Viking Friendship

Vidar Sigurdsson Jon

Description

"To a faithful friend, straight are the roads and short."-Odin, from the Havamal (c. 1000) Friendship was the most important social bond in Iceland and Norway during the Viking Age and the early Middle Ages. Far more significantly than kinship ties, it defined relations between chieftains, and between chieftains and householders. In Viking Friendship, Jon Viar Sigursson explores the various ways in which friendship tied Icelandic and Norwegian societies together, its role in power struggles and ending conflicts, and how it shaped religious beliefs and practices both before and after the introduction of Christianity.Drawing on a wide range of Icelandic sagas and other sources, Sigursson details how loyalties between friends were established and maintained. The key elements of Viking friendship, he shows, were protection and generosity, which was most often expressed through gift giving and feasting. In a society without institutions that could guarantee support and security, these were crucial means of structuring mutual assistance. As a political force, friendship was essential in the decentralized Free State period in Iceland's history (from its settlement about 800 until it came under Norwegian control in the years 1262-1264) as local chieftains vied for power and peace. In Norway, where authority was more centralized, kings attempted to use friendship to secure the loyalty of their subjects. The strong reciprocal demands of Viking friendship also informed the relationship that individuals had both with the Old Norse gods and, after 1000, with Christianity's God and saints. Addressing such other aspects as the possibility of friendship between women and the relationship between friendship and kinship, Sigursson concludes by tracing the decline of friendship as the fundamental social bond in Iceland as a consequence of Norwegian rule.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Sociology
• Middle Ages
• Iceland
• Norway
• Islande

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 07 mars 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781501708480
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

VïKïNG FRïENDSHïP

VïKïNG FRïENDSHïP

T HE SOCI AL BOND I N I CE L AND AND NORWAY, C. 900–1300

J ó n Vi ð a r S i g u r ð s s o n

CORNE UNïVERSïTY PRESS ïthaca and London

Thîs transatîon has been pubîshed wîth the Inancîa support o NORA.

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A rîghts reserved. Except or brîe quotatîons în a revîew, thîs book, or parts thereo, must not be reproduced în any orm wîthout permîssîon în wrîtîng rom the pubîsher. For înormatîon, address Corne Unîversîty Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, ïthaca, New York 14850.

Fîrst pubîshed 2017 by Corne Unîversîty Press

Orîgînay pubîshed în Norwegîan 2010 asDen vennîge vîkîngen: Om vennskapets makt; Norge og på ïsand c. 900–1300 by Pax Forag.

Prînted în the Unîted States o Amerîca

îbrary o Congress Cataogîng-în-Pubîcatîon Data

Names: Jón Vîðar Sîgurðsson, 1958–author. | Transatîon o: Jón Vîðar Sîgurðsson, 1958–Vennîge vîkîngen. Tîte: Vîkîng rîendshîp : the socîa bond în ïceand and Norway, c. 900–1300 / Jón Vîðar Sîgurðsson. Other tîtes: Vennîge vîkîngen. Engîsh Descrîptîon: ïthaca : Corne Unîversîty Press, 2017. | ïncudes bîbîographîca reerences and îndex. ïdentîIers: CCN 2016039393 (prînt) | CCN 2016040227 (ebook) | ïSBN 9781501705779 (coth : ak. paper) | ïSBN 9781501708473 (epub/mobî) | ïSBN 9781501708480 (pd ) Subjects: CSH: Norway—Hîstory—1030–1397. | ïceand—Hîstory—To 1262. | Frîendshîp—Norway— Hîstory—To 1500. | Frîendshîp—ïceand— Hîstory—To 1500. | Norway—Reatîons—ïceand. | ïceand—Reatîons—Norway. CassîIcatîon: CC D460 .J6513 2017 (prînt) | CC D460 (ebook) | DDC 305.3409481/09021—dc23 C record avaîabe at https://ccn.oc.gov/2016039393

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Co n t e n t s

 ïntroductîon  1. Frîendshîp: The Most ïmportant Socîa Bond în ïceand în the Free State Perîod  2. Frîendshîp between Chîetaîns: “To Hîs Frîend a Man Shoud Be a Frîend, and Repay Gîts wîth Gîts”  3. Kîngs and Theîr Frîends  4. Cerîcs and Frîendshîp  5. Frîends o the Gods  6. Kînsmen and Frîends: “et There Be a Fjord between Kînsmen, but a Bay between Frîends”  7. Frîendshîp oses ïts Power: Poîtîca Changes în the Second Ha o the Thîrteenth Century  8. Pragmatîc Frîendshîp

Notes135 Bîbîography161 ïndex179

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VïKïNG FRïENDSHïP

ïntroductîon

ïn May 2009, ï took part în a conerence în Engand.Thedayaterîtbegan,mydaughterphonedmeromhomeînde- spaîr. She tod me that she woud be takîng an exam în two days and that she shoud be prepared to dîscuss, among other thîngs, the împortance o ïcean- dîc kîn-based socîety (ættesamfunn) durîng the tîme o the Free State (the perîod rom the estabîshment o the Athîng în c. 930 untî the year 1262, 1263, or 1264, when ïceand came under the contro o the Norwegîan kîng). She was not despondent because she had to take an exam, but rather because or many years she had heard me speak about rîendshîp and chîetaîns în ïceand în the same perîod. She knew quîte we that ï objected to the very notîon o a kîn- based socîety mentîoned în her textbooks and by her teacher. ïnstead, ï spoke o a chîetaîn socîety, where the chîetaîns—and not kîn eaders—were the most poweru îndîvîduas. ïndeed, ï argued that kîn and kîn-based reatîons had very îtte meanîng, especîay when compared wîth the vîta roe rîends and rîendshîp payed. Thîs, o course, put my daughter în an împossîbe sîtu- atîon: Shoud she oow her ather or the currîcuum? Ater ï had overcome my surprîse at the questîon, ï proceeded to regae her on how “od îdeas dîe hard,” oowed by a sury commentary on the ack o knowedge o my work, and Inay an în-depth ecture on the meanîng o rîendshîp în the ïceandîc FreeState.ïtwasnotongaterthîsconversatîonthatïdecîdedtowrîtethîs 1 book. ï shoud add that my daughter was eventuay (and mercîuy) reeased

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