Háskóli Íslands Student Conference on the Medieval North
Theme
Stirring up trouble: Antagonists, Outlaws, Troublemakers, & Rebels
Abstract
Medieval alchemists, despite great optimism and strenuous efforts, never achieved their dream of transmuting base metals into gold. Yet near the end of the twelfth century, the Icelandic abbot Karl Jónsson wrote of a transformation equally dramatic and almost as unlikely: how an obscure outlaw-priest from the Faroe Islands successfully fashioned himself into the king of Norway. Sverrisaga chronicles the contentious ascent of Sverrir Sigurðarson, arguably the most disruptive troublemaker in Norwegian history, given his central role in Norway’s civil wars. This paper uses Sverrir’s narrative to evaluate the process by which an individual is transformed from one social status into another—in this case, from renegade to sole ruler of his country.
Medieval texts featuring saints, bishops and kings often depict their subjects as divinely predestined for office, or instead attribute their change in status to a single decisive event such as a battle or coronation ceremony. This tendency can obscure the many cumulative factors underlying and contributing to the transformation. I argue that Sverrir’s metamorphosis was neither predetermined nor instantaneous, but instead the result of a multifaceted process beginning in his youth and continuing throughout his contested reign. I propose a more fluid and expansive set of criteria by which personal transformation may be recognised and understood. The paper is part of a larger dissertation that uses the same criteria to assess other twelfth-century narratives of individuals in the process of becoming bishops or kings. Through this approach, I hope to lay a foundation for broader research into the ways in which individuals have redefined themselves, moved up and down the social order and in so doing, contributed incrementally to political and ecclesiastical changes in the medieval Scandinavian world.
From Renegade to Ruler: Personal Transformation and Self-Fashioning in Sverrisaga
In twelfth century Europe, the translation of Arabic texts into Latin brought about a renewed interest in the proto-science known as Alchemy. I'm not an expert on medieval alchemy, but I understand that two broad goals of alchemists were to create an elixir of immortality, and to create a philosopher's stone--a substance that could transform base metals like lead into more valuable substances, like gold.
As I said, I'm not an expert in alchemy, but I am interested in transformation of a different kind--human transformation. Where 12th century alchemists were ultimately unsuccessful, their literary peers--writers of chronicles, histories, and sagas--were able to record (and perhaps effect) several narratives of personal transformation, describing paupers who became princes, outcasts who became bishops, and in one striking instance, an obscure priest from the remote Faroe Islands who became the king and sole ruler of Norway. In recording these narratives for posterity, the writers granted to their subjects what alchemists could not--a degree of immortality. But I'm also convinced that these narratives of personal transformation contain embedded within their pages a sort of philosopher's stone: A shared pattern or paradigm by which the transformation is effected.
Today, I'd like to walk you through that paradigm, using as a case study Sverrisaga--a saga which originated here in Iceland--which tells the story of that renegade priest from the Faroe Islands (Sverrir Sigurðarson) who became the king of Norway. The prologue to Sverrisaga (written by Karl Jónsson of Þingeyrar abbey not long after the events it describes) relates how Sverrir himself commissioned the saga, and oversaw key aspects of its composition. In this sense, Sverrissaga may be considered at least semi-autobiographical, and a rare window into interior aspects of the transformative process.
- Transformative experiences and relationships
- Acquisition of skills, reputation, allies, and resources
- Rituals, symbols, and formal recognition (external and internal)
- Consolidation, innovation, expansion, and setback.
