Frillor och fruar: Politik och samlevnad p Island 1120-1400. Av Audur Magnsdttir.
Avhandlingar frn historiska institutionen i Gteborg, 29. Gteborg: Historiska
institutionen, 2001. Pp. 240.
In the last decade medieval scholars have paid considerable attention to Nordic
women, in particular, to the issue of marriage. Arguing that marriage is but one
of several forms of sexual cohabitation, Audur Magnsdttir in this book focuses
on concubines (frillor), a subject on which Icelandic sources are particularly rich;
wives (fruar) are relegated to the last chapter. Her best evidence comes from
narrative sources-the contemporary secular sagas and sagas treating the lives of
bishops-laws, and diplomas. The sagas of Icelanders she considers to be useful
evidence, but less of the time they describe than of the period in which they were
written. Throughout her analysis she is keenly attuned to the repercussions that
political and societal changes invariably have on patterns of cohabitation.
Jenny Jochens
Baltimore, Md. |
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