SCAN 3203 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Tangled, Freyja, Norse Mythology
Document Summary
King harold finehair : unified norway under his rule (866-872), regined from 872-930, had 11-20 sons. There were places were the danish law held, not english law: claimed divine right to rule. Claimed he was descended from the god frey who fathered his father, Remember that snorri euhemerized norse mythology so that it would not contradict his christian beliefs. Therefore, a lot of kings felt that they were descended from gods who were thought to be ancient ancestors. This euhmerization can be seen in ynglingasaga: was killed in 954 in the battle of rainmore. A eulogy composed for erik after 954. May have been composed by his wife, queen gunnhild. Consists of a dialogue between odin, erik, bragi, and sigmund. Bragi baddason was a 9th century skald. Incomplete: it is possible that the bragi in this poem is the skald deified. The poem involves odin anticipating erik"s arrival in valhalla, and his greeting of the slain erik.
