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Divine & Conquer

Ancestors, Gods, and the Right to Rule

Authors

  • Magnus Arvid Boes Lorenzen University of Copenhagen

Keywords:

Kingship, Myths

Abstract

This article explores the use of legendary, ancestral, and divine figures in consolidation and legitimization of power, drawing on a theoretical framework provided by David Graeber and Marshall Sahlins in their book On Kings (2017). It takes its offset in literary narratives and their use in legitimizing kingship: First, the Sargon Birth Legend is investigated, and it is shown how this text might be understood as a part of a larger-scale legitimization of Sargon II and his dynasty’s claim to the Assyrian throne. Then, Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta Danorum is examined in relation to its role in Danish king Valdemar and his dynasty’s claim to the throne, and to sovereignty from the Holy Roman empire. It is analyzed and compared to the Assyrian case, to show the manners in which history-making and self-association to powerful ancestors and divine agents are used to legitimize and consolidate power in both cases. Finally, it is argued how the uses of these texts, and their characters, can help elucidate our understanding of the appropriation and transmission of narratives within intercultural frameworks, and the divinities and legendary figures in them, as potential universal tendencies in the legitimization and consolidation of power.  

References

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Front cover of issue 2, at the top of the image is the titel 2, 2024, Chronolog - archaeology, assyrology and egyptology, in black on a ligth bluish purple background. At the center is a white frog vessel with small holes, some still filled with lapis lazuli. Below is two outstreched vulture wings centered around a circle with a 2 in the middle. enter.

Published

24-05-2024

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How to Cite

Arvid Boes Lorenzen , M. (2024) “Divine & Conquer: Ancestors, Gods, and the Right to Rule”, Chronolog, 2(2), pp. 47–59. Available at: https://tidsskrift.dk/Chronolog/article/view/145894 (Accessed: 21 November 2024).

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2024): Chronolog

Section

Articles

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