Forna Seden Clergy Web



      _________________________________________________________________

  

   Record: 1

   36399760275693520000601

  

   Title: Fragments of Ancient Beliefs: The Snake as a Multivocal Symbol

   in Nordic Mythology.

   Subject(s): MYTHOLOGY, Norse; SYMBOLISM in folk literature; SERPENTS

   -- Mythology; SNAKES -- Symbolic aspects

   Source: ReVision, Summer2000, Vol. 23 Issue 1, p17, 6p, 10bw

   Author(s): Mandt, Gro

   Abstract: Explores the significance of the snake symbol in Norse

   mythology. Overview of Nordic mythology; Snake symbolism in Norse

   mythology; Different aspects of snake symbolism; Transformation of the

   snake symbol.

   AN: 3639976

   ISSN: 0275-6935

   Full Text Word Count: 4900

   Database: Academic Search Premier

  

     FRAGMENTS OF ANCIENT BELIEFS: THE SNAKE AS A MULTIVOCAL SYMBOL IN

                              NORDIC MYTHOLOGY

                                      

   When approaching the study of prehistoric religions in areas and time

   periods where no solid evidence (such as sacred texts or descriptions

   of rituals) is preserved, traces of beliefs and practices must be

   pieced together from a variety of disciplines. Fragments of mythology

   found in folk traditions, legends, and fairy tales; elements of

   ancient beliefs occurring in written records from later periods;

   linguistic data revealing the names of deities and sacred places; and

   archaeological findings all contribute to the vast symbolic repertoire

   of material available for religious and mythological interpretation.

  

   The Nordic snake is a recurring symbol both in written records

   relating ancient myths and in material cultural remains from

   prehistoric and early historic times. In this article I will explore

   the significance of the snake from ca. 4000 B.C. to A.D. 1200 in the

   Nordic area.

  

   Overview

  

   Throughout world cultures, powerful symbolic qualities have been

   attributed to the snake, as demonstrated by its diverse manifestations

   in religion, mythology, and art in a variety of societies for

   millennia. From a naturalist's point of view, the snake achieved its

   unique position in the animal realm because of its shape and general

   behavior. Snakes slither quickly; they often hide in crevices or

   earthen caverns, they hibernate during the cold season, and they shed

   their skins. Many are poisonous. They are considered to be enigmatic,

   awesome creatures, and this ambiguity is reflected in people's beliefs

   about them.

  

   Visual representations of the snake include both naturalistic pictures

   and abstract patterns associated with it, such as spirals, meanders,

   zigzags, and wavy lines. The earliest known examples of the snake

   motif in the shape of zigzag patterns occur in Neanderthal contexts,

   ca. 40,000 B.C. (Gimbutas 1989, 19). Marija Gimbutas maintains that

   the use of snake motifs represents one of humankind's earliest ritual

   activities, and snake symbolism was primarily associated with the

   female aspects of religion.

  

   In Nordic material culture, naturalistic and abstract snake

   representations are found from the late Stone Age, throughout the

   Bronze and the early Iron Ages, to the Viking era and the early

   medieval period. Written records referring to snakes (serpents as well

   as dragons) appear only in the latter part of this timeframe, the

   thirteenth century A.D., but are assumed to express beliefs and

   traditions that are many centuries older.

  

   Social, economic, and religious changes that took place in Nordic

   culture are reflected in the changing attributes of the snake motif. I

   will discuss these variations with an emphasis on their association

   with female symbolism. Regarding more recent manifestations of the

   snake symbol, where both written sources and material remains are

   available, I will examine whether these two sets of data contradict or

   support one another. Interpretation of earlier snake imagery will be

   based partly on retrospective analyses and cross-cultural analogies

   relating to universal concepts of the snake.

