A society and literature grappling with violence

The ^13th century saw a long period of upheaval in Icelandic society, culminating in its integration into the Norwegian kingdom in 1262. Increasingly identified with a European-style high aristocracy, members of the Icelandic ruling class engaged in a competition for power that quickly degenerated into bloody battles. These years of great violence coincided with the rise of the "Icelandic saga" genre, recounting the lives of the first generations of Icelanders who settled the country and converted to Christianity. Composed in the ^13th century, these tales project the issues of their time into a past of origins, exploring in particular the roots of violence, the means of containing it and its consequences when unleashed. The third lecture will examine the social mechanisms that resolve conflicts, as they appear in the sagas, and the importance of an image of the Viking past as an ideological background, justifying violence but also rendering it problematic. The Saga of Njall the Burnt, one of the most important, will be a particular focus.