Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.06.2019, Qupperneq 11

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Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15. júní 2019 • 11
These texts work as a prism for
us to look through into the past.
I can extend this a bit
as to why I am interested in
this material. I’m especially
interested in poetry, which we
did not get into at all in this
class, but that’s my special area
of interest. And because of the
metrical structure of the poetry
it might’ve been preserved
in its form as it was written
down for longer, because the
metrical structure helped with
memorizing for poets. So I feel
like what I’m always trying to
do is reach into the past as far
as I can. That’s also why am
interested in [extending] past
that threshold or that boundary
between orality and literacy. I
want to reach as far back into
orality as I can.
Q: How far do the sagas
go back?
Well, the family sagas are
the Sagas of Icelanders which
are the type we looked at. Most
have an event that takes place
starting around 870, around
the settlement of Iceland. So
the settlement of Iceland is
an event and sometimes we
get prehistory to that, maybe
a couple of decades before
that and some dealings that
happened in Norway.
Q: For the sagas, is
Iceland the focal point?
For the Sagas of Icelanders,
yes; for the kings’ sagas, it’s
Norway; for the legendary
sagas there’s a lot that goes
on on the European continent
and Iceland doesn’t factor in
at all. Sagas are what the oral
tradition turned into when the
stories were written down.
The Saga of the Greenlanders
and the Eric the Red Saga that
we looked at would have for
sure existed before they were
written down, in an oral form.
But we don’t know what that
form was. The sagas are the
crown jewels. There’s great
sagas. One saga could take
most of the course.
Q: Do you have a favourite
figure in Norse mythology?
I like Óðinn for a few
reasons. First, he is the god of
wisdom and of poetry. When I
began reading the myths I was
very enthusiastic about poetry,
and still am, so I was attracted
to this god. Also, and a bit more
morbid, he is the god of death,
and unfortunately death was
something I have had to try and
understand from a young age, as
we all do, when someone close
to me died from cancer. Another
reason I am attracted to Óðinn
is his ever-changing nature. In
different sources he takes on
different characteristics, so it
is difficult or even impossible
to generalize about him, even
though that is what we try
to do when speaking about
him, or any of the other Norse
gods. Finally, I am attracted
to Óðinn because when I first
went to Europe I spent time in
Denmark, and one of the largest
cities in Denmark is named
after Óðinn – Odense (meaning
“Óðinn’s sanctuary”). The
mystique surrounding this god
has always pulled me in. I am
very enthusiastic about the
other gods and goddesses as
well, but I have done the most
research on Óðinn.
Q: How did the recent
course come about?
I was contacted and asked
to do it. It was an honour to do
it.
Q: Will you be doing it
again?
Yes. I’ve been informally
asked if I would be interested
in being contacted about
something in two years from
now. I’m not scheduled for this
coming year. I don’t think year-
to-year would fit this. I think
two years is perfect because
people can receive the material,
absorb it, study other stuff, and
then maybe come back in two
years and build on it.
Q: Is there anything more
people should know about a
course like this?
This was a close reading
of the sagas, or close reading
of the sources. That’s what I
wanted to offer. As a theorist,
in my work I approach things
through narrative. So this was
a perfect form just to be able
to explore stories at the basic
narrative level. The Prose
Edda is a very difficult text to
get through and we did it all
together over eight hours.
Q. Why should someone
consider taking this in future?
If people love stories, if
they’re interested in old Norse
Icelandic texts and want the
opportunity to explore them
here in Winnipeg. For two
hours each week, in people’s
minds, we were visiting Iceland
and feeling Iceland. There’s
a power I think we were able
to tap into that Iceland has a
magnetic draw. And I think it’s
represented in the landscape,
and the music, and in the sagas.
PHOTO: ELLEN GOODMAN
Andrew McGillivray’s class in rapt attention
PHOTO: ELLEN GOODMAN
The enthusiastic class with their professor
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