Vár lo˛g: Outlaw Communities from “Jómsvíkinga saga” to “Harðar saga”
Vár lo˛g: Outlaw Communities from “Jómsvíkinga saga” to “Harðar saga”

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this study is to assess the connection, both textual and conceptual, between “Jómsvíkinga saga” and “Harðar saga ok Hólmverja”. The two Icelandic sagas belong to different genres, times of writing and geographies, yet they both display a similar motif rather uncommon in saga literature: the creation of an alternative community gathering around a set of laws, lög þeirra. After establishing some of the problems both sagas encountered through historical and literary criticism, we will build a comparison of both communities, namely Jómsborg in the Baltic and Geirshólmr in Iceland, in order to show how the elite military group of Vikings was transported to the Icelandic Hvalfjörður, from a city-fortress to natural stronghold. The reasons of this importation will be addressed and explained through an analysis of the discourse on kingship, kinship and leadership, rather similar in both sagas, though aiming at different contexts. Finally, this study will confirm the Jómsvíking motif as an early and major influence in the Icelandic world-view.

• Details
• Contents