Rígsþula

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The Rígsþula ( Old Norse “Ballad” or “Song of Rig”), also Rigst (h) ula or Rígsmál , is an Icelandic song of gods that explains the origin of the estates . The otherwise unknown god Ríg (perhaps from Irish rí (g) "king") comes to earth three times and successively begets the ancestors of the servants, free peasants and nobles, who differ in their appearance: while Þræl (Thräl), the servant , is described as "black of skin", Karl the farmer is "red", while Jarl, the nobleman, has "light curls" and "shining cheeks".

Science is particularly concerned with the age of this myth, which was written down comparatively late in the 14th century.

The prose introduction to the Rígsþula equates Ríg with the god Heimdallr . In the Völuspá version of the Codex regius it says that people are his sons. In his work Germania of the god Mannus , Tacitus also reports on a myth according to which three lines emerge from the three sons of a god . There is a further parallel in the Indian myths in which the god-king Manu creates the castes . The names of Mannus and Manu go back to the same origin and both mean "man". Accordingly, the Rigsthula seems to reflect an old myth.

In another opinion, however, the song is not much older than it was written and represents the work of art of an individual. On the one hand, it describes a sociogony, while Tacitus reports on an ethnogony. In addition, it probably reflects the social conditions in Norway in the first half of the 13th century , which did not even exist in the Viking Age .

See also

literature

  • Frederic Amory: The Historical Worth of Rígsþula. In: Alvíssmál, No. 10. VWB Verlag, Berlin 2001, pp. 3–20. (PDF file; 304 kB)
  • Sverre Bagge: Old Norse Theories of Society. From Rígsþula to Konungs skuggsiá. In: Jens Eike Schnall and Rudolf Simek (eds.): Studia Medievalia Septentrionalia, Volume 5: Speculum regale. The old Norwegian king mirror (Konungs skuggsjá) in the European tradition. Verlag Fassbaender, Vienna 2000, ISBN 978-3-900538-68-2 , pp. 7-45.
  • Karl G. Johansson: Rígsþula och Codex Wormianus: Textensfunktion ur ett compilation perspective. In: Alvíssmál, No. 8. VWB Verlag, Berlin 1998, pp. 67-84 (English summary, p. 84). (PDF file; 103 kB)
  • Klaus von See , u. a .: Commentary on the songs of the Edda. Heidelberg 1997 ff., Volume 3, pp. 477-513 (especially p. 483 f.)

Web links

Wikisource: Rígsþula  - sources and full texts