The Trojans of the North - The Trojan matter and the End of the Icelandic Commonwealth

Abstract

The thesis focuses on the reception of the Trojan matter in medieval Iceland. This was a popular theme in Icelandic literature in the period known as the Sturlungaöld (‘the age of the Sturlungar’), which ended with Iceland becoming subject to Norwegian dominion in 1264, and beyond. The Icelandic authors who wrote about the Trojan matter were strongly involved in the politics of the Norwegian crown. Haukr Erlendsson, who worked for the Norwegian crown his entire adult life, is the most prominent example. The attestation of the Trojan matter in a relatively substantial number of Icelandic texts shows that it was widely received, and when we relate it to the lives of the authors of these texts we can perceive a political raison d’être for its popularity. The dissertation compares the Icelandic situation with a wider European political environment in order to make sense of the increasing popularity of the Trojan matter. The fact that similar uses of the Trojan matter can be found in other European polities in the process of significant political transformation, suggests that in Scandinavia too it held a significant potential as social or cultural capital for establishing new powers or dynasties. The core of this dissertation is an analysis of these Icelandic texts and their correlation with the lives of their authors. The analysis is organised chronologically, from Ari inn fróði (‘the Wise’, d. 1148) and his Íslendingabók, through Trójumanna saga and Breta sögur, the Veraldar saga, the works of Snorri Sturluson, and the Third Grammatical Treatise to Haukr’s Hauksbók. In the course of the analysis, the considerable influence of the Norwegian crown in the authors’ lives becomes apparent. For instance, Snorri pledged his support for the annexation of the island to the Norwegian crown. Haukr composed his version of Trójumanna saga and Breta sögur while serving as an Icelandic magistrate at the Norwegian court. In all these texts, Troy is construed as the original homeland of the Æsir and, thus, the ancestral land of the Norwegian kings and the Icelanders themselves. A similar use of the Trojan matter is evident across the Latin Europe. In numerous other polities, Troy was portrayed as the rulers’ ancestral homeland. The genealogical tree of Europe’s ruling powers was seen as having its roots in the Trojan war and the diaspora of the Trojan heroes. A Trojan lineage was a potent tool for legitimising authority or status in the political landscape of the central Middle Ages. This intangible capital was manifestly equally central in Iceland before and after the Norwegian annexation.