Far saga pdf

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Dormirse solo. You Were Mine. Kiro's Emily. Especialmente esta chica. Su Emily. When I'm Gone. Reese Ellis finalmente es libre. Reese nunca ha conocido a un hombre de confianza en su vida. When You're Back. El futuro es brillante para Reese Ellis. Y aunque Mase no lo sospeche, Reese sabe que Aida no lo ve solo como un primo…. Unknown 20 de octubre de , Onelqui 18 de diciembre de , Onelqui 22 de diciembre de , These acts make clear that Sofi opposes capitalist, materialist value structures.

Greta Gaard and Patrick D. Murphy Urbana: University of Illinois Press, , Among the critics who have written on So Far From God, it is Christopher who has emphasized that the issues of class are just as important as those of race and gender throughout the novel. This is most striking in the case of Fe, the third oldest of the sisters, who longs for upward mobility and material gain. Laura Hapke and Lisa A. Kirby Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, , In this way, the narrator satirizes Fe for her distance from her family and anxious concern with appearances.

Because she has damaged her voice by the year-long screaming, she is no longer fit to deal with customers in the bank and is dismissed. But not, however, before [she] got the long dreamed of automatic dishwasher, microwave, Cuisinart, and the VCR.

With respect to that, Platt points out that the real town of Tome, New Mexico, is located seventy-five miles downstream from Los Alamos, where there are multiple sites of toxic contamination involving such substances as plutonium, tritium, strontium 90, mercury and lead. However, unlike the other sisters who also die throughout the narrative, Fe makes no appearances at her home after her death, as she was too estranged from it in her lifetime.

All the other sisters frequently appear in spirit simply around the family house or on important occasions such as weddings. Esperanza, the oldest sister, is upwardly mobile like Fe thanks to her education, but stays much closer to her family. In fact, her first degree is in Chicana studies, which shows that she embraces her heritage.

Nevertheless, even though she died far away from home, Esperanza, unlike Fe, had always considered her home and family important, and she makes frequent appearances among the surviving family members after her death. Caridad, the third of the four sisters, has arguably the stormiest life, full of tumultuous changes. When Caridad finds out that Memo, her husband with whom she is pregnant, is still seeing his ex-girlfriend, she has an abortion and the marriage is annulled.

Interestingly, in her discussion of gender issues represented throughout the novel, Theresa Delgadillo suggests that the malogra stands for sexism itself: For what is so destructive and evil, always present yet not always easy to pin down, but the sexism of our society?

When these ideas take hold of individuals and then are practiced by them, they can create the kind of violence against women experienced by Caridad. Unlike Fe, Caridad now concentrates on her spiritual and emotional betterment and satisfaction rather than on material gain.

Finally, Caridad and Esmeralda free themselves from the oppressive society by leaping from the top of the mesa at Acoma. As this is the only way the women can escape sexism and homophobia, Castillo makes another strong point in her critique of society. The first is the pattern of dying in the distant south, in which a saga-character travels south to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage or to Byzantium for pious reasons and does not return home to Scandinavia.

These journeys south to Jerusalem with no intention of returning may reflect what some historical pilgrims actually did. If she had thought she was going to return, she would presumably have waited until she got back to bear the expense and trouble of having the inscription carved.

The examples of death in the distant south thus hang together rather well in contrast to the examples of deaths in distant lands in other directions, indicating once more that the common theme of spiritual fulfilment may underlie them. Giving up violence There are also a couple of examples of saga-characters giving up violence and leading peaceful lives after journeying to the distant south; this pattern is also related to Christian piety.

Likewise, two violent or sinful saga-characters give up their lives of violence or sin following their absolution in or pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The implication is clear and simple: travel to the holiest sites on Earth has the spiritually healing power to make a peacemaker of the most violent sort of man. Afterwards, he is said only to build a monastery, die and be buried there, possibly indicating a change in his life for the more pious and less violent.

This, however, is not explicitly stated. Movement north certainly takes one towards the land of evil beings — trolls, giants and magic-dealing Lapps — and movement west may also indicate movement towards evil, or at least away from Christendom. This moral geography is not by any means exclusive to Scandinavians.

In the 9th-century Anglo-Saxon poem Genesis B, itself probably a translation of an Old Saxon original, Satan sets up his kingdom in opposition to God by fortifying lands in the north and west ll. Conclusions In summary, the most prominent motivations for travel to Constantinople are mercenary service, followed by the desire for glory or honour in that distant, southern empire. Vengeance-related violence is also a motivating factor for travel there.

