ATTN: Job Opportunity

ATTN: Job Opportunity - German and Scandinavian Dept, University of Oregon

(I am copying directly an email received from SASS):

The German and Scandinavian Department is seeking applicants for their open instructor pool for the 2012–2013 academic year. Positions are part time, temporary, limited duration, but with the possibility of renewal for up to three years depending on need, funding, and performance. Salary is dependent on education and experience. Applicants must have native or near-native fluency in German, Finnish, Danish, Swedish, or Norwegian; an MA or PhD, depending on the nature of the courses; and a record of excellence in teaching on the college level. The successful candidate will have the ability to work effectively with faculty, staff, and students from a variety of diverse backgrounds.

Applications will be accepted on a continuous basis and the pool will remain active for one year. Screening of applications will take place as positions become available and continue until positions are filled. Please send letter of application and vita to Dr. Jeffrey Librett, Department Head, German and Scandinavian Department, 1250 University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403-1250.

An equal opportunity, affirmative action institution committed to cultural diversity and compliance with Americans with Disability Act.

ATTN: Job Opportunity

ATTN: Job Opportunity - Swedish Instructor

(I am copying an email I received directly from SASS this afternoon):

"Rank: Career Instructor

Beginning September 16, 2012

The German and Scandinavian Department is seeking applicants for an instructor of Swedish. The position begins September 16, 2012.  The position is full time for one year, but with the possibility of renewal depending on need, funding, and performance.  Salary is dependent on education and experience.  Applicants must have native or near-native fluency in Swedish and one other Scandinavian language, preferably Danish, a Ph.D. in Scandinavian Studies or a closely related field, and a demonstrated potential to teach at the college level.  The successful candidate will have the ability to teach language as well as general education courses in Scandinavian culture and literature, and to work effectively with faculty, staff, and students from a variety of diverse backgrounds.  Applications are only being accepted via email:  verwest@uoregon.edu.  For full consideration, applications should include a cover letter describing scholarly interests and qualifications for the position, curriculum vitae, a teaching portfolio, a writing sample, and three letters of recommendation (including at least one from someone who can address the candidate’s teaching).  To ensure full consideration, applications must be received by April 13, 2012, but the position will remain open until filled.  The University of Oregon is an EO/AA/ADAA employer committed to cultural diversity."

ATTN: OLD ENGLISH & INTENSIVE LATIN OPPORTUNITIES

I am copying information forwarded by Dr. Larry J. Swain of Bemidji State University concerning two intensive language courses in Latin and Old English. (As someone who has just spent the last academic year learning both of these languages (OE in the Fall, Intensive Latin this Spring! - I highly recommend it to any aspiring Medievalist.)

Hello all,

I am pleased to off the two courses listed below this summer online.
There are both undergraduate and graduate options.  If you are not a
Bemidji State University student, directions on admission can be found
here: http://www.bemidjistate.edu/academics/distance/admissions/   The
ability to use basic software is required, and much will be delivered
through D2L, a Blackboard like software that the student will be able to
access once enrolled for the class.  I’m looking forward to see some of
you there!

ENGL 3930/5930
Intensive Latin Online
Dr. Larry Swain
Bemidji State University

Course Description:  This course is an intensive introduction to Latin,
covering in eight weeks a full academic year’s worth of the language.
This will require a lot of work and dedication on the part of both
instructor and student.  By the end, however, the student should be able
to read Latin prose with the aid of a grammar and a good dictionary or
lexicon.  There will be a great deal of memorization.  Via our online
tools, discussion board, online office hours, recorded lectures, live
lectures, exercise sharing and corrections, and Q&A sessions delivered
via D2L, power point presentations, and other tools, we will go through
the entire text and master basic Latin.

The course will require a commitment from the student.  A MINIMUM of 2
hours and preferably 4-6 hours a day will need to be spent working on
the exercises, in class, interacting with the professor etc.  Because
delivery is online rather than in a traditional classroom, the need for
each individual student to apply him- or herself diligently daily is
even more important than in a face-to-face class.   Four days a week we
will meet virtually to explain the grammar lesson, to do some in class
exercises, to correct exercises, and so on, for approximately two hours.
 The rest of your time will be spent working on exercises, translating
sample passages of actual Latin, memorizing the forms.


