Work of envy

Neidingswerk is a German word creation that became necessary in the course of translating Old Norse literature and corresponds to the term " níðingsverk " there.

This is a shameful and deeply contemptible act. The sources for this mentality-historical complex of ideas are the Icelandic sagas , the Snorra Edda recorded in Iceland at the beginning of the 13th century , the Older Edda or Song Edda, which was created around 1270 , which is probably also based on older sources, whose content, at least some songs, could possibly also have originated before the year 1000. There are also individual Scandinavian legal sources from the 11th to 13th centuries. The complex of the "Neidingswerk" or "Neidingschaft" refers to the history of the High Middle Ages Scandinavia and more specifically Iceland. The cultural-historical phenomena associated with Níð should therefore not simply be transferred to the mentality-historical situation of Germanic-speaking peoples of Central Europe, which occurred during the Roman Empire and the era of the Great Migration, i.e. well before the 8th / 9th centuries. Century and outside Scandinavia lived.

The Níð

The first part of the word is Níð and means " insult " and "dishonor"; it is an exclusively Old West Norse or Old Icelandic word. It denotes certain types of dreaded and highly punished insults. It used to be the opinion that the abuse essentially related to the fact that a personally free man had taken on the passive role in the context of same-sex sexual contact between men. But the connection with the terms argr and ergi , which denotes not only sexual behaviors (i.e. passive, same-sex behavior by freeborn men), but also personal cowardice in relation to fighting behavior and other shameful behavior that medieval Scandinavians found incompatible with the honor of a free man appeared, denote, shows that Níð must be understood more fully. Those against whom the Níð was directed were people who, according to the Scandinavian-medieval understanding, had committed serious atrocities or were accused of doing so . Such actions were summarized under the term envious work and the people referred to as envious . However, it is indisputable that the Old Norse adjectives argr or ragr and ergi clearly have sexual connotations. Elmar Seebold explains: “arg, adj. Std. (8th century), mhd. Arc, ahd. Ar (a) g; from g. * arga-, adj.> cowardly <; The word is considered a bad swear word in the old days and obviously has a sexual connotation, probably playing the passive role in homosexual intercourse . Testified in ord. argr and ragr (with taboo metathesis) ae. earg, afr. erg. ”This medieval-Scandinavian sexual concept, which still shows the influence of a pre-Christian pagan mentality, only condemned the sexual passivity of free-born and more able-bodied men - that is, out of boyhood - as shameful in the sense of Níð and argr , while the the active role of a free man in same-sex contacts with male slaves apparently did not fall under any ethical verdict. In the latter case the sexual passivity of the slave involved seems to have been accepted as well. Source evidence for this understanding of sexual ethics can be found in the Old Norse Guðmundar saga . The accusation of sexual contact with animals (“tidelag”) was extremely defamatory. Another meaning of "bad" was "magic". Apparently a womanish demeanor was considered with the magic, especially with Seiðr . The most important meaning, however, was that badly expressed the unmanly, the cowardice and the effeminate, which is derived from the passive role in homosexuality.

The different valuation of active and passive homosexuality is clearly expressed in an episode of Sneglu-Halla þáttr . King Harald Hardråde's Hirðmann wants to buy a wonderful bull from the king. This leads to the following dialogue about the possible acquisition: The king asks: “Do you want to be serðast (sexually used) for the bull?" - "I don't think so," replies Halli, "but I don't think that anything should be added if I can sell it (to you) in the same way as I bought it. ”The king then gave him the bull because he had received it himself. While this anecdote is not historical, it does show that active homosexuality was not condemned. Otherwise the author would not have let the king formulate this request. And when Halli expects him to take on the passive role in a buyback, the king has to refuse.

The descriptions of Nið show that the accusation is based on the pair of opposites masculine + human: feminine + animal.