  

   Snake Symbolism in Norse Mythology

  

   Nordic culture maintained an oral tradition prior to its conversion to

   Christianity around A.D. 1000. Knowledge of Norse cosmology of the

   ninth to the eleventh centuries relies on memories of that period that

   are reflected primarily in texts written after the conversion, 300-400

   years later than the living tradition they reflect. The use of these

   records, therefore, requires a considerable amount of caution, not

   only because of the rime gap but also because of the likely Christian

   influence on the narratives. Note also that the majority of the texts

   were written by men, mainly monks, who had little or no knowledge of

   the lore and practices of women (Davidson 1993, 107).

  

   Norse mythology and cosmology are derived from manuscripts such as the

   Elder or Poetic Edda, the Scaldic Verses, and the Prose Edda and Sagas

   (for example, Davidson 1993, 65). In these texts, the snake motif is

   revealed as a cosmic symbol, occurring both in creation myths and

   myths about the destruction of the world.

  

   Norse people, the "Vikings" as they are known in popular imagination,

   pictured the world as a circular disk, in the center of which stood

   the home of the gods, Asgard. Outside and around Asgard lay Midgard

   'the place in the middle' where humans lived. Outside Midgard was

   Utgard 'the place outside' which was the home of the Giants,

   adversaries of both gods and humans. The ocean held a huge serpent,

   which wound itself like a belt around the world, biting its own tail

   (fig. 1). This is Midgardsormen the World Serpent banished by the gods

   who feared the vicious monster (Holtsmark 1990, 155).

  

   A huge ash, Yggdrasil, the World Tree, grew in the center of the

   world. It reached from the underworld, Helheim, through the world of

   the living right into the firmament (Holtsmark 1990, 65). The ash grew

   by a well, where, it was told, there were "more snakes than anyone can

   tell" (73). One of the snakes, Nidhogg, gnawed at the roots of the

   World Tree, while four red deer fed on its leaves (65).

  

   The World Tree is also a cosmic symbol denoting the continuity and

   reproduction of society. As a living organism, however, it is subject

   to destruction and death. The inevitable end of the world, Ragnarok,

   is symbolized by the snake and the red deer gnawing at the roots and

   leaves of Yggdrasil (Steinsland and Sorensen 1994, 33). The myth of

   Ragnarok tells about the final battle between gods and giants

   (Davidson 1993, 74). Various allusions to snakes occur in the tales of

   this catastrophe. In the Realm of Death is a hall braided by the

   bodies of snakes, where venom drips from its roof. Here, the serpent

   Nidhogg is described as a "dark dragon" that flies above the

   battlefields with dead bodies in its feathers "sucking corpses"

   (Holtsmark 1990, 174-75).

  

   The World Serpent, Midgardsormen, plays an important role in the

   destruction myth when it escapes its bonds and joins in the attack.

   The god who takes up the struggle with the monster is Thor, the

   Thunder God, who appears to have been one of the most popular gods of

   the Norse pantheon. In addition to being a fertility god, he is

   guardian of Cosmos. In that capacity, he is continually fighting the

   Giants in order to maintain balance between the cosmic forces

   (Steinsland and Sorensen 1994, 56). In the final battle of Ragnarok,

   Thor manages to destroy the World Serpent, but in the act he dies,

   killed by the venom that the serpent spouts (Holtsmark 1990, 174).

  

   The Snake Motif in Viking and Early Medieval Imagery

  

   In the material culture from the same period as the Norse myths, the

   late Iron Age, ca. A.D. 600-1000, the snake motif occurs even more

   frequently than in the written records. Thanks to lavish burial

   customs, numerous artifacts from everyday life and festive and

   religious occasions have been preserved. The hallmark of the

   decorative style of the Viking age is coiling, intertwined ribbons,

   which give the impression of constant movement (fig. 2).

  

   Although there is a preference for abstract forms, Nordic patterns

   primarily render different species of animals; among the most favored

   are serpents and dragons, the cosmic creatures of the myths

   (Steinsland and Sorensen 1994, 200). Snakelike decorations occur on

   women's jewelry and men's weapons, and they are carved in wood and on

   memorial stones for the deceased. In the latter case, snakes are often

   depicted together with runic inscriptions.

