Fuerzas externas y agencia individual en el Medievo Nórdico: los vicios humanos y las actitudes honorables como herramientas del destino

The aim of this article is to analyze the ways in which fate appears in Norse Medieval cultures. Special attention will be paid to V?lsunga saga and its context of production. We will see that the social dynamics of Iceland and Norway during the 13th century influence the representation of fate and...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Martín Páez, Mario
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca (España) 2022
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10366/149707
Description
Summary:The aim of this article is to analyze the ways in which fate appears in Norse Medieval cultures. Special attention will be paid to V?lsunga saga and its context of production. We will see that the social dynamics of Iceland and Norway during the 13th century influence the representation of fate and its effects on the individual. The necessity of reciprocity was crucial for the maintenance of a society based on personal relationships and systems of friendship. Hence, greed is one of the principal transgressive elements condemned in the saga. In this narrative, a cursed treasure attracts the character´s greed and motivates them to transgress other fundamental norms. This doom also sets an ominous fate that casts doubt on the freedom an individual might have in a conditioned world. These determinants are also imposed by other external forces that are compared to destiny. Thus, we will demonstrate that honor and the obligations imposed within the kinship structure are represented with the same inexorability as destiny and the same destructiveness as greed. Excessive honor and greed have the capacity to drag individuals into a fateful future that will engulf both the complicit and the innocent. El objetivo de este artículo es analizar las formas en las que el destino toma presencia en el Medievo Nórdico. Nos centraremos especialmente en V?lsunga saga y su contexto de producción. Veremos que las dinámicas sociales de Islandia y Noruega durante el siglo XIII condicionan la representación del destino y los efectos que tiene sobre el individuo. La necesidad de la reciprocidad era crucial para el mantenimiento de una sociedad basada en las relaciones personales y en sistemas de amistad. Por ello, la avaricia es uno de los principales elementos transgresores condenados en esta saga. En dicha narrativa, un tesoro maldito atrae la codicia de los personajes y los motivará a transgredir otras normas fundamentales. Esta maldición fija a la vez un destino fatídico que pone en cuestión la libertad que un individuo puede tener ...