Journeys to Jerusalem are motivated almost exclusively by different types of piety, pilgrimage and crusading being characteristic and absolution being occasionally detectable. We thus see with the southern far-travellers of the sagas what we have seen with far-travellers to the west, that journeys made to distant lands are most often motivated by pragmatic reasons.

This is most obvious in the commercialism of the mercenary motivation for travel to Byzantium. What is more, saga- characters who become involved in commercial ventures in the distant south, like those who travel west, have often been initially motivated to go there by a separate impetus, such as feud-violence. The pragmatism of piously-motivated piligrimages to the Holy Land is not so immediately apparent as the clear financial draw of military service for the Greek emperor, but it is evident on closer inspection.

The piety of the south-travelling pilgrims need not be mercenary for them to be pragmatic. While Abbo here refers to a previously existing tradition, his own anti-Norse bias may result from his residence in the 10th-century Loire area, a region frequently ravaged in Viking raids. Also, some of the south-faring pilgrims have an even more specific pragmatic reason for travel, making the journey to obtain absolution from one of the only places one truly can for often quite despicable sins committed.

If one must obtain forgiveness for these acts to secure eternal life, the great expense and effort required to reach the purifying waters of the River Jordan is a reasonable expenditure on the spiritual balance-sheet. On Greenland in particular as a land non-Christian by nature, see Lewis-Simpson throughout. Chapter 4 — East Chapter 4 — East 1. Introduction 1.

Distant east While each of the four cardinal directions is in the sagas imagined differently from the others, some aspects of the distant east are similar to the distant west and others to the distant south. In structure, however, the distant east is more like the west. This is evident not only in the simple mechanics of travel i. Among the indications that to saga-writers Russia is considered far in a straightforward, geographical sense are the various episodes in which Scandinavian sojourners in Russia return home by stages rather than all at once.

The difficulty of travel between the eastern, Russian courts and Scandinavia is suggested by several episodes in which Norsemen in Russia cannot leave it until the ice blocking various ports along the water-route home thaws.

Chapter 4 — East blocks them in is a true barrier in time and space between Russia and Scandinavia that requires time or great effort to surmount, like the miles of ocean to Greenland in the west or the eastern way itself on the journey south to Constantinople. This suggests that the Norwegians are at a disadvantage in this distant land, with no recourse to such support from their allies as they would have in or near Scandinavia.

In fornaldarsaga-accounts, however, Russia is a place of more magic and mystery. Chapter 4 — East Sverrir Jakobsson examines the role of Austrvegr in the medieval Icelandic imagination in his paper for the 13th International Saga Conference , and in this respect the material of this chapter overlaps considerably with his study. In this chapter, however, the cognomen and its associated direction of travel are apposite.

Exiles in Russia While there are many individual factors motivating the various travels from Scandinavia to the distant east, most appearing in only one or two sagas, there is one type of journey that occurs in many different episodes throughout several saga-genres. This is exile. The details of their travel, however, differ. Other accounts of Scandinavian exiles in Russia are told at much greater length and in much more detail.

All three sagas record that the new-born child is sprinkled with water. The parallel with Christ is further pronounced when they say that the bright light of these portents stretches over all of Russia and the eastern part of the world Oddr A 8: , Mesta Unlike his earlier royal namesake, no miraculous fetches or portents herald his sojourn in Russia; like many of the far-travellers to the west and south, he simply flees the danger when it threatens him.

The two Scandinavian rulers-to-be sail east to Russia that summer and join the court of Jarizleifr, who gives them good welcome on account of his earlier royal guest Har. Theodoricus does not refer to it at all.

The verse dates from after Gade I Chapter 4 — East in their homelands, must apply to the Russian king for permission to make their own choice for king. When northern rulers are exiled in the east, it is the eastern rulers who have final authority over them.

Unlike these other Scandinavian rulers, Eymundr Hringsson, son of a Norwegian petty king, is not forced into Russian exile by the threat of violence or death. Rather, he actually expects to be honoured by the new Norwegian ruler with the title of king. When this is denied it becomes apparent that this title is one Eymundr cannot do without. Shortly after this Eymundr and Ragnarr return to Norway with a large fleet, and call a meeting of their fellow-countrymen Eym.

