In the company of Queens and Dukes. Reflections on medieval romances and their use in Swedish medieval research The article argues that it is possible to gain insight into the ideology and political culture of the aristocratic elite, the “frälse”, by analyzing three medieval romances from the early 14th century collectively known as “Eufemiavisorna”. The article discusses and problematizes “Eufemiavisorna” as fiction and/ or a source for courtly ideals primarily by discussing the role of the translator/ author. Leading scholars have shown that the translator altered passages, sometimes quite extensively. This was probably done in order to adapt the story to a Swedish audience, who might not understand the nuances of chivalric culture. Since courtly culture had found its way into Sweden prior to the introduction of “Eufemiavisorna”, it is also likely that the translator/ author was influenced by this when adapting the romances. The overall purpose of romances is also discussed. Scholars have seen them as either didactic or entertaining, but resent research has interpreted romances differently and argue that they should be seen as dualistic, as both didactic and entertaining. Courtly ideals are also discussed and placed in a European context by analyzing courtly love. It is clear that the translator/author de-emphasized this concept. In European research, courtly love is seen as an essential part of romances, and a leading scholar argues that romances and the part of courtly love in them was constructed by the clergy as a means of civilizing the aristocracy. Since courtly love is de-emphasized in “Eufemiavisorna”, and instead courtly behavior, feasts and battle scenes are emphasized, this might not have been the purpose with these particular romances. Instead, it is possible the author/translator wanted to provide models of behavior in order to educate the “frälse” in European courtly culture. Finally, the romances are placed in a socio-political context through a discussion of the formation of courtly culture and chivalric ideals in relation to Swedish courts and Swedish royal power. The influence of ideas from several European kingdoms and courts on Sweden is also discussed. Keywords: Sweden, Norway, middle ages, romance, Eufemiavisorna, courtly and chivalric ideals, courtly love

EK framställer många händelser som om de skett i viss kronologisk ordning. Krönikan ger också sken av att vissa händelser sker i krönikans nutid medan de i själva verket skett betydligt senare. Även konstruerade händelser förekommer. Krönikan som en trogen representation av svensk historia är således problematisk. Mitt paper ska diskutera krönikörens förhållningssätt till det förflutna och relatera detta till krönikörens samtid. I vilken sociokulturell kontext är denna framställning viktig och varför? Tidigare forskning har varit ambivalent i förhållande till krönikans didaktiska funktion, genom en undersökning av det förflutnas representation kan detta problem belysas på ett nytt sätt

In Erik’s Chronicle (EC), a Swedish rhyme chronicle from the early fourteenth century the anonymous author writes a history of the then ruling royal dynasty in Sweden. It is a very important historical work, since it is the only such chronicle written in Sweden from this time. In the chronicle we meet important events and historical actors that shaped the political narratives at the time. Primarily, it is the new courtly setting that is of interest for this paper. The Swedish aristocracy and the royal court were expressing a new ideology at this period, that of courtly and chivalric ideals. Erik’s chronicle is instrumental in expressing these ideal for the Swedish audience. The construction of the past, both historical events, rituals, symbols and character descriptions, is of importance in the construction of the new ideals for the Swedish aristocracy. The chronicler uses western European literary narratives, such as the inclusion of Arthurian knights, to convey role models for behavior. Relevant is the fact that rhyme chronicles were essentially determined by their present. They were written in a socio-cultural context that determined how the past was portrayed. Erik’s chronicle was written to glorify the royal dynasty during a period when a boy-king sat on the Swedish throne. This fact colors our perception of the events portrayed in the chronicle. In EC, there are no years, merely references to saint´s days, relative time periods such as “..three years after…” and so on. Time therefore is essentially undetermined. Instead, the chronicler makes use of relative chronology (that is, events seem to be described chronologically), mythical time, and a religious-moralistic approach where events are mirrored references to biblical themes. Equally undetermined is the concept of space associated with time. Several important social spaces are constructed in EC through association with a mythical or perceived “historical” past. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and discuss how the chronicler makes use of time and space in the construction of courtly ideals through the use of earlier events, characters, place, rituals, and symbols. Main literature: Gerd Althoff, Johannes Fried, Patrick J. Geary, (eds.) Medieval concepts of the past : ritual, memory, historiography, Cambridge : Cambridge University Press ; 2002 Patrick J. Geary, Phantoms of Remembrance: Memory and Oblivion at the End of the First Millennium, Princeton : Princeton Univ. Press, cop. 1994 Robert A. Maxwell, (eds.) Representing History, 900–1300, Art, Music, History, University Park, Pa. : Pennsylvania State University Press, 2010 Elisabeth M. C. Van Houts, Medieval Memories: Men, Women and the Past, 700-1300, Harlow : Longman, 2001.