Nið was not limited to men, however. Women could also be exposed to sexual abuse. Fornication, incest and nymphomania were the triggers here, but also male behavior. In the Laxdæla saga , Guðrún falls in love with Þórðr Ingunnarson, who is also married, during her marriage to Þorvaldr. To break the marriages, they started the rumor that the husband Guðrúns wore women's clothes and the wife Þórs wore pants with gussets. Both allegations each led to a divorce because they entailed dishonor. However, the female behavior pattern was more permeable. Women could definitely take on male roles, e.g. B. run a farm without losing her feminine honor. In mythology there is the goddess Skadi , who acts as a male goddess of the hunt. The Valkyries also display a male pattern of behavior. In contrast, the male role was rigidly set on an aggressive ethic. Even milking was dishonorable for a man.

On the other hand, it is noteworthy that in all of the Old Icelandic literature no case of actually practiced homosexuality is mentioned, only the relevant verbal accusations. The laws do not deal with them either, only the accusation.

In Gulathingslov , Níð are distinguished by words and verses and Níð by wooden stakes and carvings.

Níð through words

The word Níð was called "Tunguníð". There is very little evidence for this term, although serious insults are often reported.

Laws

in Gulathingslov it says:

"Engi maðr scal gera tungu nið um annan. ne trenið. En ef hann verðr at þvi kunnr oc sannr. at hann gerir þat. þa liggr hanom utlegð við. syni með settar eiði. fellr til utlegðar ef fellr. Engi scal gera yki um annan. æda fiolmæle. þat cheerful yki ef maðr mælir um annan þat er eigi ma væra. ne verða oc eigi hever verit. kveðr hann væra kono niundu nott hveria. oc hever barn boret. oc kallar gylvin. þa he hann utlagr. ef hann verðr at þvi sannr. syni með settar eiði. fellr til utlegðar ef fellr. "

“Nobody should use words to direct Nið against someone else. Also no nið through wood (figures). If it is known and proven by him that he has done such a thing, then peacelessness rests on him. He can refute that with the oath of six. If the oath fails, it becomes peaceful. Nobody should direct “yki” or (disgraceful) gossip against anyone. This is called “yki” when one asserts what is not, will not be and has not been. He says (for example) that someone is a woman every ninth night. Also that he had given birth to a child. Even if he calls him a "Gylvin". So he is peaceless if this is proven to him. He can refute that with an oath of six. If the oath fails, he falls into peace. "

- Gulathingslov § 138.

"Gylvin" is a special swear word, but its meaning is not known.

And a little further:

“Orð ero þau er fullrettis orð heita. þat er eitt ef maðr kveðr at karlmanne oðrom. at hann have barn boret. þat he annat. ef maðr kveðr hann væra sannsorðenn. þat he hit þriðia. ef hann iamnar hanom við meri. æða kallar hann gray. æða portkono. æða iamnar hanom við berende eitthvert. þa scal hann böta hanom fullum save firi. þar ma han oc viga um. at utlogum þeim manne i Gegn þeim orðom er nu hevi ec talt. ef hann skirskotar undir vatta. … Þat er oc fullrettes orð ef maðr þrælar karlmann frialsan. æða kallar hann troll. æða fordæðo. þat er oc fullrettes orð kono ef maðr vener hana hore. oc kallar hana horo. þar er hon velldr eigi. "

“There are words that are called“ words of full penance ”. One thing is when a man says to another man that he gave birth to a child. A second is a man claims (through another man) that he has been shown to have allowed himself to be used for sexual intercourse. A third is when someone compares a man to a mare, or calls him a bitch or a prostitute, or compares him to some female animal. He should atone for the man with full penance. He may also kill him like a peacemaker for these words, which are now listed, if he has proven them by witnesses. That too is a saying with full penance when a man calls another a servant or calls a troll or a wizard. That too is a word with full penance for women when a man calls her "whore" when she is not. "

- Gulathingslov § 196.

These insults are also severely punished in the Grágás. The punishments are equal to those who are into murder.