This plan is agreeable to everyone, so they sail east with a large company of hardy, hand- picked men. It is evident that while other exiles in Russia engage in military service simply as something to do, for Eymundr exile and mercenary service are equal motivations for eastern far-travel. The Russian king accepts, and they talk over payment.

When the king balks at this price, Eymundr says they will accept payment in kind, furs from beavers and sables and whatever else is available Eym. Chapter 4 — East fights valiantly and victoriously, but he also advises the king in military matters. It is of course more usual in sagas for Varangians to be mercenaries of the Byzantine emperor, and the English translation of the saga in The Complete Sagas of Icelanders alters the location without comment to Constantinople CSI IV In contrast to all the previous examples in this section, this mercenary service is not occasioned by royal exile.

Thus the distant east, in contrast to the distant south, is not a place to which Scandinavians willingly travel to seek fame and fortune as mercenaries, but rather a place in which they are willing to turn to mercenary service to earn their pay after they have been driven there or can no longer stomach the situation in their native Scandinavian lands. He, naturally, required a purpose for being in the distant east, and the writer of the R-version found a plausible purpose for him in military service for the Russian king.

A later passage in the saga provides a parallel to this episode. Here, though, there is neither mercenary service nor exile. Chapter 4 — East 2. Love and desire to marry do provide the impetus for some far-travels to and from the distant east, though the sagas do not always link the two motivations. Political expediency was of course a more common reason for marriage than love between members of medieval royal households, and some of the saga-accounts of travel between the distant court of Russia and those in Scandinavia certainly reflect this.

In other accounts, however, travels to Russia and even further east for reasons related to marriage do occur. Chapter 4 — East daughter in marriage. This episode thus associates both love and political gain with the marriage-motivation for far-travel to the east. Unlike his father, Eymundr does not kill the king and steal his beloved back; he instead serves the king in his battles and wins his friendship Yng.

From these examples, we see that marriage between members of the courts of Sweden and Russia can motivate far-travel between the two locations, while love can motivate far-travel to either bring the beloved bride back or to be near her. Chapter 4 — East and later the father of a king.

While it is clear from many of the sagas that capability and indeed excellence in all manly skills is prized in saga-heroes, especially those who wish to prove themselves in foreign travel and adventure, the necessity of wide knowledge of languages is associated especially with those Norse travels to the magnificent, civilised realms in the distant south and east. This is the final, resolving episode of far-travel in a saga that has traced the paths of its heroes all over the north and east, finally securing them in a kind of domestic normality, albeit one that necessitates far-travel for family and friends to attend the wedding.

Christian missions Another widespread motivation for far-travel eastward is piety. Several saga far-travellers engage in Christian missions in Russia or more easterly lands.

His missionary motivation he will not attain until later. History assures us this is literary fantasy, a Scandinavian invention to add to the glory of their first great Christian king. F 4: As Yngvarr prepares to leave Russia to begin his eastern voyage, the saga-writer relates: Hann liet biskup uigia sier boliarn ok tinnu Yng.

Even in lesser clergy Yngvarr is uncommonly spiritually prepared for his voyage to the far east, well-prepared from the outset to fight spiritual battles in potentially pagan places.

He warns his men to have no dealings with heathens heidinna manna , refusing entry to any women apart from the queen herself and proving his serious intention in this matter by executing the first few offenders among his men. Here, curiously, Yngvarr is not said to preach the gospel of Christ to the king.

It would not do for a monarch who had been enlightened by knowledge of Christ to display such treacherous behaviour — to give such an account would surely dishonour both Christ and Yngvarr.

Confronted by a terrifying giant as ugly as the devil himself, Yngvarr enjoins one of his good clerics to sing hymns and promises a six- day fast to the Lord, with prayers Yng. Part of Christianising a heathen land, presumably, is cleansing the land of the unrepentant. Chapter 4 — East is told by the devil in human form that Yngvarr and many of his men will fall ill and die before returning west to Sweden.

All these predictions come true, and shortly after Yngvarr and his men re-enter the realm of Queen Silkisif, Yngvarr and many of his men fall sick. On his deathbed, Yngvarr asserts his faith in God, and asks that his body be carried west to Sweden and buried in a church. He also orders that his wealth be divided in three, one third to be given to churches and preachers, and another to be given to poor folk Yng.

