Ethnogenesis and Stranger-Kings in Old Scandinavian Literature

What makes a people? The answer to this question will vary depending on whom one asks and which people one has in mind. For an early medieval perspective, one may turn to Isidore of Seville who at first glance appears to subscribe to a genealogical notion of peoplehood, which he sees inscribed in the noun gens, one of the Latin terms for “people”: A nation (gens) is a number of people sharing a single origin, or distinguished from another nation (natio) in accordance with its own grouping, as the “nations” of Greece or of Asia Minor. From this comes the term “shared heritage” (gentilitas). The word gens is also so called on account of the generations (generatio) of families, that is from “begetting” (gignere, ppl. genitus), as the term “nation” (natio) comes from “being born” (nasci, pp. natus). (Barney et al. 2006, 192)1The notion of shared descent is a powerful one, but looking closer at Isidore's text, one sees that it is only one conception among others. A few lines earlier, he had prioritized a linguistic notion of peoplehood declaring that “peoples (gentes) have arisen from languages not languages from peoples.”2 Still yet, at the beginning of the same chapter, it is apparent that he envisions distinct peoples as having existed before the construction of the Tower of Babel: “All the peoples (nationes) had one language which was called Hebrew.”3 Thus, he contradicts his claim that languages precede peoples. Elsewhere, he writes that there are many Germanic peoples (germanicae gentes) and characterizes them as “varied in their weaponry, distinct in the color of their clothing, having distinct languages, and names of uncertain origin.”4 Isidore's wavering illustrates that objective criteria for peoplehood are difficult to establish and that differing, even contradictory, models may coexist alongside one another. To the Romans of Classical Antiquity, two complementary notions of peoplehood existed. The first pertained to the Romans themselves and was constitutional and founded on law. The second model, which applied to the non-Roman peoples living beyond the borders of the Roman empire (usually referred to as the Barbarians), was biological, determined by descent and supplied with incidental characteristics such as language, weaponry, dress, customs, and so on. In a study entitled The Myth of Nations (2002), historian Patrick Geary charts the development and gradual merger of these competing notions as the Roman Empire comes to an end and the various successor kingdoms emerge in Western Europe.From our present-day vantage point, we see clearly that the factors that demarcate a people and distinguish it from other peoples are overwhelmingly cultural, in the broadest sense of the word, and cultivated, rather than inborn and natural, and that they are often of a political or constitutional, rather than a genealogical, character. The biological model nevertheless has a remarkable tenacity. It is also strongly present in medieval texts where it inter alia finds expression in the so-called Origines gentium (sg. origo gentis) “origins of peoples,” texts describing how particular peoples came into being. This topic is often discussed under the heading of ethnogenesis—a term strongly associated with the historian Herwig Wolfram, who in turn relied on Wenskus (1961) for a number of central concepts and ideas.5 Generally speaking, an early medieval gens, or people, was, from the perspective of Wenskus, Wolfram, and others, an army led by and centered around a core group of aristocratic individuals, rather than a people in the biological sense. Membership of or affiliation with a gens was not determined by birth, but by other, non-biological factors, such as recognition of utility. Although these texts give expression, sometimes powerfully, to the idea that a gens share a common biological and genealogical origin, this notion should, from this perspective, be considered an ideological construct rather than a historical reality. This ideology of common biological descent was transmitted in various ways and found expression in origo gentis narratives. These narratives are, as mentioned, insolubly intertwined with notions of ethnogenesis—so closely, in fact, that one can see the modern term “ethnogenesis” as a pseudo-Greek rendering of Latin origo gentis.In the context of Old Norse literary history, Annette Lassen has argued that the earliest fornaldarsǫgur, and Skjǫldunga saga in particular, “must . . . be viewed as an Icelandic offshoot of the European Chronicles of the origo gentis-kind” (2012, 52), and she outlines convincingly the contours of a history of how the fornaldarsaga-genre developed from historia to fabula. This argument is used to support the contention that the fornaldarsǫgur “originate in the learned culture of the Middle Ages and were written, not for a common audience, but in close connection with church and royal authority” (2012, 34). I believe this is a highly productive way of situating the Scandinavian textual materials and am convinced that the earliest fornaldarsǫgur did indeed spring from learned traditions (see also Gottskálk Þ. Jensson 2009). In what follows, I wish to develop Lassen's suggestion further by considering first Skjǫldunga saga and then Ynglinga saga from the perspective of origo gentis-narratives, applying a definition that is somewhat narrower than the one used by Lassen. The discussion will be organized as the answers to two questions: What is an origo gentis-narrative? And how do the sagas of the Skjoldungs and the Ynglings fit into the category of origo gentis-narratives? Toward the end, the perspective will be changed from royal or dynastic history to communal history, and the notion of the stranger-king will be introduced.The term origo gentis is ubiquitous in the literature on ethnogenesis and is evidently used to refer to narratives of origin of a people. The term can nevertheless be somewhat of it is that it not a literary Wolfram, a of the term origo gentis and of such the on the topic in by that gentis et al. gentis not an literary it is a of that can be found in various literary and at the of so-called or such as which the history of the and the from the of from around early and the also from the early to of the of these of history are the origo of the history they of on they of Thus, they do not on is in to them as narratives of origin they do narratives of origin and also have other in The early of the group to that non-Roman with the traditions of the particular people history is and to the with This is clearly is for having a Roman history of the has not but that his own is a of it the term from which the is did not refer to in particular but also be used in a sense as This is also found in is who origo with he the of of the and so under the heading in his of medieval this of be for having history into a Roman in an the texts to this group of makes the that it is an history of the is among even it is a history, and so is of history of the this is as a The these texts are is that of the and that it was in these texts to the of the and of Germanic in particular that to Origines gentium are a and the term origo gentis can refer to a to the origin and early history of a particular people, speaking, or to a historical of a that the history of a particular people from its to the of the Thus, it has argued that the group is not so by criteria as by that the of these is not to traditions of the but rather to the that they to the that at the of gentis of the of the one of the to the will be as an This text, which is to the second of the on the origin of the people and then to the history of the generations of in a it to on that are considered to be of such as the of who led the into gentis is a of than It the of how a people called the the from and from the of is and with to be a of or by a somewhat the who was the in they their of having the of and its in the the of a rather than a in a sense and the of The is that who to the in This is in a few the of which from the and transmitted as an to the first of as or The of which was in the the have at before the was to The close connection the gentis and the is nevertheless by the before is that the of his may it to believe the to a by the of and the of his by to the gentis which he to as the of the of may that this is a and not the of the the of the which of the of the and he will this in the as we have it in this our not only as an origo but also the what appears to be in the of and his The is and only a will be the many peoples of the and with their a people called the The another people led by two and from the The considering it to than to to their of in the The asks to them and that he will to he first his on the the same and and that she be the them that they their to the the and their so that it The before his so that it and the first he sees as he is the and their are these them a give them And so it that they and the how in and how this group their is a the of and his is not in the It is that the what is the same in his history of the on the of the and the for and he the of the of the by it to he it by it as a . . . further the he it by that was a the peoples of as a and by the as and The of this are discussed in in an by where he in the the of the is rather the present into a that for the This with the of and of not to that of in the Old Norse and a number of Scandinavian texts also to the to in may claim that the how the their is the earliest of the of the a number of a of two to the discussed and The of the on his and having the In of one sees with and it is that this is the of the In the of the one sees the and the for his discussion of this and other of has or that are but by found in such The is that there is a in the of a the or a an and that this in many is by a of or the notion that characterizes on the topic of of origin and is the notion of a a core by a core aristocratic group who this as a to of around themselves in the of peoples or In this model, the gens of the origo is not to the biological or notion of a people, but rather a of who are around a core and aristocratic their to the of the In of this one a to to this the to historical the origin, the of the is also as as the of of such to themselves to that them with a to the even this were In this it be is to of ethnogenesis and notions of peoplehood in the of who the people, the and the traditions are to and but the aristocratic the to their and an of In such is the ethnogenesis model that at the of gentis narratives. The have on in this model are the and the this model of the origo gentis it is to how the fornaldarsǫgur fit into this Lassen's suggestion that the fornaldarsǫgur have a learned origin and that the earliest of them “must . . . be viewed as an Icelandic offshoot of the European of the origo gentis-kind” as a highly productive way of the one the question of how one a and Ynglinga saga and Skjǫldunga saga to this but in to to the point, I will the discussion and on