Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 12497
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Grundy , Stephan.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: The Viking's Mother: Relations Between Mothers and Their Grown Sons in Icelandic Sagas
  • Source: Medieval Mothering.  Edited by John Carmi Parsons and Bonnie Wheeler.  Garland Publishing, 1996.  Pages 223 - 237.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Essay
  • Subject (See Also): Iceland Mothers in Literature Sagas Sons in Literature Witches Women in Literature
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: Scandinavia
  • Century: General
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations: The mother-son relationship in Icelandic sagas is a close one, especially when the mother appears as a witch who protects or promotes her son. Contrasted with her legal and physical powerlessness, the witch-mother's social and personal power intensified the relationship; her actions reinforce the social norm and call attention to its boundaries. [Reproduced by permission of Garland Publishing.]
  • Table:
  • Abstract:
  • Related Resources: Stephen [sic] Grundy also focuses on Norse motherhood in his analysis of the witch-mother and her sons. He finds mothers and sons in complimentary roles. Mothers forward the interests of their sons while sons protect their mothers from both physical and l
  • Author's Affiliation:
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1996.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 0815323417