Before It’s Time and Into A New Age?
This blog post will focus on the way Hallgerd was treated during her marriage agreement/contract processes and how that treatment was unlike what other women received or expected at that time. As we all know, Hallgerd’s first marriage to Thorvald does not go well nor does it end well. Although her next two marriages both end with her husband’s death, the marriage agreement process is different than the first marriage. Hoskuld and Hrut finally realize that Hallgerd’s opinion in who she marries may allow for a more successful marriage. Although her next two husbands die, the time before their deaths was not spent between them bickering and fighting like how she did with Thorvald.
The point I am getting to is that Hurt and Hoskuld may have been the first men at that time to take into consideration the female’s opinion about whom she will marry. This action did not seem common at all given the pursuer went straight to the desired woman’s father to ask for her hand rather than her personally, not to forget that most of the time the pursuer had to meet his desired bride. After letting Hallgerd partake in the deliberation process with her pursuers, Glum and Gunnar, she seemed to act more civil during the marriage towards her husbands, at least for the most part.
Unn, on the other hand, was not offered the ability to talk with her father, Mord, about Hrut’s desire to marry her. Had she been given that chance she could have encourage Mord to resign the marriage offer for she could not ever see herself love Hurt. Or, Unn could have gotten used to the idea of marring Hrut and felt more comfortable doing so knowing she had some say in the marriage. Obviously, their marriage ended for nothing to do with the way Hrut treated Unn but for another, more personal, reason. I’m not saying allowing the desired bride to partake in the marriage agreement process guarantees that the marriage will be a long-term success, but at least entering the marriage would be less of a shock and an uncomfortable situation.
Given that the viking age is very old and our current marriage process is much different than at that time, I wonder if Hrut and Hoskuld’s allowance towards Hallgerd might have started an unintentional trend of giving women the opportunity to decide who they marry. This is a long shot of an idea, but there is a bit of a correlation. That small amount of freedom Hallgerd was granted could have double or tripled in amount from generation to generation, generation leading us to where we are now. And if this is true, it begs the question what the marriage process will be like one hundred years or two hundred years from now. What role will women have then?
A gesture as simple as “allowing” Hallgerd to help decide who she will marry could have made a profound impact on the role women fill today.
You touch on an interesting point, Maci, and I am curious as to the effectiveness of the literature on influencing social norms and traditions. These sagas were written hundreds of years after the events within them supposedly take place, but the conversations they might create are nonetheless important, much how we are influenced by and talk about literature all the time. I realize that you mention in your post that this correlational argument is a stretch, and honestly I would say so as well, but I find it quite exciting to think that this perhaps unintentional message of marriage equality could have had some effect on Medieval Scandinavians and how they might involve women in their marriage agreements. Thank you for your insight on this topic, Maci, I enjoyed reading your post!
ReplyDeleteI think it is very interesting to note the gender identities characters like Unn and Hallgerd are forced to accept and take on, one being that of wife. Marriage is seen as when the woman loses her self-identity and possession and becomes almost like the property of the man in historical times, and even now in some cultures. For instance, it has only recently been changed from “I pronounce you man and wife,” to “husband and wife.” The man still gets to keep his self-entitlement, but the woman loses hers. Hallgerd and Unn both experience this, but this is seen as more prominently with Unn as you mentioned. Very thought-provoking blog!
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