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Compte rendu de l’exposition « Füssli, entre rêve et fantastique » au musée Jacquemart-André, Paris, 16 septembre 2022-23 janvier 2023. Art exhibition review of Füssli, entre rêve et fantastique, at the Jacquemart-André Museum, 16th September 2022-23th January 2023.

International audience; This article analyses the last riddle of Vafþrúðnismál and the Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks. In those two texts, Óðinn ends the verbal duel by asking his opponent what he whispered into the ear of his son before he was laid on the funeral pyre. This question, to which only the god knows the answer, is a neck-riddle. This riddle has traditionally been described as dishonest and unfair by researchers. Through an analysis of the genre of the neck riddle, the article offers a new understanding of these two texts and shows that there is no injustice but that this riddle has a precise function : demonstrating Óðinn’s almighty knowledge.; L’article propose une analyse de la dernière énigme du Vafþrúðnismál et de la Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks. Dans ces deux textes, Óðinn met fin au face-à-face en demandant à son adversaire ce qu’il a murmuré à l’oreille de son fils avant que ce dernier ne soit placé sur le bûcher funéraire. Cette question, dont lui seul détient la réponse, est une énigme d’inversion. Cette énigme a traditionnellement été décrite comme malhonnête et injuste par les chercheurs. À travers une analyse du genre de l’énigme d’inversion, l’article propose une nouvelle lecture de ces deux textes et montre qu’il n’y a aucune injustice, mais que l’énigme occupe une fonction bien précise : souligner la toute-puissance du savoir d’Óðinn.

Preden je na sever Evrope prišlo krščanstvo, so tamkajšnji ljudje verjeli v poganske bogove in izvajali poganske obrede. Mitski svet, ki so ga ustvarili, je bil poln mitoloških bitij, s katerimi so verjeli, da si delijo svet. Da so zagotovili blaginjo skupnosti, so ljudje skušali zadovoljiti bogove in druga bitja z raznimi obredi in žrtvovanji. O teh govorijo najdbe kosti na več arheoloških najdiščih, prav tako kot pripovedi tujcev, ki so bili priča njihovim obredom ali so o njih slišali zgodbe od drugih ljudi. Poleg bogov in bitij, ki so živela v mitologiji Vikingov, so verjeli še v množico drugih bitij, s katerimi so živeli na zemlji in katerih sledi so videli v naravi, ki jih je obdajala. O teh so pisali v sagah. Te so opisovale življenja običajnih ljudi oziroma junakov, ki so se srečevali z raznimi entitetami, ki izstopajo zaradi svoje nadnaravne narave. Sčasoma so prebivalci skrajnega severa Evrope sprejeli krščanstvo, vendar pa nova vera ni uspela povsem izbrisati spomina na poganstvo, saj nekatere elemente mitskega sveta Vikingov lahko zasledimo tudi v življenju modernega človeka. Before Christianity came to the north of Europe, people there believed in pagan gods and performed pagan rituals. The mythical world that they created was full of mythological creatures with which they believed they shared the world. To ensure the welfare of the community, people tried to satisfy the gods and other creatures with various rituals and sacrifices. These are confirmed by the findings of bones in several archaeological sites, as well as by the narratives of foreigners who witnessed their rituals or heard the stories from other people. In addition to the gods and creatures who lived in the mythology of the Vikings, they also believed in many other creatures with which they lived on earth, and whose traces they saw in the nature that surrounded them. They wrote about these in the sagas that described the lives of ordinary people or heroes who met with various entities which stand out due to their supernatural nature. Eventually, the inhabitants of the extreme north of Europe accepted Christianity, but the new faith failed to completely erase the memory of paganism, as some elements of the mythical world of the Vikings can also be traced in the life of the modern man.

This article offers a new interpretation of the character of Guðrún Gjúkadóttir in the Poetic Edda as a heroic ‘warrior’ with the ability for extreme self-control, based on the comparison of translations of the poems in which she features prominently. Due to her complex and varied character, this comparison also reveals how the art and function of translations of Eddic poems use the character of Guðrún as a cipher for exploring their wider thematic concerns with Old Norse literature and culture more broadly. These themes include the experience and expression of grief; the relationship between the heart, mind, and emotion; the potential physicality of emotion; the simultaneous roles and duties of women in Norse societies as wife, sister, and mother; the world-view of fate and its relation to guilt; the impact of descriptions to celebrate or condemn Guðrún’s actions; and the concept of revenge as desire or duty. As each translator necessarily brings different temporal and cultural perspectives to their understanding of the medieval texts, as well as more consciously choosing to emphasise certain aspects in order to accord with their general view of Old Norse society and culture, each translation of the Eddic poems surrounding Guðrún should be viewed as an interpretation. By comparing a range of translations, new insights into the changing re-creation and mediation of Guðrún’s character are revealed, suggesting a new understanding of her fascinating and famous character.

