
They are particularly significant to the history of religion since many
of them originally had a religious or ritual significance, much like
knocking on wood so as not to tempt fate, a custom that is commonly
believed to be old; even though it is not attested in Scandinavia until
the Modern Age, it may possibly have very ancient heathen roots and
even be connected with pagan beliefs in cosmological trees (Ármann
Jakobsson 2023).
For a twenty­first­century rationalist and atheist, saying the devil’s
name out loud may indeed be meaningless. However, in the universe
of folklore and fairy tales, invoking a paranormal being might result
in the appearance of said being, and this should be an excellent rea­
son never to mention the devil, in case he takes it as a summons and
arrives and wants to make a deal– one of those deals that cannot end
well for anyone but the devil himself. The same would seem to apply
to the devil’s servants. They are essentially him, and he is them (cf.
Ármann Jakobsson 2018).
Whether mentioning demons is also understood as a summons in
Old Norse texts is a matter of debate but worth investigating. This
study is concerned with two instances where a well­born, tenth­cen­
tury Icelandic lady invokes evil spirits, on this occasion, trolls. Noth­
ing seems to happen as a result – but is that so? In these cases, the
curse may be innocent, or it may not.
I have been for the last decade and a half working on the medieval
and post­medieval concept of the troll. The reason the troll turned
out to be a good topic for a book is that the word has a variety of
meanings, that alter over the course of time. Thus, a modern Icelan­
dic reader of a medieval Icelandic work will possibly recognise the
word ‘troll’ in the text and feel they know what it means. If this reader
is thinking too much about the contemporary meaning of troll, they
will probably misunderstand the medieval text (see in particular Ár­
mann Jakobsson 2017). This is also true of other cultures. In the other
Nordic countries, trolls tend to be small and impish; in Iceland they
are large and brutish. And then there is the influence of Tolkien, also
pervading the works of J.K. Rowling and other popular authors of the
day, wherein the troll is a wild, strong, large but relatively dumb and
bestial creature.2
2 The notion of the troll as a strong but dumb antagonist more associated with na­
ture and bestiality than culture and refinement is prevalent in modern fantasy and
tunga25.indb 2 08.06.2023 15:47:14