Into the unknown : contextualizing the <em>Finnar</em> of the sagas

Abstract

<div lang="en" class="abs"><p class="abs_header">Abstract</p><p>The title of our paper draws deliberately on the Disney movie Frozen II in which the song Into the unknown is presented. The movie, in spite of being presented in a fantasy world, makes use of Sámi culture and presents people, who live in the margins of the society in a far-off part of the land. In a similar vein the Old-Norse Icelandic sagas concentrate on the Norse (or Scandinavian, if you prefer) societies, and from time-to-time present characters from the margins, often called Finnar. We plunge into the unknown with the topic of our paper.</p><p>The Finnar of the sagas have been examined in various contexts: their ethnic background has been subject of research as well as their role in the saga literature. Mostly, the Finnar are associated with use of magic in the sagas. This paper sums up the latest archaeological information on the Viking Age and Early Middle Ages and problematizes written sources such as sagas mentioning the Finnar and Finnland. Even though the Finnar in the sagas mainly refer to Sámi people, some passages could refer to Finns. Could the contextualization of written sources and latest archaeological results bring new insights into this question?</p></div>