Texts:
Intensive Latin by Floyd Moreland and Rita Fleischer
Other materials as assigned
(I will have advice about students’ dictionaries, additional grammar
aids in print and online and so on as well throughout the course).

Highly Recommended:   English Grammar for Students of Latin: The Study
Guide for Those Learning Latin by Norma Goldman and Ladislas Szymanski


English 3390/5390: Intensive Old English
Summer 2012
Dr. Larry J. Swain
Bemidji State University


This seminar is intended to accomplish three related objectives: 1) to
learn to read Old English and translate texts in Old English with
relative ease 2) to have an overview of Anglo-Saxon Literature and 3) to
place the language and literature into the historical, cultural,
theological, intellectual, and material contexts.  That's a tall order.
But like those we read who endure heroically, so shall we: we will be
able to by semester's end read Old English literature in Old English,
both prose and poetry.   The approach is simple.  This is an intensive
course, a full 15 week course offered over less than 8 weeks in Summer
delivered over D2L and the Internet.  This means that the student will
need to keep up and plan well.  Missing some elements of the course will
prevent successful completion.  We will cover approximately two chapters
a week, and during the last couple of weeks we will be working
exclusively in translating Old English texts.  This will require a
serious commitment on the part of the student as well as the instructor.

Textbooks:
Reading Old English: An Introduction by Robert Hasenfratz and Thomas
Jambeck

A History of Old English Literature by Michael Alexander

Recommended:
The Anglo-Saxons James Campbell

"Fant hedensk helligdom uten sidestykke"(!)

I have placed myself on the email list for the contributors of Old Norse News, so I regularly get emails with a series of highly interesting discussion among many scholars interested in Old Norse and Scandinavian-related things. Today Jan Henning Nordum provided a link to a new pagan sanctuary found in Norway. This is an online newspaper in Norwegian, but can be easily translated by Google (not necessarily a good translation, but it gives you a sense of the discussion). I hacked my way through the article with a dictionary, and finally resorted to putting this into Google translation.

What makes this really interesting is the location. This site is located in Ranheim, Norway - a little bit to the East of Trondheim. According to Preben Rønne, affiliated with the University of Trondheim and the individual who led the excavations: "Funnet er helt unikt i norsk sammenheng, det første som noen gang er gjort på våre breddegrader.." This area was untouched because it was hidden under incredibly thick layers of soil, so it remained undisturbed. As with any excavation anywhere, this always excites scholars as to what future excavations could hold.

Glass-Beads found at the top of the sacrifical altar. 

This is particularly intriguing to me because the temple is dated between 895-900 CE, and places it directly in the middle of when Christianity was being integrated in Norway. The article discusses that the individuals associated with this pagan space were probably those that emigrated to Iceland and other islands. It would be interesting to perhaps find a connection in Iceland of similar pagan spaces, of which we know must have existed, but like Norway it is difficult to pursue archaeological endeavors in these climates. (But here I will plug Professor Jesse Byock and his work in the Mosfell District in Iceland, see here). 

Among some of the items found during the excavation are traces of pillars where the high-seat which may indicate the area of the high-seat where idols of Oðin, Þor, Frøy and Frøya would have been. The picture of the "Glass-Beads" above reminds me oddly of the Greek and Turkish "evil-eye beads. It is doubtful that there is a connection there, but it seems to be a reoccurring symbol that I have seen in many cultures.

Amidst the excitement that this all conjures up among academics and lovers of Scandinavia and the Middle Ages alike, there is a daunting prospect. This sanctuary site is currently being removed for housing development, but many people are pushing for a reconsidering of this site for cultural heritage and tourism. Because this site is so unique to Norway, and such a wonderful find for Medievalists, it would be devastating to see it destroyed. 

Attention Old Norse Scholars: Another Job Opportunity!

I would like to reiterate what I first saw on Dr. Chris Abram's Old Norse News blog:

There is a job opportunity at the University of Bergen in Norway. This position is looking for individuals to teach Old Norse Philology. See the job description here (in Norwegian).

This job opening serves to me personally as a reminder to continue practicing my Norwegian. Through my mother I can claim Norwegian heritage, which I have always been rather exuberant about, considering my deep fascination with Medieval Scandinavia and long-term goals to pursue research in this area. I can read a bit of Norwegian and have basic conversational tactic under control, but I am doing myself a disservice to let my linguistic skill fall by the wayside. Both to my professional and personal affiliations with Norwegian culture generally.

