Medieval Icelandic literature recounts stories of both pagans and Christians settling in Iceland. Most of these stories focus on a male protagonist. However one of these tales centres around a female settler, namely Auðr/Unnr djúp(a)úðga... more
Medieval Icelandic literature recounts stories of both pagans and Christians settling in Iceland. Most of these stories focus on a male protagonist. However one of these tales centres around a female settler, namely Auðr/Unnr djúp(a)úðga Ketilsdóttir. Her story is unique in two senses: firstly, she is one of the few female protagonists among the many male ones in these accounts; secondly, the question of Auðr’s religion is an interesting one and a puzzle at that as two religious traditions exist parallel to one another. According to the first, she converts to Christianity. In the other, she remains true to the pagan faith of her Norwegian ancestors. These alternative traditions form a good example of how cultural memory and representations of a ninth century female Viking and her religious identity are transmitted in literary form. This article will investigate how these religious identities were created focusing on religious and funerary practices. I will briefly mention what effect these changes have on the depiction of Auðr/Unnr djúp(a)úðga Ketilsdóttir and how she is remembered from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century.
This paper is based on folklore material recorded during the field research in the Bayash settlement of Plažane (East Serbia), carried out in 2005. After the introduction remarks on Bayash ethnic identity problems, the author focuses on... more
This paper is based on folklore material recorded during the field research in the Bayash settlement of Plažane (East Serbia), carried out in 2005. After the introduction remarks on Bayash ethnic identity problems, the author focuses on analyzing one of the recorded texts – a legend about Miloš Obilić and his (supernatural) strength. Mentioned text was compared to variants (South Slav, Vlach, and Albanian) from available written sources. Putted in described contextual frame, Bayash legend shows some important differences (the hero gets strength by fairies’ magic breadth, instead of expected sucking their milk). This minimal variation changes semantic potential of the folklore text, and shows important distinctivеnesses of the Bayash demonological system. It is pointed out the importance of comparative method in researching Bayash folklore, especially the parallels between neighbouring traditions (in this case – South Slav, and Vlach).
