essay

The theft of blood, the birth of men: cultural constructions of gender in medieval Iceland

from sagas to society : comparative approaches to early iceland • Enfield Lock, Middlesex, Uk • Published In 1992 • Pages: 265-288

By: Linke, Uli.

Abstract

In this article Linke examines the cultural conceptions of gender in Icelandic mythology, as represented in the Edda -- a thirteenth century collection of mythological, heroic, and aphoristic poems in alliterative verse. The author then goes on to explore medieval ideas about manhood or maleness in relation to femaleness, with special emphasis on the underlying ideologies of reproduction. Further discussion is then centered on '…how Icelandic models of social order are embedded in mythological images of sex, birth, and creation', and how '…competing concepts of creative power (equated with chaos and order, good and evil) are expressed through mythic representaiton of female eroticism or motherhood and the antithetical images of male androgyny and male creativity' (p. 265). These concepts are frequently masked in the mythology and it is necessary to interpret narrative detail in these myths in order to reveal certain social themes in the society relevant to incest, murder, procreation and male sexual domination.

HRAF PubDate

2004

Region

Europe

Sub Region

Scandinavia

Document Type

essay

Evaluation

Creator Type

Ethnologist

Document Rating

4: Excellent Secondary Data

Analyst

John Beierle ; 2002

Field Date

no date

Coverage Date

ninth-thirteenth centuries

Coverage Place

general Iceland

Notes

Uli Linke

For bibliographical references see document 10: [Gísli Pálsson]

LCCN

93150093

LCSH

Icelanders