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Seiðr
Šebetovská, Michaela ; Chlup, Radek (advisor) ; Starý, Jiří (referee)
SEIÐR Michaela Šebetovská AAAABSTRACTBSTRACTBSTRACTBSTRACT The thesis is about an Old-Norse practice called seiðr, which was performed as a prophetic and magical ritual, according to some authors similarly to shamanic ones. The emphasis is put on information obtained from the Old-Norse textual sources. Despite their fragmentary nature, the aim of this work is to make a well-arranged summary of the facts provided by these primary sources. The main subjects are the beings performing seiðr, their characteristics, place in society, equipment and conditions required for the ritual and its goal. This information is then used for interpretation and a detailed analysis of several aspects of seiðr.
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Religion and Humour: Comical Layers in Old Norse Religious Texts and Their Relationship to the Offical Religion
Michalíková, Jana ; Starý, Jiří (advisor) ; Chlup, Radek (referee)
This paper focuses on the comic layers in Eddic mythological poetry, namely in Lokasenna, Hárbarðsljóð and Ϸrymskviða, and on their relation to the Old Norse religion. In the past, these comic and seemingly blasphemic poems used to be interpreted as a display of criticism of the religious system or, due to the impossibility to date their origin, as a product of late decadent paganism or even as a Christian satire of this religion. This paper shows that such interpretations are not necessary, and that the comic Eddic poems could have existed as a functional part of the Old Norse religion. It points out the affinity of the categories of religious humour and chaos. Subsequently, it presents various theories, mostly from the field of anthropology of religion, which show that a temporarily confrontation of order with chaos can be a desirable practise for a religion, and that humour can serve as a suitable means to achieve such a confrontation. The second part of the paper focuses on the particular Eddic poems. It analyses in detail their comic layers, and examines the possibilities of their function within the Old Norse religion on the background of the notion of piety and blasphemy in their time. It demonstrates their link to the tradition of ritualized verbal duels and other socio-cultural phenomena,...
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Seiðr
Šebetovská, Michaela ; Chlup, Radek (advisor) ; Starý, Jiří (referee)
SEIÐR Michaela Šebetovská AAAABSTRACTBSTRACTBSTRACTBSTRACT The thesis is about an Old-Norse practice called seiðr, which was performed as a prophetic and magical ritual, according to some authors similarly to shamanic ones. The emphasis is put on information obtained from the Old-Norse textual sources. Despite their fragmentary nature, the aim of this work is to make a well-arranged summary of the facts provided by these primary sources. The main subjects are the beings performing seiðr, their characteristics, place in society, equipment and conditions required for the ritual and its goal. This information is then used for interpretation and a detailed analysis of several aspects of seiðr.
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Útgardaloki in the Context of Eddic Mythology
Miechová, Martina ; Kozák, Jan (advisor) ; Antalík, Dalibor (referee)
The submitted work concerns itself with the analysis and interpretation of the Utgarðaloki character on the basis of eddic mythology in which it appears. The introductory chapter focuses on primary sources and secondary literature, bringing together the results of the previous research which partly lend the structure to this work. The key primary text used is the myth about Ϸórr's journey to Utgarðaloki which is contained in the Younger Edda of Snorri Sturluson. Other versions of this narrative are also taken into account so that it may be possible to reconstruct the image of this character in its entirety and highlight its complementary aspects. This is the subject matter of the second chapter. Among these versions I have included Snorri's parallel myth about Þórr's journey to Geirrøðr, Saxo Grammaticus's narrative about Geruthus and Utgarthilocus from his work The History of the Danes, the Tale of Ϸorsteinn Bœjarmagn (belonging to the saga literature) and, used to a lesser extent, the skaldic poem Þórsdrápa. The third and fourth chapters compare Utgarðaloki to Oðinn and Loki - other mythological characters who share many common traits with him. Finally, in the concluding chapter I bring forward my own concept of Utgarðaloki as a mediating element between the two aforementioned deities, using the...
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