Jochens, Jenny. The Illicit Love Visit.

• Author: Jochens, Jenny
• Title: The Illicit Love Visit: An Archaeology of Old Norse Sexuality
• Published in: Journal of the History of Sexuality 1, 3
• Year: 1991
• Pages: 357-392
• E-text: JSTOR
• Reference: Jochens, Jenny. "The Illicit Love Visit: An Archaeology of Old Norse Sexuality." Journal of the History of Sexuality 1, 3 (1991): 357-392.

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Annotation

Jochens contrasts the portrayal of extramarital sexuality in the family and contemporary sagas, as well as drawing on the Grágás law code, to explore 13th-century attitudes to the problem of male sexuality. She argues that saga authors in the 13th century recognised that their ancestors struggled with the proper expression of sexuality in similar ways to their own society, and that the Church had, by the 13th century, largely managed to control the male/male violence portrayed as inherent to the topos of ‘the illicit love visit’ in the family sagas. She also argues that, whilst in the family sagas, women are rarely portrayed as responsible for their suitors’ attentions, by the 13th century, the Church’s concerns over the celibacy and fidelity of its clergy had led to its placing most of the blame for extramarital sexuality on the female partner rather than the male. Jochens looks primarily at the two poets’ sagas Kormáks saga and Hallfreðar saga, but does devote some space to the Bjǫrgólfr/Hildiríðr episode in Egils saga and to the Þorgeirr/Ormhildr episode in Njáls saga.

Lýsing

Texta vantar

References

Chapter 34: Þráinn Sigfússon var starsýnn á Þorgerði: "Although the sagas employed euphemisms for all sexual topics, there is little doubt about the perceived power of sexuality in the saga world." (p. 376)

Chapter 71: Gunnari þótti það illa: "The theme of violence on the side of the visitor is highlighted in detail—when it becomes known that Gunnarr will not stand for this, Þorgeirr, the sexual offender, will attack Gunnarr. Since Gunnarr has already killed Þorgeirr's father, and he has been told he cannot kill twice in the same family without jeopardizing his life, the death of Þorgeirr in this encounter, assured by his illicit love visits, will guarantee Gunnarr's eventual downfall." (p. 373)

Links

• Written by: Lee Colwill
• Icelandic/English translation: