Open AccessHelskobinding - i litterær og religionshistorisk belysning
Author(s) -
Inger Vibeke Hansen
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
religionsvidenskabeligt tidsskrift
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.111
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 1904-8181
pISSN - 0108-1993
DOI - 10.7146/rt.v0i11.5392
Subject(s) - icelandic , tying , old norse , history , witness , point (geometry) , funeral rites , genealogy , literature , philosophy , art , ancient history , linguistics , computer science , mathematics , operating system , geometry
The starting point of this article is the problem of the reliability of information in the Icelandic sagas about Norse religion. It seems that there is a possibility of getting indirect information from the texts themselves. What is attempted here is to find a relationship between the religious information about the custom of tying helskór on a dead person before burial (only known from Gísla Saga) and the literary form of skór in the Icelandic sagas in general. Here shoes seem to form part of the well-known scheme of foreshadowing, i.e. they indicate the coming of death and/or violence. This connection to death/violence could be explained by the use in the funeral ritual. Especially the examples in which a person ties his shoes seem to support this theory. If this is the case, it will also be a support to the authenticity of the funeral custom in Gísla Saga.