Young men’s journeys in Heimskringla and the influence of queens

Abstract

In Scandinavian Viking Age society, expeditions abroad were a prerequisite for political and economic power, as described in Heimskringla, and also to some extent in contemporary European medieval romances, as in Parzival. However, in the latter, the journeys are by nature an individual progress of a knight. The aim of this article is to study young men’s journeys in Heimskringla, and above all, in relation to this, the role of the queens. Not only the departure but also the welcoming home of young men will be of importance to the analysis. For example, in contrast to the romantic farewells in chivalric literature, Heimskringla seems to reflect young men’s leaving home without the influence of knightly ideals, but on the other hand, the welcoming motif seems to have similarities with European romance narratives. The article thus investigates how political power, according to Snorri, is legitimized and manifested over time, and it may also shed light on Snorri as a historian and on his use of different sources.