  

   Artistic traditions from the Viking age persisted into the early

   Christian era. The snake motif frequently appears as a decorative

   element in the earliest religious structures, the wooden

   stave-churches from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries A.D. Swarms

   of twisting, winding snakes are frequently carved on the doorframes.

   Heads of serpents or dragons adorn church roofs and are found on

   keyhole-mountings and reliquaries. On memorial stones, the snake motif

   occurs together with the Christian cross (see fig. 2).

  

   Symbol of Ambiguity

  

   The Norse snake manifests itself as an ambiguous or multivalent

   symbol. To some extent, written texts and material imagery seem to

   contradict each other. The serpents of the myths are presented as

   monsters, associated with death and disaster, that fought against and

   were chained by the gods. On the other hand, the snakes encountered in

   the material culture appear to fulfill their ancient function as

   guardians. It seems unlikely that the snake motif that decorates

   jewelry and weapons symbolizes evil and destructive forces. On the

   contrary, the snakes occurring in the decorative styles, or outlined

   in the shape of finger-or arm-rings, were probably meant to protect

   their owners.

  

   In the Norse sagas are countless descriptions of mighty Viking

   battleships, often referred to as "dragons." The largest and most

   powerful of them was called Ormen Lange, the 'Long Serpent'. According

   to the saga-teller, Ormen Lange's stem was formed in the guise of a

   golden dragon's head, and its stern was shaped like a coiling

   serpent's tail (Snorres Kongesagaer 1942, 164). When the first Viking

   ships were excavated in Norway in 1880 and 1904, the descriptions in

   the Sagas were more or less confirmed. Although no actual dragon heads

   were found, the shape of the stems, particularly on the Oseberg ship,

   resembled the coiling head and tail of a serpent.

  

   Proclaiming and equipping battleships as dragons may have had an

   apotropaic function to frighten an enemy. It is plausible, however,

   that the guardian aspect was also at work, and that the ships were

   expressing the powerful properties of the dragon (Steinsland and

   Sorensen 1994, 202). The linguist Else Mundal has suggested that the

   dragon was a symbol of rulers and that only the most prominent

   chieftains adorned their ships with dragons' heads (personal

   communication).

  

   Under close scrutiny, the function of the snake as a protector and

   guardian is discernible even in the myths. The World Serpent,

   Midgardsormen, is pictured as an awesome monster. By encircling the

   world, however, the serpent serves an important function in the

   Cosmos; it keeps chaos at bay and protects the world order. The

   earliest kenning (poetic metaphor) for Midgardsormen, dating to the

   ninth century A.D., is "belt," meaning "something that holds together"

   (Else Mundal, personal communication). Thus, Midgardsormen represents

   the Ouroboros, the cosmic snake that girdles the world. Another

   serpent-monster of Norse and Germanic mythology is the dragon Favne,

   which is custodian of an enormous gold treasure.

  

   Female Aspects of Snake Symbolism

  

   The ambiguity inherent in the symbolism of the Norse snake conforms to

   various cross-cultural aspects of the motif: the snake is a cosmic

   being associated with death and the afterlife; it functions as

   guardian and custodian and as a ruling symbol (Eliade 1987a, 1987b).

   In myths all over the world, the snake is portrayed with both positive

   and negative qualities. The snake is assumed to possess evil and

   deadly forces, in addition to being immortal, life generating, and a

   symbol of good fortune. Associated with both demons and deities, in

   some religions the snake is cursed and worshiped simultaneously.