Finally, Yngvarr bids his men farewell until the day of resurrection and dies. Like his father, Sveinn travels out east to Russia and there learns many languages known to be used in the east. For this purpose, Sveinn brings with him on his expedition several priests and a bishop. Like his father, Sveinn fights battles with heathens and fantastical beasts of these pagan lands, continually calling on the Christian god for aid in these battles.

Sveinn is, if possible, even more devout than Yngvarr. When victory is granted, Sveinn and his men praise God. The queen is instead first instructed in the Christian faith by the bishop 29 , gains an understanding of spiritual wisdom, and is baptised along with the whole city Yng. Chapter 4 — East Only then, once the queen has proved her earnest desire to accept Christianity, does Sveinn accept her hand in marriage and become the king of the realm.

Exploration As in some far-travels westward, exploration is a motivation for some of the eastern far-travellers of the sagas. The exploration of unknown lands in the west beyond the relatively settled yet imaginatively distant Norse colony of Greenland is balanced in these accounts by exploration of the mysterious lands in the east beyond the settled, distant realm of Russia. After being refused the title of king in Sweden, Yngvarr leaves Scandinavia for Russia, where he is welcomed and honoured by King Jarizleifr.

A large river flows through Russia, of which no one knows the source, so Yngvarr decides to go and find it. This would seem to indicate that Yngvarr is preparing himself for the possibility of interaction with unknown peoples with whom it would behoove him to be able to communicate. Chapter 4 — East As it turns out, knowledge of many languages serves Yngvarr well on his eastern journey: arriving in the magnificent city ruled by Queen Silkisif, he is able to test her knowledge of languages before revealing his own Yng.

It was, after all, because he was refused the title and position of king that Yngvarr left Sweden in the first place. Both statements express a similar interest in the cultural, botanical or zoological details of newly-explored lands. If nothing else, the statement suggests that Yngvarr and his men are paying close attention to the flora and fauna of the regions through which they are passing and using them to gauge their distance from home.

His saga, however, also contains indications that his travels are explorations, with piety at least a secondary motivation. Though the exploration in Eireks saga is as explicitly connected with piety as in Yngvars saga, here the central character is not spreading the Christian faith but seeking it.

Also, whatever piety there is is not Christian: Eirekr is heathen. Later passages support this supposition and introduce the elements of Christian piety and spirituality. There the Greek king receives the Norsemen with honour and asks which way they are bound, to which Eirekr replies that they 31 As in my citations from Yngvars saga, the first number in my citations from Eireks saga is the commonly used chapter-number; the letter denotes the manuscript quoted from.

Eirekr eventually presents his most practical questions, asking the king first what the most distant part of the southern world is, then where the land he seeks, Paradise, is located, and finally whether or not he can get there Eirek. To this final question the king is at last compelled to answer he does not know, so it is up to Eirekr, the increasingly pious explorer, to find out.

The king, however, enjoins Eirekr to first be baptised and remain in Byzantium for three years. Thus fortified with knowledge, the newly-baptised Eirekr and his men set off east to cross Syria and India and find Paradise on the other side Eirek. The narrator reports that though the travellers sometimes go by ship and horse, they usually walk — a detail of their exploration that recalls the piety of pilgrims on their way to Rome.

As in Yngvars saga, the narrative emphasises the multilingual nature of the far east. Also as in Yngvars saga, the far-travellers find what they are looking for. If this indicates a trend among saga-accounts of exploration in which the explorers tend to find what they are looking for, it is hardly surprising.

A saga-writer would probably consider a story about a person who fails to find what they seek not worth telling. In this eastern manifestation of that trend, the explorers of distant eastern lands must be successful in their quests for their stories to be told.

Eireks saga, more fantastical than Yngvars saga and concerned not with historical figures from the 11th century but with mythical characters in a prehistoric past, may allow its protagonist to actually reach that place. As David Ashurst has pointed out, however, the search for eastern river-sources in medieval Icelandic literature is to an extent the search for Paradise. The notion that Paradise is the source of the four great rivers of the eastern or southern world originates in the second chapter of Genesis Ashurst The medieval Icelanders knew and integrated this knowledge into their world-view, repeating the concept in other contemporary sources.

In a later passage in Alexanders saga Alexander decides to search for the source of the Nile — and by implication, Paradise — and in another he says he will make war beyond the confines of the world Ashurst 79, Alex.