Skjǫldunga saga and Ynglinga as sagas Lassen on Skjǫldunga saga (2012, but the two sagas share characteristics that it to them in of they are as fornaldarsǫgur or Ynglinga saga has considered to be on Skjǫldunga sagas also materials that at to can be in of the earliest Scandinavian that have such as the and texts we not to as learned second and difficult to is that Skjǫldunga saga is not as a and that discussion of Skjǫldunga saga on the Latin of the by the learned which is to text, entitled of may be or with the of the textual materials that has to Skjǫldunga saga in his from and his of an or Skjǫldunga saga in the sagas of the of in his of a Skjǫldunga and one an of on the of his the of has by in or his is even one on the of The of the text, which with the of the of that the of the that the origo gentis in the illustrates these The of the do not the history of the of the with as but with a a of called For they that this from having its saga to the of Old Norse texts from the same such as and the so-called saga of that the as saga developed It be Skjǫldunga saga considered from the perspective of the saga The nevertheless that his in this but that he the first chapter, with and a as an to this one will clearly sense that are present in the It is not to with Lassen the as a from the saga and characterizes it as a that in the and she is to the text, is to as a to claim of It is that there is a and that of but it to that the is in rather than that of the of the Skjǫldunga and his Icelandic with in his was highly as a to and in particular In his the of the Icelandic and the of his texts who do not present the of in an The in the be as a to the end of the first chapter, to a in he that the was not founded by as he that may have The of on history and the that he had by the for whom he was to materials that where history of the The of are clearly by his on the other one to the to an Icelandic of a Skjǫldunga saga around the a for these writes in his that the or This is to but in it in the context of the of on the beginning of from for that the Skjǫldunga saga with a at The as have with a of is how characterizes of the in his he that the of the early and that the of early is in a the on the of and the origin of the and can also be found in other of which were to and may from these In it is not that Skjǫldunga saga associated with origo a in the of a by a of but the as it is to Latin not to that it looking at in the context of his makes it that the of was to found in on history, with the of the of Icelandic texts at his the of Skjǫldunga saga makes it difficult to the text, Ynglinga saga is not only but it also to fit the of an origo than what can be of Skjǫldunga It an account of a in the of a of Asia of under the of The saga also to what may be considered a the and the the is not as a one, as is of the Origines And learned that were to be had where he there and he and an for did not he had the to the and often one another with and but the were the the saga that the of the to the of a the of the as on the of Ynglinga saga from the narratives the ethnogenesis it is the peoples that in the model, in Ynglinga it is the that is present in the into which the who their This to the ways in which the and in the to which the is in the texts to This that the of the of a people under to a that is has than the of and the of the to the origin of the people. texts that are as origo on this is found in the history of the In these many Roman were of The were by and so that they a of their to the of the in the the of and his people, were and the people, which had In to the which had of was and by the found in outlines the of the of the and to the These the and the from the to the and a the and were were at the and people of were with and and to who had a A few in the were and with came and to the for they were to even they in their others, to their a and among the and for and these two and were by a that led to the of the The origo the perspective of the to a are as living in the to their In these the peoples their as and so and they in their as and so on. The of this and for the into which the are and the of saga has a on Although the saga at of and the in the of the as it is in the text, to have had for the Although we may a in Ynglinga saga as the by the of the they are as who culture and to the do not their on people or the and their are rather than The do not and they themselves the to themselves that this is to their own and of Ynglinga saga in the to by the beginning as It is to that came to the and the with they and which people have was the of and they learned the from for he was the first one who and with people to and and called them their and to their in them also that the In he is for the and for a the ethnogenesis model may Ynglinga account of the of the and their in it only so and not account for the of the of the for the which to be the of the the ethnogenesis model see the of the in a To I to the of the to has This notion the perspective from the royal or dynastic history, which the ethnogenesis model by the of present in the of the It may as a in and a to the of in the of the stranger-king and also the in the and the notion of the stranger-king in a from entitled has to the topic of the stranger-king a number of in the from which he with the term are of the people they as writes in his first on the topic and he of origin they are as the by which they to are to the of the or of the . . . these do not even spring from the same as the they are from the the common are