Liminales Leben, Streben und Sterben in der altisländischen ‚Heimskringla‘

Abstract

Liminality has not featured prominently in Old Norse studies, and saga literature in particular has hardly caught attention in the discussion so far. While recent research into selected liminal aspects of saga society has highlighted formerly unrecognised aspects, large parts of the corpus have remained untouched. The present chapter intends to contribute to the tentative debate by focusing on the neglected Kings’ Sagas, more precisely, the compilation ‘Heimskringla’, as well as a neglected aspect of the debate, namely, liminal natural spaces. Based on three case studies, it demonstrates how geographical and topographical spaces are functionalised within the narrative to create a state of menacing indetermination and, thus, how liminality in ‘Heimskringla’ indicates a fundamental threat in entering certain natural spaces. The birth, life, and death of kings is closely linked to these spaces, which arguably renders the most powerful individuals of the medieval North mere pawns in the game of nature.