  

   In the Norse myths, however, the association of the snake with

   fertility, birth, and regeneration seems to be lacking (Gimbutas 1989,

   121). Gimbutas draws attention to these positive qualities when she

   claims that the snake symbol is associated with female divinity. This

   association is related to Gimbutas's concept of the Great Goddess of

   Old Europe. She envisages the snake as the symbol of life and

   regeneration, fertility and growth (xix). Of particular interest is

   the belief in the immortality of the snake inspired by its

   reappearance in the spring after a period of winter hibernation and

   its "renewal" by shedding its skin. Because of its alleged immortality

   and its habitat in the earth and among stones, the snake represents a

   link between the underworld of the dead and the realm of the living

   and is believed to embody the energy of the ancestors (317). Within

   this framework, the snake is benevolent, not evil. Although the

   poisonous snake can kill, Gimbutas interprets this quality as a

   representation of the death-wielding aspect of the Goddess (121,205,

   209).

  

   Gimbutas draws attention to the similarities between snake and bird

   symbolism, pertaining especially to water birds such as swans, cranes,

   storks, and geese, all of which have long, snake-shaped necks, and

   that return each spring after spending the winter months in the south.

   Both snakes and birds are seen as life energy incarnate and as

   representing the souls of the dead (317). Both have death-wielding

   aspects that are not considered evil, but are part of the natural

   cycle of life.

  

   Why are these important aspects of snake symbolism apparently lacking

   in the tales of Norse snakes? I suggest that the snake's symbolic

   meaning in the Nordic area has been transformed through the millennia

   and that its life-generating, female aspects have been partly overlaid

   and partly assimilated by later symbol systems. To explore this

   possibility, I think it useful to examine material cultural remains

   from periods before the Viking age, where written records are either

   insufficient or altogether lacking.

  

   The Snake Motif in the Preliterate Nordic Past

  

   The earliest appearances of the snake motif in the Nordic area date to

   the Neolithic, ca. 4000-3000 B.C. The motif is primarily found in rock

   art, for example, at two large rock art sites in Western Norway,

   Ausevik, and Vingen (Bakka 1973; Boe 1932; Hagen 1969; Walderhang

   1994). The motif that dominates at these sites is red deer, but both

   naturalistic snake depictions and abstract snake representations,

   primarily in the shape of spirals, wavy bands, and zigzags, occur

   frequently (fig. 3). Even human figures are depicted by means of

   zigzags, the majority identifiable as female representations (fig. 4).

  

   Similar decorations appear on some contemporary artifacts, for

   example, on star-shaped "maceheads" (fig. 5), and on clay figurines

   interpreted as "idols" (Bakka 1973, 170; Hagen 1969, 87). The

   maceheads are thought to be weights for digging sticks; they may also

   have been used by women in food collecting (Vinsrygg 1979, 1987). In

   addition to snake representations, both the macehead decorations and

   the rock art include various other motifs that, according to Gimbutas

   (1989, xxii), may be associated with a system of female symbols--such

   as plant and eye motifs, triangles, fringes, net patterns, multiple

   arcs, and hooks (see fig. 4). Even motifs interpreted as vulvas are

   found (Bakka 1973, 159) (fig. 6).

  

   Numerous rock art representations of red deer (the majority of which,

   due to lack of horns, appear to represent the female of the species,

   namely hinds) can also be explained within the framework of fertility

   symbolism (see fig. 4). In folklore, legends, and songs from all over

   Europe traces appear of ancient rituals centered on homed animals,

   mainly deer, in particular hinds (Storm 1995). The European cervine

   tradition is reflected in song games, such as "the Hind Game," in

   which the main themes are life and death, sexual love, supernatural

   heroic women and men, and the association of deer with water, trees,

   and snakes.

  

   During the Bronze Age, ca. 1800 to 500 B.C., the snake motif occurs

   frequently in a variety of contexts, ranging from spirals and meanders

   adorning jewelry and weapons, to naturalistic and abstract snake

   representations in rock art. The snake motif often occurs in

   association with the ship motif, and Gimbutas has suggested that even

   the curving stems of the ships should be interpreted as the heads of

   snakes (1987, 247) (fig. 7). Spirals, meanders, and zigzags are

   depicted both on open-air sites (for example, Svensson 1989) and on

   grave cists (fig. 8).