My paper will analyze and discuss representations of service to the King or to pretenders to the throne in medieval Sweden. The source material used is two medieval rhyme chronicles, Erikskrönikan and Karlskrönikan from, respectively, the fourteenth and fifteenth century. These chronicles are two of only three major rhyme chronicles written in Sweden, and therefore can be considered very interesting source material to the mentality of the nobility and the royal families. I will focus the analysis on hierarchical ties and service to the king and pretenders to the throne from foreign nobles and the representation of this in the chronicles, specifically the ideal of service; what oaths are mentioned and what do they represent? What is service defined as in the chronicles, how are promises and betrayals portrayed? This focus on ethnicity means that the paper will discuss various identities, not only national identities, but also for instance aristocratic ones, since they might differ according to national identity. It is also interesting to discuss change and continuity in the ideal of service in Sweden in the course of the roughly 100 years between the two chronicles. Has the view on identity and service changed? The second chronicle, Karlskrönikan, was written during a period in medieval Nordic history when the three Nordic kingdoms were united in a political union, what does this mean for the representation of service?

HA 17. Ritualer och identiteter. Norden och Europa ca 1000-1300 JUNGFRUN OCH NUNNAN? RITUELL KONSTRUKTION AV KVINNLIGA IDENTITETER I SVENSK MEDELTID Abstract: Ritual studies är ett fält som de senaste decennierna gett nya insikter i maktkonstruktion och maktlegitimering. Genom ritualer som alla i samhället tog del av (både vardagliga och högtidliga) konstruerades, upprätthölls och förmedlades de kollektiva identiteterna och därmed också maktstrukturerna i samhället. Elitskikten använde ritualer till att organisera de sociala relationerna och legitimera den sociala ordningen; via ritualer bekräftades och omfördelades makt. Ritualer gav således samhället en vertikal och horisontell sammanhållning. Frågan är dock om ritualer var ett verktyg för att skapa en stabil samhällelig ordning och om det verkligen fanns en konsensus i samhället och hos aktörerna i ritualerna om innebörden och effekten av de konstruerade, performativa ritualerna? Oavsett, så är ritualernas konstruerade karaktär sällan så tydliga som när ett samhälle genomgick en transformation, när nya sociala och politiska realiteter måste översättas till nya symboler och ritualer. Dessa kan då underlätta steget in i det nya, där alternativa maktstrukturer, sociala relationer och även religionssystem måste legitimeras. Ritualer spelar en viktig roll i denna process genom att underlätta för vissa grupper att skaffa sig tolkningsföreträde. Denna halvdagssession avser att diskutera ritualer och symboler i det medeltida Norden där tonvikten ligger på konstruerandet av olika kollektiva identiteter. Sessionen skall bland annat diskutera vilken relationen var mellan de performativa handlingarna och de andliga dimensionerna som dels var instrumentella delar av ritualerna, dels ofta var föremålet för dem. Fokus kommer således i stor utsträckning riktas mot socioreligiös och sociopolitisk interaktion. Även frågan om vad makt egentligen innebar skall utforskas; vilka maktstrukturer existerade och hur konstruerades performativa handlingar? Och, slutligen, det mest centrala; vad förmedlade ritualer, hur användes de och hur utvecklades de över tid i olika kulturella kontexter? Den europeiska höviska kulturen började sitt intåg i Sverige under 1200-talet. Genom Alsnö stadga ca 1280 formaliserades och infördes också det svenska frälset, en aristokrati med privilegier och skyldigheter enligt europeiska mönster. Mot början av 1300-talet fick det inhemska höviska idealet sina första litterära uttryck i de tre riddarromanerna som nu går under det kollektiva namnet Eufemiavisorna samt även genom en rimkrönika, Erikskrönikan. Dessa verk är unika för svenskt 1300-tal och som sådana ovärderliga källor till de nya idealens konstruktion och genomslag. Den världsliga elit som fanns i Sverige omtolkade således sin makt i enlighet med dessa ideal, ett nytt maktspråk slog igenom. Ridderskap, hövisk kultur, hövisk kärlek var nya fenomen och de verkar också ha behövt uttolkas genom tydliga ritualer då litteraturen genomsyras av olika former av ritualer. Genom performativa ritualer, skådespel, kunde den gamla eliten genomgå en transformering till det nya ridderskapet, med riddare och jungfru som två normativa könsideal. Hur gick då detta till? Hur kunde den gamla eliten omtolka sig själva? Mitt paper skall utforska konstruktionen av de nya kvinnliga könsidealen genom att undersöka performativa ritualer kring kvinnor i Erikskrönikan. Jag skall djupanalysera framställningarna av jungfrun och nunnan, men även andra kvinnoideal såsom drottningen, i olika passager för att nå en bild av maktkonstruktionen i det svenska medeltida samhället.

