The late Viking age weaves of Överhogdal in Härjedalen, North central Sweden, the further place of origin unknown, C14-dated to AD 1040-1170 consist of three narrative and one decorative specimen. The current study interprets weave I a and b by combining it with the Völsunga saga from the 13th century as well as with the poetic Edda and Snorre Sturlasson’s Edda and the Nibelungen song finding close relations between the weave motif and different versions of the Sigurd/Sigfried narration on some ten occasions. The written texts were identified and compared with the motif with content analysis. The interpretations of the two other weaves, II and III, published by the author are shortly reviewed, one presenting Knut the great of Denmark ordering the murder of his second man earl Ulf after a brawl on a game of chess after a ship battle of the Danes against Norwegians and Swedes; the other on the Norwegian Viking Erik Bloodaxe finding a Saami princess in the Norwegian coast, his men first killing two Saami suitors, before Erik marrying her. The two texts were written by Snorre Sturlasson. Erik later on took an important role in fighting for kingships in Norway and the North Atlantic. It is suggested that weave II about Knut was a part of his campaign in Norway in the year 1028 to expand his realm in Denmark and England. Weave I a and b may have had a similar origin, being a mythic story about a great hero Sigurd/Sigfrid killed by a brother-in-law in a conflict between his first love Brynhilde and his wife Gudrun. Style details in the weave point to a Danish and English influence. Weave I a and b contain many animals and beasts, e.g. horses with seemingly practical and spiritual roles. To analyse their importance would further increase the impact of the weave.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:su-180284 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Mjönes, Staffan |
| Publisher | Stockholms universitet, Arkeologi |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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