Torfi H. Tulinius. Ærið gott gömlum og feigum

• Author: Torfi H. Tulinius
• Title: "Ærið gott gömlum og feigum." Seeking death in Njáls saga
• Published in: á austrvega: Saga and East Scandinavia : preprint papers of The 14th International Saga Conference. Uppsala, 9th-15th August, 2009
• Editors: Nay, Agneta. Williams, Henrik. Ljungqvist, Fredrik Charpentier
• Place, Publisher: Gävle: Gävle University Press
• Year: 2009
• Pages: 948-55
• E-text:
• Reference: "Torfi Tulinius. "Ærið gott gömlum og feigum." Seeking death in Njáls saga." á austrvega: Saga and East Scandinavia : preprint papers of The 14th International Saga Conference. Uppsala, 9th-15th August, 2009. pp. 948-55. Eds. Agneta Nay, Henrik Williams, Fredrik Charpentier Ljungqvist. Gävle: Gävle University Press, 2009.

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Annotation

In his article on the Freudian concept of the death-drive in Njáls saga, Torfi Túliníus suggests that the saga is very much engaged in the struggle between the destructive tendencies of the death-drive and other life preserving tendencies. Torfi starts by explaining Freud’s concept of the death-drive and how the two opposing forces of Thanatos (the death-drives) and Eros (life-drives) are essential for every human being. This model is both dualistic and dialectic, for the two forces are in constant struggle. He then goes on to examine the unusually high number of characters in the saga who willingly accept their death, Gunnar being the most obvious example. In his conclusion Torfi notes that repetition, which is directly linked to the death-drive, plays a crucial part in the narrative. He links the repetition to the description of Skarphéðin’s appearance at alþingi, the killings egged by Hallgerður and Berþóra, Gunnar’s deceit of Hrútur, and Njáll’s advice to Gunnar: “veg þú aldrei meir í inn sama knérunn” (never slay more than one man in the same stock).

Lýsing

Í grein sinni fjallar Torfi Túliníus um hugmynd Sigmunds Freud um dauðahvötina og hvernig hún birtist í Njáls sögu. Hann segir að í sögunni komi fram togstreita milli dauðahvatarinnar og annarra lífshvata. Torfi byrjar á því að útskýra hugmynd Freuds um samband Thanatos (dauðahvatarinnar) og Eros (lífshvatarinnar), hann segir sambandið einkennast af tvíhyggju og díalektík enda eru kraftarnir tveir í stöðugum átökum, auk þess segir hann að samband hvatanna sé manninum nauðsynlegt til að lifa. Torfi rannsakar þann óvenjulega fjölda af persónum í Njáls sögu sem gagna fúslega til dauða síns og er Gunnar þar augljósasta dæmið. Að lokum bendir hann á að endurtekningin, sem er beintengd dauðahvötinni, er mikilvægur hluti af frásagnarmunstri og framvindu sögunnar. Hann tengir endurtekninguna við lýsingar á útliti Skarphéðins á alþingi, húskarlavígin, sviksemi Gunnars gagnvart Hrúti og ráð Njáls til Gunnars; „veg þú aldrei meir í inn sama knérunn“.

References

Chapter 119: mikill maður og fölleitur, ógæfusamlegur, harðlegur og tröllslegur?: “This episode is of special interest in relationship to the death drive. It is a series of five scenes which are all structured in the same way and all repeat with variations the identification of Skarphéðinn […] it is the repetition that makes them remarkable as well as the fearsome and uncanny behaviour of Skarphéðinn. This eeriness is suggested to the reader in several ways, among others in the way the four successive chieftains describe him. […] During this episode, there is something out of the ordinary to Skarphéðinn that awakens a sense of unease in those who meet him, as if death itself were among them. “ (p. 953).

Links

• Written by: Andri M. Kristjánsson
• Icelandic translation: Andri M. Kristjánsson