Tirosh, Yoav. Argr Management

• Author: Tirosh, Yoav
• Title: Argr Management: Vilifying Guðmundr inn ríki in Ljósvetninga saga
• Published in: Bad Boys and Wicked Women. Antagonists and Troublemakers in Old Norse Literature
• Editors: Daniela Hahn, Andreas Schmidt
• Place, Publisher: Münich: Herbert Utz Verlag
• Year: 2016
• Pages: 240–272
• E-text: Academia.edu
• Reference: Tirosh, Yoav. Argr Management: Vilifying Guðmundr inn ríki in Ljósvetninga saga. In Bad Boys and Wicked Women. Antagonists and Troublemakers in Old Norse Literature. Eds. Daniela Hahn and Andreas Schmidt, pp. 240–272. Münchner Nordistische Studien 27. Münich: Herbert Utz Verlag.

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Annotation

In this article, Tirosh analyses the sexual portrayal of Guðmundr Eyjólfsson inn ríki in Ljósvetninga saga, looking extensively at his portrayal as an argr man. Tirosh argues that Guðmundr is humiliated in various ways, highlighting the association between him and milk, which can be equated to semen. Tirosh analyses also the scene in Egils saga in which Egil Skallagrímsson throws up on his host Ármóðr. He suggests that Egill is metaphorically ejaculating semen on Ármóðr by spurting skyr at him. Discomforted by the sexually ambiguous nature of his own action, Egill later goes into Ármóðr’s bedchamber and cuts off his beard and plucks out his eyes; two clearer signs of emasculation.

Lýsing

Tirosh greinir hér kynferðilega þætti í lýsingu á Guðmundi Eyjólfssyni hinum ríka í Ljósvetninga sögu. Áherslan er lögð á lýsinguna á honum sem örgum manni. Tirosh færir rök fyrir því að Guðmundur sé niðurlægður með fjölbreyttum hætti, meðal annars er hann settur í samband við mjólk sem er tákn fyrir sæði. Tirosh greinir jafnframt senuna þar sem Egill Skallagrímsson kastar upp á gestagjafa sinn Ármóði skegg í 73. kafla Egils sögu. Hann heldur því fram að það að Egill ausi skyri yfir líkama Ármóðs sé myndlíking fyrir sáðlát. Órólegur yfir tvíræðu eðli verknaðar síns fer Egill, morguninn eftir, í lokrekkju Ármóðs, sníður af skeggið hans og krækir út auga hans, en hvort tveggja má túlka sem tákn geldingar, að mati Tirosh.

References

Chapter 73: þeysti Egill upp úr sér spýju: „That Egill had eaten a large amount of skyr just before implies that the vomit would contain the white material, and this strengthens the parallel between the vomit and ejaculate, but here Egill asserts his dominance and displays phallic aggression rather than showing himself to be passive” (p. 263).

Chapter 74: skeggið við hökuna: „Egill’s liquid emission is full of intent. However, there is still something shameful about this act, and Egill himself admits it, and thus on the following morning he enters Ármóðr’s bedroom and in the presence of his wife and daughter cuts off his beard and plucks out his eye, two signs of symbolic emasculation” (p. 264).

Links

• Written by: Natalia Soler Huici
• Icelandic translation: Natalia Soler Huici