Thyle
Athyle(OEþyle,ONþulr) was a member of the court associated withScandinavianandAnglo-Saxonroyaltyandchieftainsin theEarly Middle Ages,whose precise role is uncertain but probably had to do with the preservation of knowledge of the past and the judging of present statements against it.
Most literary references are found inIcelandicandOld English literaturelike theHávamál,where the termFimbulþulr,"the great thyle", presumably refers toOdinhimself,[1]andBeowulf.InGautreks saga,Starkadis referred to as a þulr after he sacrifices a king.[2]The word also appears on the runic inscription of theSnoldelev Stone.[3]Frederiksberg's original name wasTulehøj( "Thyle Hill" ).
The Old English term is glossed as Latinhistrio"orator" andcurra"jester";þylcræftmeans "elocution".Zoëga's Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandicdefinesþulras "wise-man, sage," cognate to Old Norseþula(verb) "to speak" andþula(noun) "list in poetic form". TheRundataproject translatesþulras "reciter". From this it appears that the office of thyle was connected to the keeping and reproducing of orally transmitted lore like theRígsþula,"Lay of Rígr".
Unferðholds the role of thyle in the poemBeowulf;it has been suggested that he was also thescopwho is mentioned reciting poetry at the feast.[4]It might be seen as a legitimate function of a guardian of the knowledge of the past to challenge boasts, judging them against the heroic past.[5]This may have played a role in preserving the luck of the group. Alternatively the thyle's role, including Unferth's, has also been envisaged as part of thecomitatus(war-band), channeling rage into concerted action.[2]
Some modern scholars view the role of the thyle as being usurped bymonksafterChristianization,and being reduced to the modern caricature of thejester(hence the Latin gloss ofcurra).
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Hávamál,ed. David A. H. Evans, Viking Society for Northern Research Text Series, London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 1986,ISBN0-903521-19-9,verse 80 and note, p. 114.
- ^abMichael J. Enright, "The Warband Context of the Unferth Episode",Speculum73.2 (1998) 297–337,doi:10.2307/2887155,JSTOR2887155.
- ^"Snoldelev-sten"atDanske Runeindskrifter,National Museum of Denmark, retrieved September 21, 2017(in Danish).
- ^Norman E. Eliason, "The Þyle and Scop in Beowulf",Speculum38.2 (1963) 267–84,doi:10.2307/2852453,JSTOR2852453.
- ^Paul C. Bauschatz,The Well and the Tree: World and Times in Early Germanic Culture,Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 1982,ISBN0-87023-352-1,note 22, pp. 215–16.