Hmm, so perhaps I will fill the day with productive language study...

Betre byrdi du ber kje i bakken enn mannevit mykje.

Attention Medievalists: Employment Opportunity

I am absolutely drowning in work at the moment, severely impacting my ability to be active on here. Which is unfortunate considering I have a bounty of ideas for blog-posts but never see them through to completion. Again, this is because I am seeing other projects through to completion - and those have hardcore deadlines.

There is an employment opportunity which I have come across (which does not pertain to me since I am on a mission to obtain a PhD and do not hold one) but I figured I would post it in case anyone out there can benefit:

The History Department at Boston College is looking for a High or Late European Medievalist:

High or Late Medieval Europe
The Department of History at Boston College invites applications for a historian working on post-1100 continental Europe.  The appointment will be tenure-track and at the rank of assistant professor.  The successful candidate will be expected to offer broad and specialized courses in European history at the undergraduate and graduate levels and to participate in the History Core Program.  Ph.D required by August 2012.  Please submit a letter of application, CV, article-length writing sample, and at least three letters of reference.  Applications should be submitted electronically to: MedEu.Search@bc.edu. They can also be sent to the Chair, Medieval Europe Search Committee, Dept. of History, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467.  Deadline: November 1, 2011.  Boston College is an AA/EO employer and welcomes applications from women and minority candidates.

For good measure I will add the link: Medievalists, Click here!

Ójafnaðarmenn, Advocacy & Power

Brennu-Njáls saga

I have not written in here honestly since I was hired at my job, which has most unfortunately taken up considerable time for reading, writing and thinking generally. Regardless, I had a surge of thoughts and ideas recently while rereading Feud in the Icelandic Saga by Jesse Byock (I name-drop Byock a lot on here. It is mainly because he has great influence in Old Norse studies, but also because his scholarship is interdisciplinary, varied and fresh). I started rereading Feud again because I had just finished rereading Brennu-Njáls saga (The Saga of Burnt-Njal; hereafter referenced as "Njal's Saga") and wanted a refresh on the specifics of Medieval Icelandic feuding. The first time I had read Njal's Saga I was deeply upset about the death of Hoskuld Hvitanes-Goði. I decided to reread Njal's Saga because I wanted to take a fresh approach to understanding his murder. Naturally, I am going to flesh out some background so my objectives seem comprehensive here.

Many scholars believe that Njal's Saga is really comprised of two separate sagas since the first half of the story is markedly different from the second half. I disagree completely. The first half of Njal's Saga outlines specific events which set up long-term feuds that inevitably influence the second half of the saga. In 1983, William Ian Miller put forth an unprecedented and refreshing article which challenged this idea without even discussing it. (See: Miller, Willian Ian. "Justifying Skarpheðinn: Of Pretext and Politics in the Icelandic Bloodfeud." Scandinavian Studies 55 (1983): 316-344.) The issue Miller dealt with was the murder of Hoskuld Hvitanes-Goði by Skarpheðin Njalsson. Because the saga is centered around Njal and his family (for the most-part), the audience is guided to feel solidarity with the Njalssons, and their actions and words become symbols of greatness. The killing then of Hoskuld Hvitanes-Goði is on the surface, an atrocious act which cannot be justified. Because of a feud between the Sigfussons and the Njalssons; which started in the earlier stages of the text between Gunnar of Hlidarendi's wife Hallgerð and Njal's wife Bergþora - Hoskuld Hvitanes-Goði becomes a viable target of vengeance for Skarpheðin. (Because the feud structure in Njal's Saga is so extensive, I will limit the discussion here. Although, if bloodfeud, vengeance and law are themes of intrigue, Njal's Saga is the "go-to" text for that). To jump back to William Ian Miller's article, Justifying Skarpheðin, the first and second halves of the saga are bridged through Miller's consideration of the specific feud steps from the very early stages until the end; identifying that each social exchange has a political action attached.

