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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Note to ǪgmEyb Lv 2VIII (Ǫrv 32)

[All]: In an earlier passage of the prose text, it has been explained that Ǫgmundr extended his power over all the kings east of the Baltic and demanded tribute from them every twelve months in the form of kampinn øfra ok neðra af sjálfum sér ‘the upper and lower whiskers from themselves’, that is, their beards and moustaches (Ǫrv 1888, 134). He had this human hair made into a cloak, which he was wearing when Oddr and his men spotted him out fishing. On the symbolism of the cuttting off of human hair, especially that which is a sign of virility, as a gesture of subordination signifying castration, see Leach (1958, 157-62).

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. Ǫrv 1888 = Boer, R. C., ed. 1888. Ǫrvar-Odds saga. Leiden: Brill.
  3. Leach, Edmund. 1958. ‘Magical Hair’. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 88, 147-64. Rpt. in Hugh-Jones et al., eds. 2000. II, 177-201.

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