Magical Music in Old Norse Literature

Autor: Britt-Mari Näsström
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 1996
Předmět:
Zdroj: Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis, Vol 16 (1996)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 0582-3226
2343-4937
DOI: 10.30674/scripta.67231
Popis: No society ever existed without performing music, and most cultures display many variants of music. Music also played and still plays an important part in different religious rites. From the days of yore, music has been intimately connected with the cult, whether it is performed as epic or lyric expressions. The Old Norse society was no exception to this statement and early finds from as far back as the Bronze Age reveal that different instrument were used in daily life. The most conspicuous specimens from this time are the bronze lures, which probably are depicted on the rock-carvings. All these examples emphasise the character of music in Old Norse literature as connected with the magic aspect of religion, and particularly with divination. This does not mean that all music in the Viking Age was performed with a magic purpose, but what has survived in the sources is the conspicuous role of music as something that affected the human mind to the extent that it was experienced as a magic feeling, even able to reveal the future.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals