Zealots of christian piety in medieval Scandinavia: the case of Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir
This article studies the characteristics of one of the main female characters presented in the Vinland sagas – Gudrid Torbjarnardóttir, who was the personification of an ideal pious Christian. Such an image was characteristic of the so-called exemplum – a variety of artistic narration, which is char...
Published in: | History Journal of Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University |
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Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University
2023
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.31861/hj2023.57.138-149 https://doaj.org/article/635921c7d0c34bbd96156a79e972cedd |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:635921c7d0c34bbd96156a79e972cedd 2023-08-20T04:06:58+02:00 Zealots of christian piety in medieval Scandinavia: the case of Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir Ivan Vorotniak 2023-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.31861/hj2023.57.138-149 https://doaj.org/article/635921c7d0c34bbd96156a79e972cedd DE EN PL RO UK ger eng pol rum ukr Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University https://hj.chnu.edu.ua/index.php/hj/article/view/227 https://doaj.org/toc/2414-9012 https://doaj.org/toc/2616-8766 doi:10.31861/hj2023.57.138-149 2414-9012 2616-8766 https://doaj.org/article/635921c7d0c34bbd96156a79e972cedd Науковий вісник Чернівецького національного університету імені Юрія Федьковича. Історія, Iss 57 (2023) medieval Scandinavia Vinland sagas female characters Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir History (General) and history of Europe D article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.31861/hj2023.57.138-149 2023-07-30T00:37:12Z This article studies the characteristics of one of the main female characters presented in the Vinland sagas – Gudrid Torbjarnardóttir, who was the personification of an ideal pious Christian. Such an image was characteristic of the so-called exemplum – a variety of artistic narration, which is characterized by moralistic narratives, real or illusory, that were used as typical models to visualize events and facts. Contemporary scientists consider the image of Gudrid Torbjarnardóttir as the keeper of the pagan tradition and the intermediary between the old and new worlds (Paganism and Christianity). Gudrid’s sharing of a pagan ritual is interpreted as the result of the saga scribe’s interest in the past, who wishes to depict a magnificent image of the past. Consequently, Greenland is depicted in the texts of the sagas as a kind of «wild land», where Christianity slowly spread among the settlers. The profound attention of the saga compilers to the image of Gudrid is explained by the fact that in the last part of both sagas she is recognized as the progenitor of three Icelandic bishops of the 12th century. It is apparent that these sagas were written in order to compile glorious nobility for the future Icelandic saint – the bishop of Iceland, Björn Gilsson. According to scientists, the author (transcriber) of the Saga of the Greenlanders was close to Bishop Brand Semundsson (1163–1201), one of the great-grandsons of Gudrid Torbjarnardóttir, or the hierarch himself wrote down the text of the story. Hence, the history and deeds of the foremother of the first Icelandic bishops were used to preach to the congregation what virtuous Christian women should be. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland greenlander* Iceland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland History Journal of Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University 57 138 149 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
German English Polish Romanian Ukrainian |
topic |
medieval Scandinavia Vinland sagas female characters Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir History (General) and history of Europe D |
spellingShingle |
medieval Scandinavia Vinland sagas female characters Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir History (General) and history of Europe D Ivan Vorotniak Zealots of christian piety in medieval Scandinavia: the case of Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir |
topic_facet |
medieval Scandinavia Vinland sagas female characters Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir History (General) and history of Europe D |
description |
This article studies the characteristics of one of the main female characters presented in the Vinland sagas – Gudrid Torbjarnardóttir, who was the personification of an ideal pious Christian. Such an image was characteristic of the so-called exemplum – a variety of artistic narration, which is characterized by moralistic narratives, real or illusory, that were used as typical models to visualize events and facts. Contemporary scientists consider the image of Gudrid Torbjarnardóttir as the keeper of the pagan tradition and the intermediary between the old and new worlds (Paganism and Christianity). Gudrid’s sharing of a pagan ritual is interpreted as the result of the saga scribe’s interest in the past, who wishes to depict a magnificent image of the past. Consequently, Greenland is depicted in the texts of the sagas as a kind of «wild land», where Christianity slowly spread among the settlers. The profound attention of the saga compilers to the image of Gudrid is explained by the fact that in the last part of both sagas she is recognized as the progenitor of three Icelandic bishops of the 12th century. It is apparent that these sagas were written in order to compile glorious nobility for the future Icelandic saint – the bishop of Iceland, Björn Gilsson. According to scientists, the author (transcriber) of the Saga of the Greenlanders was close to Bishop Brand Semundsson (1163–1201), one of the great-grandsons of Gudrid Torbjarnardóttir, or the hierarch himself wrote down the text of the story. Hence, the history and deeds of the foremother of the first Icelandic bishops were used to preach to the congregation what virtuous Christian women should be. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ivan Vorotniak |
author_facet |
Ivan Vorotniak |
author_sort |
Ivan Vorotniak |
title |
Zealots of christian piety in medieval Scandinavia: the case of Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir |
title_short |
Zealots of christian piety in medieval Scandinavia: the case of Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir |
title_full |
Zealots of christian piety in medieval Scandinavia: the case of Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir |
title_fullStr |
Zealots of christian piety in medieval Scandinavia: the case of Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir |
title_full_unstemmed |
Zealots of christian piety in medieval Scandinavia: the case of Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir |
title_sort |
zealots of christian piety in medieval scandinavia: the case of gudrid thorbjarnardóttir |
publisher |
Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.31861/hj2023.57.138-149 https://doaj.org/article/635921c7d0c34bbd96156a79e972cedd |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland greenlander* Iceland |
genre_facet |
Greenland greenlander* Iceland |
op_source |
Науковий вісник Чернівецького національного університету імені Юрія Федьковича. Історія, Iss 57 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://hj.chnu.edu.ua/index.php/hj/article/view/227 https://doaj.org/toc/2414-9012 https://doaj.org/toc/2616-8766 doi:10.31861/hj2023.57.138-149 2414-9012 2616-8766 https://doaj.org/article/635921c7d0c34bbd96156a79e972cedd |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.31861/hj2023.57.138-149 |
container_title |
History Journal of Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University |
container_issue |
57 |
container_start_page |
138 |
op_container_end_page |
149 |
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1774718349468499968 |