Size matters: Penile problems in sagas of Icelanders

• Published in: Exemplaria
• Main Author: Phelpstead, Carl Luke
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Maney Publishing 2007
• Subjects: PT Germanic literature; Iceland
• Online Access: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/3657/; https://doi.org/10.1179/175330707X237230

This article explores the relationship between men's genitals and men's identities in medieval Iceland by analysing accounts of penile problems (impotence, a penis that is surprisingly small, and one that becomes too large) in Egils saga, Grettis saga, and Njáls saga. Accounts of castration in Grágás and Íslendinga saga provide a context for the main discussion and the article also evaluates the usefulness of psychoanalytic theory, arguing that Freudian theory can usefully highlight similarities between medieval and modern, but is insufficiently sensitive to historical difference, and suggesting that Lacanian theory may prove more fruitful in future work.