  

   A naturalistic snake representation occurs in the most outstanding

   late Bronze Age hoard from Faardal in Denmark. In addition to numerous

   pieces of women's jewelery, a group of bronze figurines were found,

   including a kneeling woman, a curving snake, and two single- and one

   double-homed animal heads, the latter combined with a waterbird

   representation. It is assumed that the woman steered the snake, and

   she is referred to as the "Snake Goddess" (Brondsted 1966a, 203). The

   association of snake and homed animal (red deer?), as demonstrated in

   the Ausevik and Vingen rock art (see fig. 3) is noteworthy; it is also

   found in much later Norse cosmology (see fig. 1).

  

   In the early Iron Age, ca. 500 B.C. to A.D. 600, traces of snake

   symbolism can be recognized in the decorative motifs on jewelry and

   weapons and in more naturalistic shapes on memorial stones, as in the

   large collection round on the Swedish island of Gotland (Nylen 1978).

   Evidence of a potential association between the snake motif and female

   symbolism is, however, sparse in this period. The best illustration

   appears on one of the memorial stones from Gotland, the so-called

   Smiss Stone, dated A.D. 400-600. The decoration consists of a

   crouching human figure, interpreted as a woman, who holds a winding

   snake in each hand (fig. 9). She is referred to as the "Snake Witch"

   (40). The figure is strikingly similar to a motif that Gimbutas

   associates with the frog and interprets as an epiphany of the Great

   Goddess or her uterus (Gimbutas 1989, 251). The "Snake Witch" is

   considered simultaneously a symbol for burial and life; this is

   amplified by the two snakes.

  

   Naturalistic snake representations evident in two unique finds from

   Denmark are undoubtedly related to ritual practices. Both are

   decorated with scenes interpreted as illustrations of myths, including

   human representations (deities?) and a variety of animal species,

   among which are snakes. One find consists of two golden drinking horns

   from Gallehus, dated to A.D. 400-450, of which only drawings are

   preserved (Brondsted 1966b, 323). The other find is the large silver

   cauldron from Gundestrup, dated to the first century B.C. (Davidson

   1993, 25; Gorman 1987). Again, a relationship between snake and horned

   animal (bull and/or stag) is attested to in the decorations on the

   cauldron.

  

   Transformation of the Snake Symbol

  

   Although the empirical data which I have drawn attention to here are

   relatively sparse, they seem to indicate that the symbolism of the

   snake may have changed during the early Iron Age, between ca. 500 B.C.

   and A.D. 400. In the Neolithic period, an association between snake

   and woman is indicated both in rock art and on decorated maceheads. In

   the Bronze Age, the "Snake-Goddess" of the Faardal hoard also suggests

   a link between snake and woman. The appearance of snake motifs in

   Bronze Age burials emphasizes the connection between snakes and a

   death/rebirth symbolism. In the transition period between the late

   Bronze Age and the early Iron Age, however, the association between

   snake and woman becomes diffuse. One outstanding exception is the

   "Snake Witch" of the Smiss Stone. Its function as a memorial stone for

   a dead person stresses the death/rebirth symbolism of the snake. The

   snakes of the Norse myths, if they indicate any gender, appear to be

   male. The snake motif in the contemporary material culture, however,

   does not seem to have been reserved for one or the other gender; it

   occurs on women's and men's belongings alike. In the medieval period,

   indications of an association between snakes and women are evident.

   Legends include narratives that describe female saints who fought with

   and conquered dragons. Through their victory over the dragons, the

   saints gained the power to help women during childbirth (Egilsdottir

   1994).