Feud in the Icelandic Saga

Miller's article put my upset with Hoskuld Hvitanes-Goði's death to rest. Skarpheðin Njalsson is one of my favorite Medieval Icelanders, and his character descriptions in the text are fascinating. (See: Low Soon Ai, "The Mirthless Content of Skarpheðinn's Grin," Medium Ævum 65 (1996): 101-107.) In order to reinterpret and fully understand Skarpheðin's actions, I needed to familiarize myself with the feud structure present in Njal's Saga. So..this brings me back to my original point. I cracked open Byock's Feud in Icelandic Society for this purpose. I am still going to write a paper giving my perspectives on Njal's Saga, both Hoskuld's (I did not talk about Hoskuld Njalsson), and Skarpheðin; but my mind wandered a bit while reading Feud. Byock addresses the concept of advocacy in his "Feudeme" structure (i.e. the thesis of his book). A main component of advocacy is what Byock terms "brokerage". Brokerage is essentially the acquisition of support in order to create a stronger case in a feud. Individuals would seek out strong, powerful goðar to support their cases, bringing prestige and public approval to their actions. To quote Byock:

Brokers were identifiable, not by office or by training, but by prestige, power and wealth. A broker who took on a case often served in the capacity of a lawyer. He decided whether to settle the case in or out of court and what the compensation should be. Brokers ranged from middlemen who simply transacted business, representing a disputant and effecting a resolution without becoming more deeply involved, to active advocates who risked life and wealth to bring about a desired resolution (75).

Brokerage then is a system of created obligations, and sociopolitical ties of bondage, where dependence is mutual and weighted.  The individual who sought out the 'brokerage' relationship acquires support, while the "broker" - the individual giving support, can gain in future support, wealth, or the maintenance of political ties (quid pro quo). Through the political action of brokerage then, the "broker" always is in a better situation. By lending their support to the individual in need, they are increasing their power and prestige, but also solidifying future support and potential wealth from the individual in need.

This led me to the infamous Snorri Goði (Snorri Þorgrímsson). Snorri Goði was a prominent Icelandic chieftain from Western Iceland. He figures in many sagas, including Njal's Saga, Laxdæla saga, Gísla saga Súrssonar and Eyrbyggja saga. He was the nephew of Gísli Sursson, the Icelandic outlaw-hero of Gísla saga Súrssonar. Gísli killed Snorri Goði's father, Þorgrím, while Snorri was still an infant. Because Gísli is Snorri's uncle, that tie of kinship was difficult to take any sort of vengeance against. Throughout many of the sagas, Snorri is consistently reminded that he never took vengeance for his father Þorgrím against his uncle Gísli; and his usual response is that he is aware of it and the slanders don't bother him. I was thinking of a new consideration for the avoidance of vengeance on Snorri's part. By looking at Byock's outline of brokerage, and considering that Snorri Goði is undoubtedly one of the most powerful and wealthy chieftains in Iceland, the idea that he would acquire support and need advocates to take vengeance for his father's death would drop Snorri from his current seat of power. Staying consistent with Byock's detailing; Snorri would then owe another man (most likely another goði) an agreement of vinfengi, some form of a kinship through marriage/fosterage/gift exchange or friendship generally. This would additionally require Snorri to potentially part with his wealth, generally dropping in prestige and power. Since Snorri Goði is such a well-known name of Medieval Iceland, and his background is quite shadowy - I hope to dive in a bit deeper and consider the implications of Snorri's lack of vengeance in association with his political position.

More to come.

Ber er hver að baki nema sér bróður eigi.

Land of Fire & Ice

Major Volcanoes in Iceland

Iceland is clearly an odd place for settlement considering the entire island is more or less a series of active volcanoes. And what is not fire, is mostly ice. Since the settlement of Iceland in 874 C.E., about eighteen of the one-hundred and thirty volcanoes have erupted. The most active volcano on the island is Grímsvötn. The 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull caused major delays in travel between Europe and North America, but what was funnier still was the differences in the news-casts. Icelanders hilariously watched the news coverage of the eruption: meteorologists in England would attempt to pronounce the name "Eyjafjallajökull" to no avail, while new-casters in the U.S. would just refer to it as "The volcano in Iceland".

Iceland Volcanic Landscape

The volcanism of Iceland is one of the major features which people associate with the country in the modern era. Many people travel to Iceland to see the severe dichotomy of the land of "fire and ice". National Geographic & other major sources of photography of the natural world revel in the beauty of Iceland's environmental contradictions. Geologists and natural scientists are fascinated with the continual separation of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and volcanic activity around the entire island. In Reykjavík alone, a fabulously Icelandic pastime is enjoying time in the natural hot-springs - of which many attest to the beautiful complexion of Icelanders...

