Hierophanies in the Vinland Sagas: Images of a New World
One of the most seemingly evocative images that comes down to us from Norse legends is that of the fabled land of Vinland. Described as a place of immense natural wealth with abundant pastures, wild grapes, self-sown wheat and rivers and lakes full of salmon, one gains the impression of an earthly p...
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| Format: | Conference Object |
| Language: | English |
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2010
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| Online Access: | http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/1963/ http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/1963/1/insap_poster.pdf |
| Summary: | One of the most seemingly evocative images that comes down to us from Norse legends is that of the fabled land of Vinland. Described as a place of immense natural wealth with abundant pastures, wild grapes, self-sown wheat and rivers and lakes full of salmon, one gains the impression of an earthly paradise where all wants could be met. This poster sets out to establish whether the Viking settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows (Newfoundland, Canada) could be considered a sacred space, as delineated by the 20th Century religious historian Mircea Eliade. In his research into hierophanies, a feature of his definition of sacred space, Eliade documents the widespread use of vines as a hierophany, suggesting that the presence of vines in the VS may not be literal but used as a metaphor for something symbolically more significant. |
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