The Political Symbolism of Ants and Bees in Old Norse Sources
In this article I discuss the political themes attached to the eusocial creatures, specifically ants and bees, in Old Norse sources. I consider the situation of Old Norse as a transnational literature, encompassing one country that lacked ants and bees (Iceland) and one that did not (Norway). Althou...
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ftnovusforlagojs:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/1871 2023-05-15T16:47:10+02:00 The Political Symbolism of Ants and Bees in Old Norse Sources Cole, Richard 2020-12-31 application/pdf http://ojs.novus.no/index.php/CM/article/view/1871 eng eng Novus forlag http://ojs.novus.no/index.php/CM/article/view/1871/1849 http://ojs.novus.no/index.php/CM/article/view/1871 Opphavsrett 2020 Richard Cole https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ CC-BY-SA Collegium Medievale; Vol. 33 (2020); 42 Collegium Medievale; Vol 33 (2020); 42 2387-6700 0801-9282 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article Fagfellevurdert artikkel 2020 ftnovusforlagojs 2022-04-29T12:28:04Z In this article I discuss the political themes attached to the eusocial creatures, specifically ants and bees, in Old Norse sources. I consider the situation of Old Norse as a transnational literature, encompassing one country that lacked ants and bees (Iceland) and one that did not (Norway). Although the behavioural ecology of eusociality, or indeed the classification of ants and bees as taxonomically related, is a relatively recent development in human knowledge, I argue that the fundamental qualities of swarming and mutual aid were clearly recognisable long before modern science. The differing environments and differing political systems between Iceland and Norway are examined as factors shaping the depiction of eusocial insects. However, the Old Norse sources are also integrated into their European context in order to explore the abstract - even universal - ideological questions that are prompted when humans compare their own societies to those of ants and bees. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Novus - Online tidsskrifter (Novus forlag) Norway |
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Open Polar |
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Novus - Online tidsskrifter (Novus forlag) |
op_collection_id |
ftnovusforlagojs |
language |
English |
description |
In this article I discuss the political themes attached to the eusocial creatures, specifically ants and bees, in Old Norse sources. I consider the situation of Old Norse as a transnational literature, encompassing one country that lacked ants and bees (Iceland) and one that did not (Norway). Although the behavioural ecology of eusociality, or indeed the classification of ants and bees as taxonomically related, is a relatively recent development in human knowledge, I argue that the fundamental qualities of swarming and mutual aid were clearly recognisable long before modern science. The differing environments and differing political systems between Iceland and Norway are examined as factors shaping the depiction of eusocial insects. However, the Old Norse sources are also integrated into their European context in order to explore the abstract - even universal - ideological questions that are prompted when humans compare their own societies to those of ants and bees. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cole, Richard |
spellingShingle |
Cole, Richard The Political Symbolism of Ants and Bees in Old Norse Sources |
author_facet |
Cole, Richard |
author_sort |
Cole, Richard |
title |
The Political Symbolism of Ants and Bees in Old Norse Sources |
title_short |
The Political Symbolism of Ants and Bees in Old Norse Sources |
title_full |
The Political Symbolism of Ants and Bees in Old Norse Sources |
title_fullStr |
The Political Symbolism of Ants and Bees in Old Norse Sources |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Political Symbolism of Ants and Bees in Old Norse Sources |
title_sort |
political symbolism of ants and bees in old norse sources |
publisher |
Novus forlag |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://ojs.novus.no/index.php/CM/article/view/1871 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
Collegium Medievale; Vol. 33 (2020); 42 Collegium Medievale; Vol 33 (2020); 42 2387-6700 0801-9282 |
op_relation |
http://ojs.novus.no/index.php/CM/article/view/1871/1849 http://ojs.novus.no/index.php/CM/article/view/1871 |
op_rights |
Opphavsrett 2020 Richard Cole https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-SA |
_version_ |
1766037253495193600 |