Punching Up – Punching Down: Humor as a Tool of Subversion in the Íslendingasögur

• Main Author: Ireland-Delfs, Thomas, 1950-
• Other Authors: Háskóli Íslands
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Víkinga- og miðaldafræði; Fyndni; Íslendingasögur; Íslendingaþættir; Veita; Rata; Engan; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/35190

Humor is, without question, an intrinsic part of the þættir and sagas of medieval Iceland. Many of the sagas and þættir have humorous moments, ranging from physical humor to ironic comments to insulting verses. The humorous incidents that are chosen by the authors of the sagas and þættir reflect both the authors’ purposes in writing the sagas and the internal condition of the characters. They may also give a clue to the state of mind of the societies in which they take place and in which they were written. This paper proposes that humorous incidents in the sagas are not random; they serve a variety of purposes. Among the purposes these incidents serve is the subversion of people’s intentions and reputations, and of corrupt institutions. Such criticism is sharpened by the use of humor. By looking at the sagas and þættir through the lens of the Aggression Theory of Humor, posed by Igor Krichtafovich, which is comprised of Superiority Theory, as explained by John Morreall; and Inferiority Theory, proposed by Robert Solomon, we can understand how the humor of the sagas and þættir can be viewed as a subversive tool. This paper will look at Brennu-Njáls saga, Ǫlkofra þáttr, Sneglu-Halla þáttr, and Kormáks saga in an effort to arrive at an understanding of the subversive humor of the medieval Icelandic saga and þættir, to gain a better knowledge of how humor works in medieval Icelandic literature in general, and to lay the groundwork for further studies in medieval Icelandic humor. Kímni er án efa mikilvægur þáttur í Íslendingasögum og Íslendingaþáttum. Í mörgum þeirra eru gamansöm andartök og geta það verið líkamleg fyndni, kaldhæðnar athugasemdir og móðgandi vísur. Segja má að þau gamansömu atvik sem rata í sögur endurspegli bæði tilgang höfundar og innra ástand persónanna. Eins veita þau innsýn í samfélagið bæði á sögutíma og ritunartíma. Í þessari ritgerð er gert ráð fyrir að gamansemi sagnanna sé engan veginn handahófskennd heldur þjóni margvíslegum tilgangi. Þar á meðal að afhjúpa og snúa á haus fyrirætlunum og ...