Sagas

The best-known description of Nið through words is in the Brennu Njáls saga . There are two key scenes:

When Höskuld, Njál's foster son, is slain, his widow Hildigunnr calls on her uncle Flosi to take revenge on his murderer Skarphedin, one of Njál's sons. But he wants to bring the case to the Thing Court. Thereupon Hildigunnr throws him Höskuld's coat with his blood over him with the words: “You, Flosi, once gave Höskuld this coat, and now I'm giving it back to you. He was slain in it. I call God and all good people to witness that I swear to you in the wonders of your Christ, in your honor as a man and in your blameless reputation and prestige, and call to avenge every single wound that suspicion received at his death, otherwise you should be despised by everyone as a dishonorable coward. ”Flosi tears his coat off his shoulders and throws it in front of Hildigunnr's chest. “You are a monster!” He shouts. “You want us to do exactly what would doom us all. The advice of women is cold after all. ”Flosi reacts so violently that his face alternately turns red like blood, pale like winter grass and dark like Hel.

The second scene plays on the allthing.

The manslaughter case for suspiciousness is being negotiated. Settlement negotiations begin between the Njálsons and Flosi. Twelve arbitrators are named who impose a triple fine. The money is raised in a pot. At the end Njáll adds a valuable silk robe. Flosi is initially satisfied with the amount, but then asks three times who added the silk robe. At first nobody answers, then Skarphedin asks: “Who do you think put it down?” Flosi answers: “If you want to know, I'll tell you what I think: Your father will have put it down, the beardless boy from to whom many do not know whether he is a man or a woman. "Skarphedin replies:" It is cowardly to expose him to such accusations now that he is an old man, whereas one never dared to do so while he was still strong. Rest assured that he is a man, for he made sons to his wife. At our court wall there are also only a few people buried unpaid without our avenging them. ”Then he snatches the robe and throws Flosi a pair of blue trousers with the words that he needs them. “Why should I have more?” Asks Flosi. “Because it is said that you are the bride of the troll from Svínafell, who comes every ninth night and takes you as his wife.” With that, the comparison is broken and the mischief of mutual homicides takes its course.

The first scene illuminates a main theme of the Njáls saga : the contrast between the old moral concept, where killing is to be answered with killing, and the new one, which seeks to resolve conflicts through comparison and penance. The bottom line is that peace be restored in such a way that no one loses their reputation or social position. Both Flosi and Njáll are men of peace who understand that the eradicating feuds must be stopped. But in Hildigunnr's eyes he is a cowardly and dishonorable villain if he renounces the blood revenge. This contrast breaks through in the second scene. Flosi interprets Njál's gift and Skarphedin's scornful words as confirmation of Hildigunnr's allegations. Skarphedin emphasizes that it is not customary in his family for the relatives who have been killed to lie in the grave without revenge, which indirectly also affects Flosi, who is about to forego his revenge. He also accuses Flosi of passive homosexuality with a troll.

In the Grágás the accusation that a man is “sorðinn” or “ragr / argr” is punished with full penance, like murder and more severe than bodily harm. The word “sorðinn” describes unrestrained sexual behavior that is not restricted to homosexuality. In the manuscript AM 556a , the poem Grettísfærsla from the 14th century is passed down, which was probably erased in the 16th century because of its obscenity, but could be made visible with the help of ultraviolet light. There it says, among other things, that Grettir sexually abused girls, widows, all kinds of wives, peasant sons, provosts, royal followers, abbots and abbesses, cows and calves, everything that lived. He is called "sorðinn". While sorðinn refers to actions, arg / ragr refers to a person's habitus, his quality.

In the Egils saga it is reported that such a tungunið was carved into a stick of envy with runes. According to the very detailed rules on níð poetry in the old Nordic laws, there seems to have been a very elaborate tradition of this mock poetry. This is what mockery is called through excessive praise. As a rule, however, the corresponding verses have not survived. In any case, during the missionary period in Iceland the Christian clergy were particularly exposed to such ridicule. An unknown skald of Iceland wrote about Þorvaldr viðforli (the well-traveled ), who had returned to Iceland as a Christian in 980, and his friend Bishop Freðrik, who wanted to evangelize Iceland:

Hefr bǫrn borit byskup níu þeira's allra Þorvaldr faðir

The bishop gave birth to nine children and Þorvaldr is the father of them all.

