Abstract
This monograph aims to delineate a space for ideas about the body found in Old Norse literature and focuses on the depiction of the body, corporeality and the boundaries between the physical and psychological or spiritual aspects of man in Old Norse literary works. Two themes that are closely related to the concept of the body are analysed in detail: the somatic signs of emotion and change of form. Episodes with physical manifestations of emotions (tiredness, change of facial colour, swelling, eye pain and death from psychological reasons) are analysed from the point of view what concept of the body underlies them. The central chapter of the book focuses on various possible meanings and connotations of the Old Norse term hamr (shape, form, or appearance, but also character) where three major thematic areas are distinguished: changes of form linked with flight and with the ecstasy of battle, and the shapeshifting of magic practitioners.
In both themes, diametrically different ways of thinking about the connection between body and soul can be found: a spectrum ranging from the concept of the body, when change of form is thought of as total and feelings are bodily phenomena, through to a concept where the change has only physical or psychological means and the corporeality of feelings is perceived as their manifestation. This transitional corpus makes also a contribution to disciplines outside of medieval literature, formulating a holistic conception of the human being.