The last Edda manuscripts written on vellum were created in the seventeenth century. One was an attractive manuscript of Eddic poetry commissioned by Bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson. The manuscript was lost in the fire of 1728 but we attempt to reconstruct its contents. It turns out that all extant early copies of the Eddic Poems are derived from the same lost archetype. This archetype contained an inexact copy of the Codex Regius of the Eddic Poems, supplemented with material from at least six other sources. We argue that this lost archetype is prob­a­bly identical with Brynjólfur Sveinsson’s lost vellum manuscript. The other vellum manuscript discussed here is the extant Codex Sparfven­feldianus, an attractive mid-seventeenth-century manuscript of the Prose Edda, based principally on the Codex Regius of the Prose Edda but supplemented with other sources. The manuscript has been linked with Bishop Þorlákur Skúlason but we argue that this connection lacks any firm basis. A connection to Bishop Brynjólfur is much more likely. The two manuscripts required significant scholarly resources and reflect a sophis­ti­cated editorial conception of the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. Modern edi­tions of these works have much in common with these seventeenth-century creations.

The purpose of this article is to show the internal integrity of the Eddic Grímnismál (Sayings of Grímnir), putting forward that the proper name is the key element for understanding the structure and meaning of this Eddic song. The name with transparent semantic motivation can both explicate the key features of denotata in thulas that represent comprehensive classification schemes, and implicate them (cf. the multiplicity of names of Odin, concealing his true name and nature). The author considers the end of the song, when Odin unveils his identity, rejects his false names and uses a true one (I, Odin), as a marker of Odin’s special ecstatic state revealing the knowledge about the origin and the structure of the universe, as well as the true essence of Odin. The opposition of the names explicating the properties of named objects (personalized elements of the universe in the concept of cosmogenesis: rivers, deers, etc.) and subjects (i.e. actors, like Valkyries or Odin himself), on the one hand, and the names implicating them, on the other, is neutralized in the act of sacrifi ce when Odin comprehends the origin and the structure of the universe. Proper names are, thus, interpreted as a clip uniting the two parts of Grímnismál — the prose frame and the main poetic part of the song. The author argues that Grímnismál represents an ideal model of the universe embodied by the fi rst and best proper name. Цель настоящей статьи заключается в том, чтобы доказать внутреннюю цельность «Речей Гримнира», выдвинуть гипотезу об имени собственном как ключе к пониманию структуры и семантики этой эддической песни. В «Речах Гримнира» имя с прозрачной семантической мотивировкой может как эксплицировать ключевые признаки денотата в тулах, представляющих собой исчерпывающие классификационные схемы, так и имплицировать их (ср. множественность имен Одина, служащих для сокрытия его подлинного имени и сути). Самоидентификация Одина в финале песни, отказ от его многочисленных имен и прямая номинация («я», «Один») могут рассматриваться как особое экстатическое состояние, при котором открываются высшие знания о происхождении и устройстве Вселенной, а также подлинная сущность самого Одина. Антитеза имени-экспликатора и имени-импликатора свойств субъекта и объекта может нейтрализоваться в акте жертвоприношения, когда Один постигает информацию о происхождении и устройстве Вселенной, причем имена собственные представляют и объекты — персонифицированные элементы Вселенной в концепции космогенеза (реки, олени), и субъектов (валькирий, бога Одина). Поэтому не что иное, как имя собственное является композиционной скрепой, объединяющей две части «Речей Гримнира» — прозаическое обрамление и основную часть повествования. В «Речах Гримнира» представлена идеальная модель мира, воплощенная первым и наилучшим именем собственным.

International audience; This article analyses the last riddle of Vafþrúðnismál and the Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks. In those two texts, Óðinn ends the verbal duel by asking his opponent what he whispered into the ear of his son before he was laid on the funeral pyre. This question, to which only the god knows the answer, is a neck-riddle. This riddle has traditionally been described as dishonest and unfair by researchers. Through an analysis of the genre of the neck riddle, the article offers a new understanding of these two texts and shows that there is no injustice but that this riddle has a precise function : demonstrating Óðinn’s almighty knowledge.; L’article propose une analyse de la dernière énigme du Vafþrúðnismál et de la Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks. Dans ces deux textes, Óðinn met fin au face-à-face en demandant à son adversaire ce qu’il a murmuré à l’oreille de son fils avant que ce dernier ne soit placé sur le bûcher funéraire. Cette question, dont lui seul détient la réponse, est une énigme d’inversion. Cette énigme a traditionnellement été décrite comme malhonnête et injuste par les chercheurs. À travers une analyse du genre de l’énigme d’inversion, l’article propose une nouvelle lecture de ces deux textes et montre qu’il n’y a aucune injustice, mais que l’énigme occupe une fonction bien précise : souligner la toute-puissance du savoir d’Óðinn.

International audience; This article deals with the traditional opposition between the “real riddles” found in Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks and the “questions” of Vafþrúðnismál. However, three riddle categories can be distinguished: true riddle, wisdom riddle, and neck-riddle. The use of riddles from these different categories explains the perceived difference between those two texts. Moreover, I show that there is a deliberate intention behind the choice of riddles: they are a reflection of the protagonists’ nature.