This should probably be an allusion to "children of God" and nine converts, who are thought of here as a result of a sexual relationship between Bishop Friðrek and Þorvaldr, and the bishop's costume could also be viewed as feminine. Also, one missionary carried no weapons, another unmanly train. However, it is noticeable that Þorvaldr, to whom the male part is assigned, is also involved in the ridicule. Sørensen thinks that the disapproval of the active Þorvaldr does not correspond to pre-Christian morality either. She therefore considers such evaluations to be over-colored by Christianity. In addition, the homosexual, i.e. humiliating act towards a friend represented a special form of "bad", which also made the active part envious.

This constellation, that in addition to the actual victim of the abuse, his friend or relative is abused as an active part at the same time, although according to the opinion of the time the active part had done nothing dishonorable on the sexual level, leads to catastrophe in some sagas.

The mockery

Hohnstange is the German expression for the old Norse word " Níðstöng ". It was a wooden post that was given signs to publicly mock another person. The word occurs only in the Grágás and in the Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar . The facts referred to are described more often. Otherwise the word " Níð " is used for it.

Usually it was a wooden post, but there were apparently also composite structures, as the following description shows:

"Það voru karlar tveir and hafði annar hött blán á Höfði. Þeir stóðu lútir og horfði annar eftir öðrum. Það þótti illur fundur og mæltu menn að hvorskis hlutur væri góður þeirra er þar stóðu og enn verri þess er fyrir stóð. Þórði þótti ill sú tiltekja og hneisa er níð var travels í landi hans ... "

“There were two men, one had a blue hat on his head. They stood leaning forward, one in front, the other behind. It was said that it was a bad trick and that the lot of neither of the two who stood there was good, but worse was the lot of the one who stood in front. Thordur considered this deed and insult to be bad because it was built on his land. "

- Bjarnar saga Hítdælakappa chap. 17th

While it is clear that the front should represent Thordur, the person behind cannot be made out. It was considered that this was his adversary Björn. But this was rejected because Björn had set up the envy bar and he hardly wanted to offend himself. Rather, only Thordur should be humiliated.

A similar scene is depicted in the Gísla saga Súrsonar . Skeggi is free for Þórðís, Gísli's sister, but is turned away. He believes that a love affair with Kolbjörn is the cause and challenges him to walk along the Holm. Kolbjörn does not appear at the appointed time. Thereupon Skeggi proclaims his triumph with a stick of envy depicting Kolbjörn and Gísli, expressly to the mockery of both. Although the saga lacks a more precise description, Sørensen believes that the front was Kolbjörn and the rear was Gísli. What needs to be explained is that the man behind did basically nothing dishonorable according to the morality at the time. According to Sørensen, the dishonorable thing in this case was that Gísli abused his future brother-in-law in the depiction and thus humiliated him and thus became envious of him by performing this "badly".

Usually a carved wooden post was set up with a man's head on which a horse's body or head was impaled. Even Saxo Grammaticus describes such a stake. The statements in the sagas are very little detailed, so that there are only a few examples of the specific design.

An English source from 1272 mentions a pole with a stag's head that was supposed to ridicule the king and his rangers. From Germany a pamphlet from 1621 has survived, which is against the Elector Palatine Frederick V taught. A horse's head placed on a pole is depicted on it. As the context shows, this bar was not only intended to revile, but was also viewed as a remedy against rats and vermin.

In the present, the anachronistic custom of the mockery of the 21st century has been revived in both Iceland and Norway. With political or private motivation, glaring disputes were made public. For example, in 2007 the environmental organization Saving Iceland manifested a mocking rod with a horse's head impaled in front of parliament as a “political manifestation of impotence” in protest against the construction of a power station and aluminum smelter on the monument to the independence hero Jón Sigurðsson .

Nið through action

The humiliating contempt could also be triggered by certain acts. It was already shameful to be tossed on your stomach for exposing your bum. In the Gísla saga Súrssonar , the second part of the dialogue verse spoken by Gísli can

Böllr á byrðar stalli
brast; kannkat þat lasta.

which is usually lexically correct with

Ball on board the load (= shoulders)
barks, I cannot blame it

Can also be read correctly as Kenning, because the words also have a second meaning.

The penis hit hard
on the burdened mast track (broken piece of wood on the keel pig in which the mast is stuck)
I cannot blame it.

which alludes to the position of his adversary in battle, who lies on his stomach on the ground and shows his bottom.

