- Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Zachary Melton
University of Iceland, Viking and Medieval Norse Studies, Graduate Student
- University of the Highlands and Islands - UHI, Viking Studies, Graduate Studentadd
In this essay, I examine the similarities between the Lake District in England and Iceland. Both places have tales of a Norse past and settlement, but these settlements were much more closely linked than has previously been discussed.... more
In this essay, I examine the similarities between the Lake District in England and Iceland. Both places have tales of a Norse past and settlement, but these settlements were much more closely linked than has previously been discussed. Using place-name studies, I was able to compare almost identical names in both Iceland and the Lake District. I used some of the essential work of Gillian Fellows-Jensen, as well as newer scholarship by Ryan Mark Foster and Martina Domines Veliki to establish historical and onomastic links. Both locations share a distant Norse background with Ireland, the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man. Though the Lake District has very little documentary evidence, especially in comparison with Iceland, using place-names, contemporary sources and Landnámabók, I was able to connect activity in Irish Sea to the settlement period of Iceland.
What first alerted me to these similarties was W.G. Collingwood’s nineteenth century work, A Pilgrimage to the Saga-steads of Iceland. Hailing from the Lake District, Collingwood visited Iceland to venture through the Icelandic landscape and to witness firsthand the farms and features the sagas described. In his account, he often compares parts of the Icelandic countryside to landscape features back in the Lake District. Literary tourism was originally born in the Lake District as people followed in the footsteps of Sir Walter Scott and William Wordsworth. This literary tourism that Collingwood brought to Iceland, however, was revolutionary in transforming how people interacted with the sagas and with the Icelandic landscape. This study aims at answering some questions as to why some Norse place-names went out of use in Iceland and how two very different places were eventually defined by their later literary output.
What first alerted me to these similarties was W.G. Collingwood’s nineteenth century work, A Pilgrimage to the Saga-steads of Iceland. Hailing from the Lake District, Collingwood visited Iceland to venture through the Icelandic landscape and to witness firsthand the farms and features the sagas described. In his account, he often compares parts of the Icelandic countryside to landscape features back in the Lake District. Literary tourism was originally born in the Lake District as people followed in the footsteps of Sir Walter Scott and William Wordsworth. This literary tourism that Collingwood brought to Iceland, however, was revolutionary in transforming how people interacted with the sagas and with the Icelandic landscape. This study aims at answering some questions as to why some Norse place-names went out of use in Iceland and how two very different places were eventually defined by their later literary output.
Research Interests:
In this paper, I explore the background and the purpose behind The Barkman, Örvar Odd’s alter ego. The Barkman (Næframaðr) emerges from a forest in an episode of Örvar Odds saga after the hero loses more followers and friends to his... more
In this paper, I explore the background and the purpose behind The Barkman, Örvar Odd’s alter ego. The Barkman (Næframaðr) emerges from a forest in an episode of Örvar Odds saga after the hero loses more followers and friends to his nemisis Ögmundr. Is The Barkman meant for comic relief? Does he serve to mask the pain of losing loved ones? In order to answer the questions surrounding the absurdity and hilarity of The Barkman and his bizarre encounters at the court of King Herrauðr, I undertake the difficult task of investigating medieval humor to discover if the medieval writer and audience would find The Barkman as funny as we find him.
Looking between the younger and older versions of Örvar Odds sagas, one can discover where the jokes were inserted or retracted and for whom they may have been written or omitted. Örvar Odds saga is filled with humor, from giants babying the hero to running gags and growing bored with Christianity. But a deeper look at how humor was used and in the literary motifs used in both versions of the saga is needed to better understand how a contemporary audience would have interpreted the silly episodes presented in Örvar Odds saga. Reaching back to Cicero and forward to Immanuel Kant, we can deconstruct how and why The Barkman’s bumbling and clumsy heroics created chuckles that have spanned from medieval Iceland to today’s audience.
To better appreciate the humor behind The Barkman, I have used pscyhology, philosophy, history, comparative sagas, as well as the history of emotions: a lot of unfunny scholarship that explains the comical. Through this research, I will show that The Barkman was just as funny then as he is today for the simple reason that he represents a universal human condition: a need to break the tension.
Looking between the younger and older versions of Örvar Odds sagas, one can discover where the jokes were inserted or retracted and for whom they may have been written or omitted. Örvar Odds saga is filled with humor, from giants babying the hero to running gags and growing bored with Christianity. But a deeper look at how humor was used and in the literary motifs used in both versions of the saga is needed to better understand how a contemporary audience would have interpreted the silly episodes presented in Örvar Odds saga. Reaching back to Cicero and forward to Immanuel Kant, we can deconstruct how and why The Barkman’s bumbling and clumsy heroics created chuckles that have spanned from medieval Iceland to today’s audience.
To better appreciate the humor behind The Barkman, I have used pscyhology, philosophy, history, comparative sagas, as well as the history of emotions: a lot of unfunny scholarship that explains the comical. Through this research, I will show that The Barkman was just as funny then as he is today for the simple reason that he represents a universal human condition: a need to break the tension.
Research Interests:
I presented this paper at the 4th Annual World of Harry Potter Conference at Ohio State University, February 24-25, 2017. This paper attempts to examine James Potter using Lars Lönnroth's groundbreaking article from 1969, "The Noble... more
I presented this paper at the 4th Annual World of Harry Potter Conference at Ohio State University, February 24-25, 2017. This paper attempts to examine James Potter using Lars Lönnroth's groundbreaking article from 1969, "The Noble Heathen: A Theme in the Sagas." Harry Potter's father is only shown in a negative light. The only sign of redemption is the word of Sirius. Why is James never shown grace when Snape's remorse unfolds in the story? Through Lönnroth's framework of the Noble Heathen, James Potter's peculiar past begins to make a little more sense.