This paper will examine a Swedish medieval chronicle, the Erikskrönikan from the early 14th century. This chronicle was written for the nobility of Sweden and was one of the very first expressions of courtly ideals. One can argue that the chronicle was central to the construction of the image of the knight. The social classes of knight and nobility were introduced in the late 13th century. The chronicle uses rituals and symbols in the construction and expressions focusing on the chivalric ideals and courtly love in Swedish medieval society. So, the focus of the article concerns the construction of these ideals and the expression of them in the rituals and symbols in the interactions of the elite. Particularly, I will examine how symbols and rituals constructed the image of the knight and also the relationship between the ideal of the kingship and the new class, the knights. This then is used in constructing, expressing and legitimizing power and social structures. Thus, the transition of the aristocracy from chieftains to knights and nobles that took place in Sweden during the 13th and 14th centuries can be explained.

This article argues that by close reading of passages concerning ritual occasions in medieval chronicles it is possible to gain insight into the construction and communication of power. The case study concerns certain rituals described in Erikskrönikan (the chronicle of Duke Erik), a Swedish rhymed chronicle from the first part of the fourteenth century. An account of reception and farewell rituals at the royal court of Norway in 1302 is described in detail and analyzed through the use of ritual studies. Focus is on the portrayal of actors and actions. The rituals are shown to be important parts in the construction of ideals during a period when courtly and chivalric culture was gradually introduced in medieval Sweden. This article shows that through ritual analysis it is possible to gain insight into, and nuance the perception of, the construction, legitimization and perception of power and authority in Scandinavian society.

This paper will examine a Swedish medieval chronicle, the Erikskrönikan from the early 14th century. This chronicle was written for the nobility of Sweden and was one of the very first expressions of courtly ideals. One can argue that the chronicle was central to the construction of the image of the knight. The social classes of knight and nobility were introduced in the late 13th century. The chronicle uses rituals and symbols in the construction and expressions focusing on the chivalric ideals and courtly love in Swedish medieval society. So, the focus of the article concerns the construction of these ideals and the expression of them in the rituals and symbols in the interactions of the elite. Particularly, I will examine how symbols and rituals constructed the image of the knight and also the relationship between the ideal of the kingship and the new class, the knights. This then is used in constructing, expressing and legitimizing power and social structures. Thus, the transition of the aristocracy from chieftains to knights and nobles that took place in Sweden during the 13th and 14th centuries can be explained.

European courtly culture began to permeate the three Scandinavian kingdoms during the 13th and 14th centuries. This meant that older power structures, such as the role of the king and queen as well as the role of the magnates, needed to be reinterpreted into a new language. Chivalry and courtly culture, perhaps especially courtly love, were phenomena that were generally little known by the aristocracy in these kingdoms. Chivalry and courtly culture was used by the secular elite as a means of maintaining and strengthening power, however, there were factors within these processes that were not clear cut. Kingship and noble power were not always striving towards the same goals, and it is possible to see that certain Scandinavian kings used these new trends in order to dominate. Ritual was a means of introducing these power structures and performative ritual was therefore an important factor in the construction of power in medieval Scandinavia. In this paper, rituals surrounding receptions and feasts in Sweden and Norway will be discussed, since on those occasions hierarchies and gender among other things were performed and witnessed. The paper will analyze these rituals as they were expressed in literary sources, namely one rhyme chronicle, Erikskrönikan, and three romances collectively known as Eufemiavisorna, all from the early 14th century. The paper argues that chivalry and courtly culture as they became expressed in Scandinavia differed from their European counterparts and that it is important to analyze the rituals used to express them. The paper also argues that certain older rituals were used and reinterpreted by the anonymous authors as a means of constructing new power structures while simultaneously maintaining links to the older magnate era.

Recension av Herman Schück, Ture Jönsson (Tre rosor): Den siste medeltida stormannen, Runica et Mediævalia. Opuscula (Stockholm: Sällskapet Runica et Mediævalia; Centrum för medeltidsstudier, Stockholms universitet 2013). 98 s.