Ebook: The Dream Women of Gísla saga

Scandinavian Studies Vol. 81, No. 1 (Spring 2009), pp. 47-
72. Published by the University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study.Modern scholarship on Gísla saga Súrssonar has devoted a considerable amotint of discussion to the women of Gisli's dreams. The precise function and nature of these women, however, have been somewhat obfuscated by their dual representation, namely in verse and in prose. Despite striking incongruities between these alternate accounts, modern scholars have tended to take the compiler's reading ofthe poetry at face value. When the dream stanzas are instead analyzed in isolation from the prose and with attention to their respective moods and religious functions, the juxtaposition ofthe two women suggests a dualistic afterlife strongly reminiscent of medieval Christian visionary literature. The images by which this afterlife and its proxitnity are heralded, however, are traditional northwestern European motifs. Thus a blend of Christian and vernacular elements appears to serve two motifs of warning: the warning of death follows a vernacular tradition while the didactic message of what follows is presented in a Christian duality.Contents:
Introduction
Prose and Verse
Christian Implications
Heterodoxy
Vernacular Elements
Conclusion
Works Cited