Then why is there little to no reference to volcanic activity in the Icelandic sagas? I highly admire the scholarship of Oren Falk, a fantastic scholar of Old Norse & Viking Age studies generally, and constantly pushes the boundaries of scholarship in the area. I was desperately searching for an article he wrote (but because I have graduated & maintain no access to the academic world - my anxieties are unusually high. Academic journals really should be open to the public. For example, "Open Journal Systems (OJS) is a journal management and publishing system that has been developed by the Public Knowledge Project through its federally funded efforts to expand and improve access to research." - when academic journals are open to the public it facilitates and expands education and research, and does not confine that privilege to an erudite few...)

So I finally got my hands on it - "The Vanishing Volcanoes: Fragments of Fourteenth-century Icelandic Folklore."  In this article, Falk addresses a question which really has not been properly dealt with. As stated above, why and how, in a country so consumed by its volcanic identity could there be an absence of volcanic mention in the entire corpus of Medieval Icelandic literature. Oren Falk does not attempt to answer this question, but merely proposes thoughts and ideas as to why this is the case. He states that the lack of discussion of volcanoes in the sagas began as a footnote in his PhD dissertation; a question which he continually goes back to. Falk shows through a variety of sources that it was very much known across the Medieval world that Iceland was volcanic; the Chronicum Scottorum contains an Irish annal entry for the year 938, shortly after the land-take (landnám) period in Iceland, stating that "the sun was of the colour of blood...for a day and a half." Landnámabók [The Book of Settlements] c. 1100, also contains small traces of volcanic discussion. Additionally, an entry for Hrafn Hafanarlykill suggests that he removed his farmstead at Lágey because of a foretold "volcanic eruption" (eldsuppkváma).

Small instances of this kind only hint at an awareness of geologic activity which had the ability to affect living conditions, but what Oren Falk is intrigued by is the absence of a folkloric tradition. Oftentimes the natural environment is the foundation for folklore, stories and traditions which the Icelanders were highly keen on creating. Even in Norse Mythology, reference to lands of fire and destruction are highly commonplace. As Falk notes, the oddity really is because the Icelandic sagas are noted and revered by many scholars for their realism, (See Jakobsson, Ármann. "Beast and Man: Realism and the Occult in Egils Saga," Scandinavian Studies 83.1 (2011): 29-44) yet the absence of a very real occurrence in Iceland, is just missing.

Falk underlines a very small bit of literary evidence from Grettis Saga. Grettir is in Norway (a non-volcanic land) when he sees in the distance a burning fire. He inquires to a fellow Norwegian what he has witnessed, Grettir states,

"It would be declared," said Grettir, "if such a thing were to be seen in our country [Iceland], that it's treasure [that] is burning there," ("Þat myndi mælt," sagði Grettir, "ef slíkt sæisk á váru landi, at þar brynni af fé;" Grettis saga Ch18).

 The intriguing point is that Grettir claims that fire coming out of the ground indicates buried treasure. There are many motifs which fill the sagas of buried treasure in either hard-to-find, or fire-ridden locations. Egils saga is a great example. An older Egil toward the end of the saga tosses the box of gold which King Æthelstan of England had given him in friendship into what many translations of the text is either in an fire-ridden location. No one could ever locate the treasure again.

As stated, Oren Falk does not actually have a theory for this. The total absence of a folkloric tradition surrounding volcanic activity in the Icelandic literary corpus is too convoluted to explain. Yet, this is certainly a place for further research. I'm in.

The Saga of Biorn

Although not historically or literately accurate, this video The Saga of Biorn, is undoubtedly quite funny & worth taking a look at. The video shows a Viking warrior who is desperately attempting to reach Valhalla (Old Norse: Valhöll or "Hall of the Slain"), the Norse destination for heroic warriors who die in battle. In Valhalla these fallen warriors join Oðin, drinking and training for the approaching apocalypse, Ragnarǫk. Yet for Biorn - reaching Valhalla is much more difficult than previously thought.

Íslendingasögur, Þættir & Nasty Old Men

I just finished reading an article by Ármann Jakobsson, "The Specter of Old Age: Nasty Old Men in the Sagas of Icelanders."Jakobsson argues that the depiction of old age, especially that of men, is predominately negative in the Middle Ages. The scholarship written on old age specific to Medieval Icelandic, or Scandinavian texts is highly limited, and Jakobsson's contribution is widely useful.