Chapter 4 — East extraordinary than a dragon atop a pile of treasure Yng. These late works of imaginative literature like Eireks saga are no doubt freer to exploit the possibilities of doctrinal ambiguities than the earlier, more conservative texts seeking to establish definite, consistent models of heaven and earth.

Perhaps in an attempt to reconcile the contradictory attributes of the earthly and heavenly Paradises, the writer of Eireks saga has an inhabitant of the land Eirekr reaches explain to him that this place is not Paradise but the Land of Living Folk iord lifande manna.

Both sagas indicate that at that source of this river the far-traveller may expect to find a dragon. Whether this dragon guards the gates of Paradise or a hoard of wealth varies according to the reality the story relates: a spiritual one, in which Paradise is at the eastern end of the world, or a historical one, in which the Vikings who travel furthest east find precious metal.

Honour or power Several motivations for eastern far-travel are identifiable in only a few examples or manifested only indirectly. Nevertheless, it is related that he is constantly requesting the title of king and not receiving it Yng. A dead chicken heard to crow after being thrown over the wall demonstrates that there is truly resurrection in the land beyond Saxo I:viii. Chapter 4 — East waiting, Yngvarr prepares his ships to leave the country at leita sier vtlenzs rikis Yng.

Yngvarr responds that if he had been given the chance earlier, he would have accepted; as it is, he sets sail Yng. In Sweden, the easternmost of Scandinavian countries, sailing east across the Baltic and venturing through the Slavic wilds to the royal court of Novgorod is the natural direction and choice. This is certainly his original impetus, howsoever other motivations exploration, Christian missions assume larger importance in the course of the narrative.

Also, Scandinavian kings are perpetually plagued with the problem of what to do with their promising young men when there is no enemy to send them out against. Chapter 4 — East to put that experience to work for them Yng.

Sverrir Jakobsson demonstrates that the acquisition of glory or honour in the wealthy, noble courts of the east is one of two strains of thought that characterise eastern travel in the sagas, even more characteristic than its fantastic creatures and beasts.

This presumably reflects an historic reality of the eastern road to Byzantium through Russia, in which Norse-speaking adventurers and traders encountered many different languages along the way: the individual dialects of Slavic tribes, for example, the language of the Arab peoples whose silver they sought, and the lingua franca of the Byzantine empire, Greek.

This is especially problematic when one considers that Eirekr does receive the temporal reward: fame and renown during his lifetime that presumably result in the saga afterwards. The first chapter of Morkinskinna, however, tells quite a different story. R 7: Viking raiding 2.

Chapter 4 — East from familiar Scandinavia to exotic Russia but also geographically far i. The distance Eysteinn must travel, as far as Aldeigjuborg in the east, is a measure of how great is the sorrow he must escape, or possibly a sign of short-range expeditions gradually becoming ineffective as antidotes to that sorrow.

The U-redaction of the saga tells a very different story. U 1: Trade The remaining motivation to be discussed is trade. Foote and Wilson even tentatively ascribe the breakdown of the sagas show interdependence with each other, though concrete links are difficult to establish Pulsiano Chapter 4 — East Greenland economy in the later Middle Ages to the opening of the Russian fur trade to the European market and the decline in demand of furs from the North Elena Melnikova also stresses the importance of trade to the old Russian states, especially along the Baltic-Volga trade route; she, too, identifies furs as a principal commodity, and she too cites an assortment of Arab writers Though Norse literary accounts of eastern far-travel for trade are few, they do provide a medieval perspective on the Viking Age reality.

S , H Upon reaching Russia, however, Karl is first imprisoned due to the hostilities between the two countries and later enlisted into political intrigues by the young prince 46 The scarcity of saga-accounts of eastern trade may relate to the scarcity of saga-accounts of Swedes, historically the most common travellers to the distant east.

Almost all sagas were, of course, written in Iceland and deal more often with the affairs of western Scandinavia than those of the east. Sveinn is nevertheless not averse to making profits before completing that mission.

After Sveinn has left Russia to the east, he and his man make hostile contact with first a group of galley-sailing heathens and then some giants, one of whom Yngvarr had encountered on his eastern journey years earlier. Sveinn returns the sign of peace, and the locals crowd together under a cliff, bringing with them various wares for trading ymsum kaupskap. A audrum degi gengu menn Sueins en til kaupa uid lanzmenn, ok keyptuzt uid um hrid.