While wounds used to be honorable, it was the deepest humiliation to chop off both cheeks of your bum. This happened, for example, to a peasant who mocked the king's warriors after the battle of Stiklestad . Þormód cut off both buttocks, whereupon the latter ran away screaming. Both the wound and the screams of pain were a great shame.

In the Grágás, such a wound is called "klámhögg" = "shame" in addition to castration and other special injuries (gouge out the eyes, cut off the nose, tongue, ears) as shame and punished with lack of peace.

It is also a great shame to be beaten by a woman, since one cannot take revenge on her for this humiliation. Violence against women was the work of envy.

Níð and magic

The unusually harsh penalties and other consequences for an unjustifiably pronounced Níð have led to the assumption that it was more than just an insult. Some researchers believed that the Níð was also ascribed magical powers. What is certain is that magical rituals were often combined with the erection of a mocking rod. Egill Skallagrimsson called upon the land spirits (Landvættir) to stand up against the king and his wife when he erected the mocking rod against King Erich Blutaxt . → Paganism . But there are other places where no magical act is connected with the erection of the mockery rod, e.g. B. if they only punish the absence of the agreed Holmgang . Therefore one has to assume a possible but not necessary connection between Níð and magic.

The work of envy

The word níðingsverk corresponds to the word "Meintat" in the German language area. Thus, the work of envy is initially not a legal but a moral concept. The negative moral valuation that leads to contempt is documented many times in the sagas, e.g. B. Failure to attend the agreed Holmgang , cowardice at Holmgang, the refusal to feed a feuding companion, failure to revenge or betrayal of the benefactor. In these cases there is no criminal offense. In Christian times there was also apostasy from the Christian faith. The apostate was a guðníðingr ( despicable before God).

But there are also legally punishable acts of envy, e.g. B. Attack on the biological cousin or on an oath brother or killing of an eight-year-old boy.

The Icelandic Grágás does not mention the work of envy. But the “Járnsíða” issued by Magnus Lagabøte for Iceland and in the Jónsbók , both from the end of the 13th century, have adopted the concept of envy from the older Norwegian laws. In Gulaþingslov , Frostaþingslov , older Bjarkørett and in Magnus Lagabøte's land law there are provisions on the work of envy. These are essentially treason and military expeditions against one's own country. There are also shameful forms of manslaughter, mutilations and corpses. The perpetrator, called Neiding , loses all of his property. The Äldre Västgötalag summarizes the deeds to be qualified as work of envy in a separate section " Orbotæmal " and adds piracy and cattle murder. The legal consequence is the " severe lack of peace " and the loss of the entire property. But this legal consequence is not the common feature. The murder in the church is described in the section on the church as an unrepentant work of envy, the burglary of theft into the church as a charitable work of envy. Rather, what they have in common is their low disposition, the shamefulness of action. In the Yngre Västgötalag further criminal offenses are added, in particular breaking the oath, i.e. breaking a settlement. But rape is now also mentioned. The perpetrator becomes peaceless across the country. But he can buy back the peace for 40 marks at the intercession of the victim. Another group, which includes the killings and mutilations, is no longer unspeakable, but is atoned for by the double sentence of supreme penance. According to more recent additions to the law, one half is imposed for the act, the other for the work of envy. In a third part, the murders of relatives are summarized, which cannot be atoned for inland but only through a pilgrimage to Rome.

The Östgötalag (approx. 1290) does not know the Neidingswerk itself, but only the term as a swear word, which is occupied with three marks penance.

Magnus Eriksson goes into detail again in his Landslag (around 1350) on the work of envy. He also counts the manslaughter of parents, siblings, children and the defenseless (swimming, sleeping). It now has the death penalty and the loss of movable property.