Eyrbyggja Saga

Ármann Jakobsson is an excellent scholar; I have followed his work since I became interested in Medieval Iceland and it has always proved insightful and eloquent. Yet, this is one of the funnier articles I have read - largely due to his concentration on Þórólfr Twist-Foot (Jakobsson uses the nickname "Lame-Foot"; but I remain using "Twist-Foot" because that is how I first read it so it is more or less ingrained in my mind). Þórólfr Twist-Foot is the "nasty old man" who figures in Eyrbyggja saga, a short but highly complex saga loosely translated as "The Saga of the People of Eyrr". Eyrbyggja saga belongs to the group of sagas known as Íslendingasögur, unlike the Fornaldarsögur previously discussed. Íslendingasögur are the "Sagas of the Icelanders" or "Family Sagas" which most people are familiar with, and Eyrbyggja saga is one of the greatest family sagas written. It also features the prolific chieftan Snorri Goði (Snorri Þorgrímsson by birth - his father was murdered by his uncle and prominent Icelandic hero Gisli in Gísla saga, of which Snorri Goði is constantly mocked for not avenging his fathers death against his uncle). Eyrbyggja saga was most likely written in the mid thirteenth century, but recounts events which took place at the time of Iceland's settlement. This is the main dating technique used when discussing sagas - there is the "Saga-Age" and the "Age of Saga Writing". The "Saga-Age" is the dating applied to the time of action within the story; while the "Age of Saga Written" is the dating referring to the time of writing in which the story was compiled.

Þórólfr Twist-Foot is not necessarily a main figure in Eyrbyggja saga, as he is only introduced in Chapter 8 through his successful landowning mother, and more or less disappears until Chapter 30 whereby he becomes angry, annoying, old and bitter. What a Medieval Icelandic audience would have known or learned about Þórólfr Twist-Foot is that he is an "ójafnaðarmaðr" - a trouble-maker, or literally an "uneven handed man". This type of personality trait was highly negative in Medieval Iceland. To be unevenly handed is unfair, unjust, and unheroic (See: Andersson, Theodore. "The Displacement of the Heroic Ideal in the Family Sagas," Speculum 45.4 (1970): 575-593.) The discussion which Jakobsson outlines is a continual decay and degeneration as Þórólfr Twist-Foot ages:

Hann tók nú at eldask fast ok gerðisk illr ok æfr við ellina ok mjǫk ójafnaðarfullr... [He began to age quickly, growing more ill-natured, violent, and unjust with the years...] (Jakobsson 298)

The decline in his years parallels the decline in his persona. Jakobsson points out that when Þórólfr Twist-Foot begins to haunt Fróðá (a farmstead), it is a reflection of himself in old age during life, instead of a reinvention of himself in death.

Jakobsson identifies another nasty old man, this time in the eponymous Þáttur (short-story) "Þorsteins Þáttur stangarhǫggs" or "Þorstein Staff-Struck". The idea which Jakobsson portrays here is that the Þórarinn, the nasty old father to Þorstein Staff-Struck, represents an 'ancient' decaying ideal - the heroic-warrior ideal most notable and admired in the Viking-Age. His son, Þorstein Staff-Struck is less quick to take up arms against people who do him wrong, he is much more level-headed than his father Þórarinn. This naturally makes Þórarinn incredibly angry and annoyed with his son, and resorts to using verbal abuse to instigate emotion from Þorstein. He states that he would rather his son Þorstein die, than for him to live without honor and the heroic ideal. The differences between father and son in Þorsteins Þáttur stangarhǫggs point to a growing tension with the warrior-code old Icelanders used to live by. In this way nasty old Þórarinn has been called a "fossilized relic of the viking past."

There are numerous instances in the sagas where old men, aging, anger and bitterness play subtle but fundamental roles. Yet these two men, Þórólfr Twist-Foot and Þórarinn are perhaps paragons of the "nasty old man" which Jakobsson seeks to illuminate. They certainly represent a feature of Icelandic society which too is dying, and perhaps their reactions and responses within a new societal framework are the reflective feelings of a tradition lost.

"I don't believe one grows older. I think that what happens early on in life is that at a certain age one stands still and stagnates." T.S. Eliot

Jakobsson, Ármann. "The Specter of Old Age: Nasty Old Men in the Sagas of Icelanders," Journal of English and Germanic Philology 104.3 (2005): 297-325.