Initial overtures of peace, misunderstanding and violence are the hallmarks of international commerce in distant lands peopled by heathens who do not speak any of the languages an educated Norseman knows. As in the other accounts, trade with natives in the distant lands is associated with furs and violence. See Sverrir ; Perkins Chapter 4 — East One episode in Yngvars saga and a couple of minor details elsewhere suggest a subtle connection between travel east of Russia and silver, indicating a possible medieval Scandinavian mental association between eastern far-travel and the quest for silver.

This mental association would thus preserve the memory of the reason 8th- and 9th-century Scandinavians, mainly Swedes, originally travelled into the far east: to obtain Arab silver from the Islamic caliphates of that time.

Hilda Ellis Davidson writes that the lure that attracted Scandinavians to the east was the silver of the Islamic world and describes the good prospects for traders at the market of Bulghar on the middle Volga, in which Norsemen first traded with eastern merchants: The Scandinavians had no silver mines of their own and, once the influx of gold and silver from the Roman Empire came to an end and the trade-routes were blocked by barbarian peoples moving west, they could only obtain precious metals by trade or plunder, and for this the eastern world offered great possibilities.

Ellis Davidson 52 Thomas Noonan also asserts that the newly-open silver trade centred in Khazaria and Volga Bulgaria attracted 9th-century Vikings to Russia Noonan There is no reason to suppose that this knowledge would have been obscure to saga-writing Scandinavians of the 13th century.

It is surely logical for later medieval Scandinavians to have remembered the origins of their silver after the steady flow from the east had stopped, and it is not surprising at all that the late 12th-century author of Yngvars saga preserves some sense of this in several passages in his saga. The first such instance in Yngvars saga is an episode strongly reminiscent of the fairy-tale of Jack and the beanstalk.

Hann nam stadar ok hlyddizt um. Before long he sees a terrible giant ogurligan risa running after him, and no matter how fast Ketill runs the giant continues to gain on him. Ketill returns to the ship, breaks the handle into pieces and hides it, though the morning brings the truth to light Yng.

Hilda Ellis Davidson notes, for example, that treasure in the form of silver is commonly associated with Bjarmians Chapter 4 — East exact position of Bjarmaland is difficult to determine, and its location shifts between distant north and distant east from saga to saga Bjarmaland may also be located ambiguously within a single work. As is observed sporadically throughout this thesis, ambiguity or indistinctness between adjacent cardinal directions is common in saga-literature, and this is especially true with regard to the distant east.

The east stretches from the most distant north and extends to the most distant south, and may therefore encompass aspects of both these other directions.

In its other accounts of eastern wealth Yngvars saga is less discriminating: there is silver, there is gold, there are fine clothes.

There are, however, two details that once again subtly suggest that the east is understood to be a place of silver. Yngvarr stabs one high-ranking lady who is trying to tempt him inside his own tent, and when his men see this, they too begin to push the temptresses away Yng. That night the watchman Valdimarr slips away and searches for the place where the moon-like light had appeared. He finds a hill gleaming like gold on account of the treasure and the sleeping serpents covering it.

The episode is repeated later in Yngvars saga when Sveinn Yngvarsson and his men think they see a half moon standing on the earth. As before, despite the gold the serpents guard, the beacon followed there by the far-travellers is a silvery moon-like light. The notion of a light shining in the distance or a fire burning over hidden treasure is a widespread belief in medieval Scandinavia, and many examples of this folk-belief exist in later, 53 Recall that Eymundr Hringsson demands payment for mercenary service to a Russian king in the form of an ounce of silver for every man Eym.

Chapter 4 — East fantastic sagas. On the other hand, up close the serpent-covered hill is the colour of gold, as are the rings the Norsemen steal. Nevertheless, where according to Grettis saga and other sagas Icelandic or Scandinavian buried treasure is marked by fiery light, in the distant east treasure is found where silver light is seen.

Conclusions Like saga far-travellers to the distant west and south, eastern far-travellers are motivated primarily by pragmatism, though unlike the west and south the east is not characterised by financial motivations. Rather, the pragmatism of the east relates first and foremost to necessity, survival being sufficiently important to several Scandinavian rulers to necessitate exile. Chapter 4 — East distant west and occasional violence-motivated far-travels to the distant south.