of distinct In is the in the same he is . . . a in the sense of a of and a of the than a is the of in A with a will of the the but the in the will be on to the of the of and of this of the and the with the in a be as a of an historical or an ideological construct in the of a or the of the stranger-king is the of a notion that in a it as a of political The of the he on his and he and the in which he as These the stranger-king to his and its this the a in to the and by which his of the of by the stranger-king are to be and they may even be to as of his and his notion of the stranger-king as with Ynglinga of the origin of the as as the of of the which a remarkable for the of and among whom and are of that is present in the Norse is the the stranger-king and the The in Ynglinga saga is genealogical, and a is the to that he was the of the This of descent generations and from the in the the way to the a stranger-king and a of the stranger-king in the is clearly of on and the of the saga to and the of the and one may in that are only they in the of the and of other their as of are of in the it is that the first of the stranger-king of the was the of and such as the and that was of as a The among the but one be not to these two of the and in the Ynglinga which in the historical in this and has the from the to the historical where the are with It is this historical that Ynglinga saga makes the of The only other in the saga is that she is the of a the stranger-king model in one may a of the of the of the whom the stranger-king in to in the first of the saga the of the of the in This an of with the of who by his with his in and his This the end of the of the in and the saga how the first in the and and in where the its as the a of and then the of a by the of the of the may have as a of the to a it on Although this is often referred to as a genealogical in the sense of a of descent only a in the the context of Ynglinga The notion that are by way of the and is strongly present in the to The which also outlines a of to and the of in the we that his as in in in in in and in of these and their are then to have by and at the end of the the that the for themselves and for their in the where they had In the one clearly sees the of the that had in Ynglinga of the notion of the stranger-king that one can to the of and of in the In terms of the of these is the account of from the and his in where he of of the This which its in was also in where it is in the of The Norse as it is in the Norse clearly to on learned and it is that the Old Norse of the are by the of argued by in a of various there are also the the are that the and to and that their language is in the The of and his the on the other a by the The only end in to that the their language and their customs, the be by the and notion at the core of the stranger-king model is that is Although the of the the of his of do not by themselves to his to are as In the Old Norse this of is by the stranger-king as culture and his to and is not an of which the can it not in a to the at and to may in of the and the of with another are in The stranger-king model close to the notion of or that has in of Scandinavian The model also with the a and a who the that in the of a but sees the the and the at the of the royal as the of the of the the stranger-king model these to the origin of the stranger-king and that the to and these so that the stranger-king can be in the on a number of in which of is of in terms as the of a In a entitled of the in this and a number of that that only Germanic or have is I the to on these and the is not a particular an Germanic or the of the stranger-king model that notions of and not be they may also have in The stranger-king model a which one can to these on the notions and concepts of or the of the early and one that it is productive to early Scandinavian literature and in particular the earliest fornaldarsǫgur from the perspective of the ethnogenesis model with its notions of with an aristocratic have on a number of texts such as and others. In this it was found that the of Skjǫldunga on which Lassen was transmitted to for In its Ynglinga saga was discussed from the perspective of origo gentis-narratives, and it was argued that the way the and the present in the was somewhat from what is found in the origo to the to these by that in them the of a they somewhat the names of are their is in a not as it was to other to under that the of the is at the end than two of the do not the history of the of the with as but with a a of called For they that this from having its and that he at that that to to his And who are called were called from as the were called from for is it the was from the of from which first with his of the and the called or the having its for it is that these and the of our of who the same and the who was first or by the of generations in of the from Asia with his people, I have to than what is at the beginning of in in and that I in the and the that the names of and and his in the it where the of the many also even he had which he first of its see the was not by who that as number in as but and the of this as as of his many our or and do not even give or the and the of in his Asia et for et et in Asia et in et et et in et et et et

Art · Ethnic group · Ethnogenesis · Genealogy · Literature · Sociology · Anthropology · Historical and Archaeological Studies · History · Linguistics and language evolution · Medieval Literature and History

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