  

   I assume that the alterations that seem to occur in snake symbolism

   can be explained by changes in the religious belief system. In a

   culture's conversion to Christianity, there are examples of older

   deities' being transformed into demons or assimilated by the new faith

   (Else Mundal, personal communication). Symbols associated with the

   earlier religion continued to exist within the framework of the new

   faith, but with altered meanings. Visual symbols may retain their

   morphological shape, whereas altered meanings manifest through the new

   contexts in which the symbols appear. Former religious traditions can

   exist as undercurrents in the official belief system and only

   occasionally emerge in the material culture or in myths.

  

   One example of such a potentially long-lasting symbolic symbiosis is

   the combination of snake and deer. It is seen in the Neolithic rock

   art at Ausevik and Vingen (see fig. 3), in the late Bronze Age hoard

   from Faardal, in the pre-Roman cauldron from Gundestrup, in the Norse

   myth of Yggdrasil (see fig. 1), in early medieval memorial stones (see

   fig. 2), and in stave church decorations. The degradation of symbols

   can also occur in the sense that once-important symbols can lose their

   profound meaning over time and be turned into mere amulets, bringing

   luck or preventing evil (Eliade 1958, 440).

  

   The "change-of-religion" model may explain other puzzling features of

   snake symbolism in Norse culture. It is easier to understand the

   guardian role of the otherwise vicious snakes of the Norse myths if

   the snake is seen as a once powerful sacred image turned into a mere

   luck-bringing or evil-averting symbol. Female saints who became aids

   in childbirth after killing dragons may reflect a symbolism rooted in

   ancient myths that link snakes with the entire cycle of fertility,

   creation, death, and rebirth. It is tempting to ask whether when the

   dragon became a ruling icon adorning the mighty battleships of the

   Vikings, male warriors took over an ancient personification of the

   female deity. Perhaps even the death-wielding aspect of the snake--as

   well as protection and regeneration--was included in the symbolism of

   the battleships of the Vikings.

  

   Conclusion

  

   To exemplify the multiple levels of meaning in the Nordic snake motif,

   I will conclude by telling a story about Thor, the Thunder God, and

   Midgardsormen, the World Serpent. One of the more popular tales of its

   time, the tale is retold in different versions in the written records,

   and the scene is depicted on several memorial stones (fig. 10).

  

   Once Thor went out fishing with one of the Giants. After they had

   rowed far out on the ocean, Thor threw out his bait, an oxhead

   (another horned animal), and it was swallowed by none other than the

   World Serpent, Midgardsormen. When Thor tried to pull the serpent out

   of the water, he stepped so firmly into the bottom of the boat that it

   was crushed, and he, therefore, stood with both his feet planted at

   the bottom of the sea. When Thor lifted his hammer to slay the

   monster, however, the giant grabbed his own knife and cut the line so

   that the serpent slid unharmed back into the ocean (Steinsland and

   Sorensen 1994, 57).

  

   Some scholars suggest that this myth is much older than the Viking age

   and may originally have been part of a creation myth in which the gods

   bound various monsters (Davidson 1993, 52). An alternative explanation

   is that the myth indicates some type of crisis. Both the Thunder God

   and the World Serpent are guardians of Cosmos, but in his attempt to

   raise the serpent from the deep, Thor endangered the stability of the

   world (Steinsland and Sorensen 1994, 58). The serpent sank down into

   the water again, leaving the world safe for awhile only to await the

   final disaster--the destruction of the world depicted in Ragnarok

   (Davidson 1993, 83).

  

   In my view, this myth illustrates a conflict between two competing

   belief systems presented in symbolic form. The serpent can be seen as

   the age-old, powerful symbol of life, death, and rebirth, perhaps

   symbolizing a regenerating, all-inclusive female deity. This

   interpretation is strengthened by the close association between snakes

   and horned animals attested from the Neolithic period onwards. The

   androcentric ideology of the Viking age transformed the serpent into a

   vicious monster whom the gods of the new religion chained and banished

   because they feared for their safety. Because the ancient symbol was

   so strong, some of its positive qualities have been preserved, and the

   serpent has retained its cosmic function as protector of dynamic

   balance. The attempt by the powerful male Thunder God to destroy the

   serpent may symbolize the battle between the old female symbols of

   creativity, destruction and regeneration--representing the Great

   Cosmic Cycle--and the new androcratic order. In the myth Thor has to

   surrender. Perhaps this signals an admission that the old belief

   system had not lost its power and the time had not yet come for a New

   World Order. Only in the final battle of Ragnarok does Thor kill the

   serpent, and he and the entire known world are destroyed along with

   it.

