MPhil Dissertation, University of Cambridge ASNC, 2019
The Ásynjur, goddesses of old Icelandic myth, do not draw much scholarly attention. When they do ... more The Ásynjur, goddesses of old Icelandic myth, do not draw much scholarly attention. When they do it is fairly dismissive, labeling many deities as amalgamations of Freyja or Frigg and lobbying for the insignificance of the goddess group in Scandinavian pre-Christian
religion/s. Western androcentric morality, as a subconscious lens, weighs heavily on goddess scholarship, providing dismissive and sometimes sexist commentaries where there ought to be none. Feminist research into individual deities has increased, but many ‘minor’
female deities fall by the wayside. This dissertation will survey the goddess group, and individuals who make up that group, in an effort to re-think our readings of the Ásynjur from a feminist standpoint. Snorra Edda will provide the primary textual evidence: goddesses enumerated in the nafnaþula ‘heiti Ásynja’ and in Gylfaginning have been
studied, with the exclusion, for the most part, of the more regularly studied pair Frigg and Freyja. The presence of each Ásynja in the Edda will be examined and compared to evidence from the poetic tradition, specifically kennings, and elsewhere. Reflections of earlier pagan tradition will be proposed and previous hypotheses and widely accepted
theories will be scrutinized. It is concluded that Ásynjur scholarship has been generally lacking: scholars have been too quick to assume sexual roles are inherent for many of these deities, and dismiss the majority as lackadaisical late inventions when there is evidence to the contrary.
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Papers by Ellis B Wylie
religion/s. Western androcentric morality, as a subconscious lens, weighs heavily on goddess scholarship, providing dismissive and sometimes sexist commentaries where there ought to be none. Feminist research into individual deities has increased, but many ‘minor’
female deities fall by the wayside. This dissertation will survey the goddess group, and individuals who make up that group, in an effort to re-think our readings of the Ásynjur from a feminist standpoint. Snorra Edda will provide the primary textual evidence: goddesses enumerated in the nafnaþula ‘heiti Ásynja’ and in Gylfaginning have been
studied, with the exclusion, for the most part, of the more regularly studied pair Frigg and Freyja. The presence of each Ásynja in the Edda will be examined and compared to evidence from the poetic tradition, specifically kennings, and elsewhere. Reflections of earlier pagan tradition will be proposed and previous hypotheses and widely accepted
theories will be scrutinized. It is concluded that Ásynjur scholarship has been generally lacking: scholars have been too quick to assume sexual roles are inherent for many of these deities, and dismiss the majority as lackadaisical late inventions when there is evidence to the contrary.