Assignment
Clover, Carol J. 1993. "Regardless of Sex: Men, Women, and Power in Early Northern Europe." Representations (44):1-28.
As you read, pay close attention to the Old Norse gender-related terms and concepts that Clover discusses: blaudr and hvatr, which she associates with gender-normative concepts of femininity and masculinity, and nid and argr, which are associated with failures to conform to or violations of gender-normative behavior.
Finally, we will look at specific examples using the Lokasenna ("The Insolence of Loki"), a story preserved in the Poetic Edda in which the god Loki systematically insults the other gods after having been kicked out of a feast. Read the entire poem and then pick 2 examples of insult exchanges between Loki and another individual to examine in detail.
Based on the specific examples you have chosen from Lokasenna, answer the following questions:
A. In each of your examples, who is insulted? Is the insulted male or female?
B. What is the nature of the argr that he or she is accused of? What is the individual accused of and why is it considered arg?
C. How does the argr described in your examples relate to the normative characteristics of hvatr and/or blaudr? Pay close attention to how the associatidns with these terms can take on either positive or negative connotations when applied to men or women.
D. More generally, in what ways do the exchanges reveal gender norms in Norse culture? What kinds of behavior are extolled or denigrated and how does this reinforce a particular set of gendered power structures in Norse society? In other words, what kinds of behaviors and, by extension, what sort of people, are promoted or marginalized by these norms?
E. What similarities and dissimilarities do you see between gender and power dynamics in the Viking world and today? What dissimilarities?