  

                              ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

                                      

   I would like to thank Ellinor Hoff for the drawings she produced for

   this article, and especially for the visual work on Norse cosmology,

   as shown in fig. 1. Thanks as well to Svein Skate for his technical

   computer support.

  

   PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 1. Norse cosmology picturing Midgard,

   the worm of the living, surrounded by Midgardsormen, the World Serpent

   that is biting its own tail. In the middle grows the ash Yggdrasil,

   the Worm Tree, with snakes gnawing at its roots and deer feeding on

   its leaves. (Drawing by Ellinor Hoff.)

  

   PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 2. A memorial stone from Uppland,

   Sweden, dated ca. 1000 A.D. The runic inscription says that the stone

   was erected by a woman, Gillog, who had let a "bridge" be built for

   the soul of her daughter, Gullog. In addition to the cross, bridges

   are Christian metaphors. The decorative style of the stone is the

   so-called Urnes-style, including snake- and deerlike elements, typical

   of Swedish memorial stones from this period. This particular stone is

   special, however, because both the deceased, for whom the stone was

   erected, and the person who erected it are women. (Drawing Ellinor

   Hoff, after Page 1993, 164.)

  

   PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 3. Section of a panel from Vingen, the

   large rock art site in Bremanger municipality, Sogn og Fjordane

   County. Note the close association between the two snake

   representations and a horned animal, probably a red deer (after Bakka

   1973, 161, fig. 5).

  

   PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 4. Section of a panel from the rock art

   site Vingen. The dominant motif is deer representations, although

   human figures and line patterns occur frequently. The human figure in

   the center is filled with zigzag lines, and the animals are endowed

   with abstract-geometric body decorations (after Bakka 1973, 160, fig.

   4).

  

   PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 5. Drawing of decorated star-shaped

   macehead from Rogaland County (after Bakka 1973, 173, fig. 12).

  

   PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 6. Oval-shaped figure on a panel from

   Vingen, interpreted as a vulva (after Bakka 1973, 159, fig. 3.).

  

   DIAGRAM: Figure 7. Ship figures, one with "snake heads," on a panel

   from Samnoy, Fusa municipality in Hordaland County (after Mandt Larsen

   1972, Pl. 66a).

  

   PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 8. Zigzag decorations on fragments of

   grave slabs from an early Bronze Age grave cist from Mjeltehaugen, on

   the island of Giske, Sunnmore (tracing by Gro Mandt).

  

   PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 9. The "Snake Witch" and various snakes

   on the Smiss stone from Gotland. (Drawing Ellinor Hoff, after Nylen

   [1978, 41]).

  

   PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Figure 10. Section of a memorial from Altuna,

   Sweden, dated ca. 1000 A.D. The picture shows Thor in the process of

   slaying the monster Midgardsormen, that has just swallowed the ox

   head. (Drawing by Ellinor Hoff, after Steinsland and Sorensen [1994,

   57]).

  

                                 REFERENCES

                                      

   Bakka, E. 1973. Om alderen pa veideristningane. Viking 37: 151-87.

  

   Boe, J. 1932. Felszeichnungen im Westlichen Norwegen 1: Die

   Zeichnungsgebiete in Vingen und Henoya. Bergens Museums Skrifter 15.

  

   Brondsted, J. 1966a. Danmarks Oldtid: Broncealderen 2. Kobenhavn:

   Gyldendal.

  

   -----. 1966b. Danmarks Oldtid: Jernalderen 3. Kobenhavn: Gyldendal.

