Mediations from Under the Cloak: Christianity, Trauma, and Reconciliation in Brennu-Njáls Saga

This thesis explores the representation and testimony of trauma in the medieval Brennu-Njáls saga. Beginning with an outline of contemporary trauma studies, this thesis examines the repercussions narratives of social trauma. The chapters 100-105, the burning of Njal and Flosi’s dream show the repercussions of the conversion as affecting not only the characters in the saga, but also landscapes, supernatural events and even the text itself. Njál’s saga proves to be a exemplar of medieval trauma narrative as it displays the trauma of the characters in the tenth century, and provides a metatextual testimony of saga compiler’s own trauma stemming from the loss of the Icelandic common wealth in the thirteenth century. Njál’s saga exposes the violence of the tenth century and shows that even in the twenty-first century the reader must deal with the traumas long past.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of German and Scandinavian

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Oregon

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Young, Jeremiah

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Gurley, Gantt

• Christianity
• Sagas
• Trauma

Statement dc:rights

• All Rights Reserved.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/25910

OAI record oai:identifier

https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Ascholarsbank.uoregon.edu%3A1794%2F25910