Empowering voices: the influence of Old Norse mythology on women’s writing from 1950-2012

Thesis

In the following thesis, I shall address a very particular lacuna in Old Norse reception studies; that of women’s voices. In recent years, the main focus has been on Norse symbolism in politics, cinema, comics and gaming, or, in literary reception, how male writers like Tolkien, Lewis and Auden have engaged with Norse mythology. I now wish to explore the use of Old Norse mythology specifically in women’s creative, original writing in the UK, and thus demonstrate the true flexibility of the pantheon as a signifier. As a summative study of women in this category would be too large, and would also risk binarization of writers, I shall instead explore how and why certain female writers have engaged with the particular sensations of power associated with Old Norse mythology, and what such engagement communicates about their own contexts.

My chosen period of focus is between 1950 and 2012, between the colonialist viking craze of the early twentieth century, and the neo-medievalist surge of ‘viking’ pop culture. As well as demonstrating the ongoing (albeit subtler) reliance on powerful Old Norse content in this period, I shall explore the ways in which usage of the mythology by women authors changed with the rapidly changing social climate. Each of my chosen writers - Sylvia Plath, A.S. Byatt and Kathleen Jamie - comes from a very different context within the twentieth century, but all, tellingly, have one thing in common: they have written about Old Norse mythology in a way which makes them feel powerful, whether through expressing intense emotions, breaking the boundaries of established thinking, or using their voice to address wider issues and empower others. While commenting on their writing, I shall also comment on the importance of such individuals to the ongoing arc of reception studies as a whole.

Authors: Mulley, C

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-2zvyxvqxw
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Old Norse receptions; Sylvia Plath; fantasy; twentieth century British literature; reception theory; Old Norse; Old Norse afterlives; Kathleen Jamie; A.S. Byatt; Eddic poetry; valkyries; medievalism; Wagner; women's writing
• Subjects: Creative writing; Twentieth century; Valkyries (Norse mythology); Old Norse poetry; Mythology, Norse, in literature; Women