Ashdown, Margaret. The single combat

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  • Author: Ashdown, Margaret
  • Title: The Single Combat in Certain Cycles of English and Scandinavian Tradition and Romance
  • Published in: Modern Language Review 17/2
  • Year: 1922
  • Pages: 113–30
  • E-text: JSTOR
  • Reference: Ashdown, Margaret. "The Single Combat in Certain Cycles of English and Scandinavian Tradition and Romance." Modern Language Review 17/2 (1922): 113–30.

  • Key words: History, intertextuality (sagnfræði, textatengsl)


Annotation

On the motif of single combat where the fate of the community is at stake. Ashdown points out that while single combat is used in Scandinavian countries to settle personal disputes during the Viking era, there is no evidence of its use in disputes at the national or international level. By contrast, a number of English chronicles and romances feature a single combat between the leaders of two opposing forces for control of the country. Although accounts of the Battle of Brunanburh do not make use of this device, this decisive battle may have in turn inspired traditions in which combat is fought for a kingdom that has been deliberately staked. At the Battle of Vinheith (Vínheiði) in Egil’s saga, the forces of King Olaf and King Athelstan fight a pitched battle over control of England. Use of the phrase ‘hasla völl’ in this passage may suggest a ‘holmgang’ element to the warfare, although the phrase is somewhat ambiguous. Ashdown argues that this account of Vinheith may represent an intermediate stage of such traditions relating to Brunanburh.

Lýsing

Greinin fjallar um hólmgöngur þar sem úrslitin geta haft áhrif á örlög alls samfélagsins. Ashdown bendir á að þótt hólmgöngur séu notaðar á Norðurlöndunum til að gera út um persónuleg deilumál á víkingatímanum þá séu þess engin dæmi að þessari aðferð sé beitt til að að leysa innanríkisdeilur eða alþjóðadeilur. Aftur á móti greina enskir annálar og riddarasögur frá hólmgöngu milli leiðtoga stríðandi fylkinga sem berjast um yfirráð yfir heilu ríki. Enda þótt lýsingar á orustunni við Brunanburh greini ekki frá þessari aðferð þá kann sú afdrifaríka orusta að hafa verið innblástur frásagna um hólmgöngur þar sem konungsríkið er lagt undir. Herir Ólafs Skotakonungs og Aðalsteins konungs berjast um yfirráðin yfir Englandi í orustunni á Vínheiði, samkvæmt því sem segir í Egils sögu. Orðalagið að "hasla sér völl", sem notað er í viðkomandi kafla sögunnar, er vissulega tvírætt en það kann að gefa til kynna að um eins konar hólmgöngu hafi verið að ræða. Ashdown heldur því fram að lýsing Eglu á orustunni á Vínheiði kunni að vera millistig í þróun þeirra frásagna sem rekja má orustunnar við Brunanburh.

See also

References

Chapter 52: hasla honum völl: "One is tempted to press the point still further, and to see in the hazelling of the field recorded in the Egilssaga preparations, not for a pitched battle, but for a single combat'. Yet the temptation should probably be resisted, since the precise meaning of the phrase 'hasla voll' in any particular passage is difficult to ascertain." (p. 122).

Links

  • Written by: Katelin Parsons
  • Icelandic translation: Jón Karl Helgason