Where violence- motivated journeys in those directions are often the result of feuds between individuals or prominent families, these exiles to the distant east are connected to the grander feuds between Scandinavian nations, rulers and rulers-to-be.

The national and often international scale of these feuds necessitates those fleeing to travel far immediately, with none of the intermediate instances of violence-motivated travel. This provides a plausible reason why travel to the distant east so rarely fits the pattern of expanding concentric circles of violence-motivated far-travels. Pragmatism in eastern far-travel relates secondarily to the wisdom or expediency of forging political links between Scandinavian and Russian courts by means of royal marriages and occasionally by having children of Scandinavian royalty fostered in Russia.

Mercenary service does provide a financial incentive for some eastern far-travellers, but in general Norsemen turn to mercenary service only after they have reached Russia, motivated to leave Scandinavia by something else entirely, usually exile.

The other major motivation relating to the south, piety, is also seen in eastern far- travel, but the east is characterised by its own unique brand of piety.

While pilgrims travel to the Holy Land to bathe in the River Jordan or fight heathens, pious travellers to Russia and the lands beyond seek a missionary field. While some of the journeys to the distant west were seen to be exploration of a type, the exploratory motivation is much more explicit in eastern expeditions.

There is also in this saga a unique example of a character comparing pragmatic and educational motivations for far-travel. Having just fought a hard battle in the far east, Sveinn Yngvarsson instructs his men not to explore too far into the customs of these strange, heathen easterners. Of the several minor motivations for far-travel eastward, one is notable for its lack of prominence in saga-literature: trade. Writing on the extent of the influence and involvement of Scandinavians in early Russian towns and states, Foote and Wilson stress the priority of trade: Northern influence in Russia was primarily mercantile.

The Scandinavians came to Russia in search of trade and any political power and control which they gained there was incidental to their main purpose.

Given the importance of trade to early Norse involvement in the distant east, it is somewhat surprising that there are not more saga-accounts of traders there. On the other hand, scattered but frequent references throughout the sagas to fine Russian clothing and especially hats, no doubt associated with the fine furs of the eastern forests, testify indirectly to an awareness of the firm trading links between Iceland, mainland Scandinavia and the eastern empire.

This may be the fundamental literary legacy of historical Scandinavian mercantile contact with Russia. Saga-literature, naturally, is not concerned with cataloging the ordinary activities of medieval Scandinavian life.

It is to be expected that, as notable an achievement as far-travel is, the more ordinary, prosaic sorts of distant journeys will be represented less frequently than exciting stories of political intrigues, mercenary adventures, and explorations through exotic, distant lands.

Trade is, in fact, an example Zilmer cites. Demonstrating the Viking prowess of the hero is almost a narrative imperative in this saga-genre, and adventures in distant, fantastic lands are standard fornaldarsaga fare. Combined, these topoi result in the examples cited above: fornaldarsaga-accounts of Vikings who in their wide-ranging raiding expeditions reach as far as the rich lands and courts of Russia.

Chapter 5 — North Chapter 5 — North 1. Greenland is, after all, closer to Iceland than Iceland is to either mainland Scandinavia or the British Isles. Far-travellers are not those who sail for two months rather than two weeks, but those who travel from Scandinavian Europe to elsewhere. The distant north is populated by monsters and magicians, as well as human beings with clear monstrous or magical qualities. This is not to suggest that saga-accounts of travel to the far north paint a uniform picture of that region.

The north functions differently in different sagas and saga genres. Such tales appear in some of the sagas of the Kings of Norway, and in a few of the sagas of Icelanders or the family sagas, but above all the journey to the Far North is an important episode in a number of fornaldarsagas. Throughout this chapter I often refer to these lands by English equivalent names. See Ross Chapter 5 — North Bjarmaland as Permia.

I East Norwegian writings use the term Lappir more often Aalto 1. Ultimately, the saga-writers seem to use Lapps as a catch-all of monstrous and magical characteristics and remain unsure about who the people actually were. They may wish their readers to be unsure as well. See also Paine 3.

Simek Acquisition of local wares or resources Like journeys to distant lands in other directions, journeys to the distant north most often have pragmatic motivations, and like journeys to the distant west and Byzantium in the distant south, pragmatism in far-travel northward manifests itself most often as ventures for financial gain. Northern lands are inhabited by plenty of men and creatures but not civilised or crowded enough to require mercenaries very often, so these business ventures tend to focus on the acquisition of moveable wares or natural resources, rather than settlement programmes or military service for foreign monarchs.