In Denmark the concept of the envy is less common. In Waldemars Sjællanske Lov (around 1216), manslaughter out of revenge after agreed and promised penance or after the assurance of safe conduct is described as an act of envy, but is punishable by property penalties.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Solli pp. 140-145.
2. ↑ Almqvist p. 141.
3. ↑ Seebold, p. 58.
4. ↑ Schwink, p. 236.
5. ↑ Greenberg, p. 249.
6. ↑ Karras, pp. 275-277.
7. ↑ Johansson, Sp. 1156-1158: It should also be mentioned that these customs applied only to free men, just as the laws against rape protected only free women: slaves were the property and responsibility of the master, and while sexual intercourse between two free men in which one had to take the passive role was considered shameful, no such feeling seems to have prevailed toward a slave's playing that part. In this respect the attitude of the pagan Scandinavians did not differ significantly from that of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Another important source is Sneglu-Halla þáttr (= Grautar-Halla þáttr ).
8. ↑ Greenberg, p. 249: At first stigmatization did not extend active male homosexuality. To take revenge on the disloyal priest Bjorn and the mistress Thorunnr in the Gudmundar Saga "it was decided to put Thorunnr into bed with every buffon, and to do that to Bjorn the priest, which was considered no less dishoronable", dishonorable to Bjorn, not to his rapists. In the Edda, Sinfjotli insults Gudmundr by asserting that "all the einherjar (Odin's warriors in Valhalla) fought with each other to win the love of Gudmundr" (who was male). Certainly he intended no aspersions on the honor of the einherjar. Then Sinfjotli boasts that "Gundmundr was pregnant with nine wolf cubs and he, Sinfjotli, was the father". Had the active, male homosexual role been stigmatized, Sinfjotli would hardly have boasted on it.
9. ↑ Solli p. 143.
10. ↑ Sørensen (1980) p. 23.
11. ↑ Quoted from Sørensen (1980) p. 32.
12. ↑ Sørensen (1980) p. 19.
13. ↑ Laxdæla saga chap. 34, 35.
14. ↑ ^{a b} Solli p. 144.
15. ↑ Sørensen (1980) p. 31.
16. ↑ Sørensen (1980) p. 33.
17. ↑ Njáls saga, chap. 116. The illustration is based on the translation by Betty Wahl in Isländersagas 1. Frankfurt 2011, ISBN 978-3-10-007622-9 .
18. ↑ Njáls saga, chap. 123. The illustration is based on the translation by Betty Wahl in Isländersagas 1. Frankfurt 2011, ISBN 978-3-10-007622-9 .
19. ↑ Sørensen (1980) p. 11.
20. ↑ Sørensen (1980) p. 21.
21. ↑ Sørensen (1980) p. 22.
22. ↑ Almquist p. 140.
23. ↑ Kristni saga IV, 2.
24. ↑ Sørensen (1980) p. 68.
25. ↑ Sørensen (1980) p. 71.
26. ↑ ^{a b} Sørensen (1980) p. 70.
27. ↑ Gísli saga Súrsonar chap. 2.
28. ↑ Almquist p. 139.
29. ^ Gesta Danorum V, 3, 7: "obscenitatis apparantus".
30. ↑ Almquist p. 140 with reference to AB Rooth: "Nidstången och andra stänger." In: Saga og Sed 1991, pp. 73-91.
31. ↑ The Resurrection of the Mocking Bar Revival of an Old Norse Custom , report by Aldo Keel in Neue Zürcher Zeitung from March 6, 2013, accessed March 6, 2013.
32. ↑ Sørensen (1980) p. 82 f.
33. ↑ Fóstbrœðra saga chap. 45.
34. ↑ Grágás III : The consequences of manslaughter begin here.
35. ↑ Sørensen (1980) p. 94.
36. ↑ Almquist p. 142 with further references.
37. ↑ Egils saga chap. 21; Vatnsdœla saga chap. 33.
38. ↑ Svarfdœla saga chap. 9.14.
39. ↑ Heiðarviga saga.
40. ^ Njáls saga chap. 116.
41. ↑ Njáls saga, chap. 124.
42. ↑ Almquist p. 141.
43. ↑ Examples from Strauch Sp. 944.
44. ↑ This interpretation is not entirely certain. It depends on the term landi , which is lost. Some say it is property, others say it is home, which would lead to the loss of movable property and expulsion from the country. Hemmer Sp. 301.
45. ↑ Three times nine mark penalties.
46. ↑ Strauch Sp. 946.
47. ↑ Jørgensen Sp. 300.

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