  

   Davidson, H. E. 1993. The lost beliefs of northern Europe. London:

   Routledge.

  

   Egilsdottir, A. 1994. St. Margarethe i Island: Legende og symbolik.

   AmS-Smatrykk 38:87-101.

  

   Eliade, M. 1958. Patterns in comparative religion. London and New

   York: Sheed and Ward.

  

   -----, ed. 1987a. The encyclopaedia of religion 4. New York:

   Macmillan.

  

   -----, ed. 1987b. The encyclopaedia of religion 13. New York:

   Macmillan.

  

   Gimbutas, M. 1989. The language of the goddess. San Francisco: Harper

   and Row.

  

   Gorman, M. 1987. Nordiskt och keltiskt. Sydskandinavisk religion under

   yngre bronsalder och keltisk jernalder. Lund: Wallin and Dalholm.

  

   Hagen, A. 1969. Studier i vestnorsk bergkunst: Ausevik i Flora.

   Humanistisk serie 3. Bergen: Arbok for Universitetet i Bergen.

  

   Holtsmark, A. 1990. Norron mytologi: Tru og mytar i vikingtida. Oslo:

   Det Norske Samlaget.

  

   Mandt G. 1972. Bergbilder i Hordaland. En undersokelse av bildenes

   sammensetning, deres naturmiljoog kulturmiljo. Humanistisk serie 1969,

   2. Bergen: Arbok for Universitetet i Bergen.

  

   Mandt, G. 1983. Tradition and diffusion in west-Norwegian rock art:

   Mjeltehaugen revisited. Norwegian Archaeological Review 16 (1): 14-32.

  

   Nylen, E. 1978. Bildstenar. Visby: Barry Press.

  

   Page, R. I. 1993. Runer og runesteiner. In Viking og Hvidekrist:

   Norden og Europa 800-1200. Nordisk Ministerrad i samarbejde med

   Europaradet. Uddevalla: Bohuslaningens Boktryckeri.

  

   Snorres Kongesagaer. 1942. Oslo: Gyldendal.

  

   Steinsland, G., and P. M. Sorensen. 1994. Mennesker og makter i

   vikingenes verden. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.

  

   Storm, L. 1995. The hind game seen in the light of European cervine

   tradition. Bergen: Forlaget Folkekultur.

  

   Svensson, K. R. 1989. Dalsland. In Hallristningar och hallmalningar i

   Sverige, eds. S. Janson, E. B. Lundberg, and U. Bertilsson, 24-130.

   Stockholm: Forum.

  

   Vinsrygg, S. 1979. Reiskapar til sanking/-primitivt jordbruk? Analyse

   av steinkoller med bora hol fra Rogaland. Viking 42: 27-68.

  

   -----. 1987. Sex-roles and the division of labour in hunting-gathering

   societies. In Were they all men? An examination of sex roles in

   prehistoic society. Ed. R. Bertelsen, A. Lillehammer and J. N. Naess.

   AmS-Varia 17: 23-32.

  

   Walderhaug, E. M. 1994. 'Ansiktet er av stein': Ausevik i Flora - en

   nalyse av bergkunst og kontekst. Unpublished Master's thesis.

   University of Bergen.

  

   ~~~~~~~~

  

   By Gro Mandt

  

   Gro Mandt is a professor of archaeology at the University of Bergen,

   Norway. Her research focuses on the interpretation and conservation of

   rock art in western Norway and feminist/gender studies in archaeology.

                             _________________

  

   Copyright of ReVision is the property of Heldref Publications and its

   content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a

   listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission.

   However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual

   use.

   Source: ReVision, Summer2000, Vol. 23 Issue 1, p17, 6p, 10bw.

   Item Number: 3639976

  

   This email was generated by a user of EBSCOhost who gained access via

   the NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY account. Neither EBSCO nor NEW YORK PUBLIC

   LIBRARY are responsible for the content of this e-mail.

 

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download