Ægishiálmr - den islandske 1600-tals magi mellem tegn og blik

Resumé

The first part of the article presents a line of evolution in recent theory of magic. Marcel Mauss criticizes the earlier theories of J. G. Frazer and A. Lehmann for psychologization and for not viewing magic as an autonomous sociological fact. He consequently poses his own theory that magic is every rite which is coded as abnormal. The magic rite needs a pre-classified universe, from which it can select the single features within the objects in the rite: the rite is hence a linguistic act whose predominant trait is the magic purpose, which determines the other magic elements – that is, the magician, t he magic objects and the magic representations. Finally, he states, the efficacy of magic relies on its status as a sociological fact – the magician fools himself, because the very a priori of magic is that his audience believes it and demands results. Claude Lévi-Strauss – the founding father of structural anthropology – uses these Maussian descriptions as a central prerequisite for his own linguistically inspired interpretation of magic. To Lévi-Strauss, magic has a certain function on primitive and other societies, its role is to heal the weaknesses in the symbolic system of the society. While curing a patient with a strange symptom, the shaman at the same time cures a lack in the social system of understanding. Whilst the understanding of the universe in a given system of symbols is always too small, the various stock of materials of expression in magic are always legio. Thus magic is a central sociological act giving significant to the places of lacking signifiés in the symbolic systems. And the central feature becomes the analogy to what phonology calls the zero phoneme – the symbolic representation of this very magic transport of meaning, as in the Melanese mana meaning simply meaning with no further specification.

The second part of the article localizes an Icelandic Sorcery Book dating from ca. 1600 in its historical context and then sets out to analyze it within the tradition sketched above. It contains two main trends of magic one – very often with a Christian background – protecting against the assaults of illness, wrath, and previous magic; and another, more active trend, supporting various egoistic purposes of the user: causing the diseases mentioned above, seducing women, etc. – very often with a more mixed and heathen background. While the former are often imperfective – one must always do this and that – the letter are perfective – one must all of a sudden act. These second forms of magic are often connected with the gaze as the main medium of active sorcery, and some of the ægishiálmr “helmets of fear”, in the book are analyzed as takers of this magic gaze. Other magic signs in the book are composed of runes, and some of these could also be read in this context, using the medieval names of the runes. The article concludes that the gaze could be the specific representation of the mana of the Mauss - Lévi-Strauss tradition in medieval Icelandic magic.