Aalto focuses her study on Heimskringla, Lindow on the connection between notions of ethnicity and social boundaries on the one hand, and the supernatural on the other. Chapter 5 — North 2. Trade and tribute-collection As we have seen throughout this thesis, most saga- characters dislike placing themselves in positions of peril, and the decisions they make regarding travel often reflect this preference.

In the same way, far-travellers to the north seem to prefer acquiring native wares and resources in peaceful rather than belligerent ways. The lack of pigs decisively differentiates Lapps from the people of Norse-speaking Scandinavia, to whom swine had both dietary importance and mythical significance.

Eagerness for dairy is presumably a characteristic trait of peoples unacquainted with animal husbandry, and the Lapps too are sometimes portrayed as excessively attracted to butter. Tribute-collection might even be considered a form of trade, if nominal protection from enemies by the tribute-demanding ruler is a commodity to be bartered.

The two practices are certainly very closely related in the sagas in which tribute skattr is mentioned. Here trade and tribute are clearly closely related. Through the complex legal wranglings that follow, it remains clear that tribute- collection in the far north is a royal prerogative, to be granted and regulated by the king at his pleasure.

In contrast to the previous examples, in Egla the voyage to the distant north is introduced from the start as an errand of tribute-collection rather than a private enterprise over which the king is later acknowledged to have authority. Chapter 5 — North the wilds of the distant east and the distant west, wealth in the far north is measured in furs and animal pelts. They are not there to trade with the Lapps; they are there only to take from them.

Chapter 5 — North they bring, but it may also mean that the Lapps recognise in their new tribute-collectors a fundamental lack of the admirable character traits the former tribute-collector possessed. The exemplary saga- hero Finnbogi, naturally, cheerfully turns over the entire amount to the proper authority. II Viking raiding Like far-travelling traders and tribute-collectors, far-travelling Viking raiders take goods from people rather than directly from the land itself.

Unlike traders and tribute-collectors, they use violence to take these goods from those people. Other texts feature this far-travel motivation in a more ambiguous or oblique way. Where the saga is cited without specifying which version, as here, the older one is meant, and it is R. The man nevertheless volunteers that there is a mound nearby composed half of silver and half of earth. Chapter 5 — North inhabitants of the land. Only giants or trolls are oversized hoarders of man-flesh, and their native habitat in saga-literature is the north.

Chapter 5 begins with the final example of far-travel north for a fishing expedition in Ketils saga. The saga is clearly influenced by romance. This struggle was naturally one with which medieval Icelandic saga-writers and -readers could identify. Orosius His main reason for going there, apart from exploring the land, was for the walruses, because they have very fine ivory in their tusks — they brought some of these tusks to the king — and their hide is very good for ship-ropes.

Habitation by walruses is thus a characteristic shared by lands to the distant west and the distant north. Unlike the Hrafnistumenn, Ohthere hunts in the north not for necessary meat during a famine, but to increase his wealth.

Adventures and quests In many episodes in saga-literature Scandinavian characters travel to the distant north to participate in some sort of adventure or quest, either of their own volition or on behalf of monarchs to whom they owe allegiance.

General adventures and quests 2. Chapter 5 — North to the far north for the purposes of trade and tribute-collection and turns to mercenary service or provincial police-work in an opportunistic fashion. This mercenary activity may nevertheless be another spontaneous decision. Chapter 5 — North another profit-making business enterprise that is more legitimate than outright piracy — and still sanctioned by a monarch — but still bears more risk than the similar mercenary service of the Varangians in Byzantium.

There Norsemen serve in the great army of a powerful, Christian emperor in military enterprises that will almost certainly succeed; here the risk of failure is greater, and the Norsemen must weigh the probabilities and make their judgments both before joining the expedition.

A fight with a dragon is, naturally, a sort of adventure very different from mercenary service for a distressed king, both more fantastic and more risky, but the initial motivation desire for gold and the actions taken far travel, fighting are the same. Chapter 5 — North notes the contrast between these adventures and the more prosaic ways of making a living with northern far-travel.

Chapter 5 — North Having heard from some Icelanders of a certain giant Geruthus, Gormr decides to go to see him for himself. Saxo VIII.