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Somatic Semiotics: Emotion and the Human Face in the Sagas and Þættir of Icelanders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2016

Kirsten Wolf
Kirsten Wolf*
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Abstract

The human face has the capacity to generate expressions associated with a wide range of affective states. Despite the fact that there are few words to describe human facial behaviors, the facial muscles allow for more than a thousand different facial appearances. Some examples of feelings that can be expressed are anger, concentration, contempt, excitement, nervousness, and surprise. Regardless of culture or language, the same expressions are associated with the same emotions and vary only in intensity. Using modern psychological analyses as a point of departure, this essay examines descriptions of human facial expressions as well as such bodily “symptoms” as flushing, turning pale, and weeping in Old Norse-Icelandic literature. The aim is to analyze the manner in which facial signs are used as a means of non-verbal communication to convey the impression of an individual's internal state to observers. More specifically, this essay seeks to determine when and why characters in these works are described as expressing particular facial emotions and, especially, the range of emotions expressed. The Sagas and þættir of Icelanders are in the forefront of the analysis and yield well over one hundred references to human facial expression and color. The examples show that through gaze, smiling, weeping, brows that are raised or knitted, and coloration, the Sagas and þættir of Icelanders tell of happiness or amusement, pleasant and unpleasant surprise, fear, anger, rage, sadness, interest, concern, and even mixed emotions for which language has no words. The Sagas and þættir of Icelanders may be reticent in talking about emotions and poor in emotional vocabulary, but this poverty is compensated for by making facial expressions signifiers of emotion. This essay makes clear that the works are less emotionally barren than often supposed. It also shows that our understanding of Old Norse-Icelandic “somatic semiotics” may well depend on the universality of facial expressions and that culture-specific “display rules” or “elicitors” are virtually nonexistent.

Type
Research Article
Information
Traditio , Volume 69 , 2014 , pp. 125 - 145
Copyright
Copyright © Fordham University 

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References

1 In The Works of Aristotle, ed. W. D. Ross, trans. T. Loveday and E. S. Forster (Oxford, 1913), 805..Google Scholar I am grateful to Joseph Harris, Thomas Hill, Paul Hyams, and Jeffrey Turco for their useful comments on this paper and for their helpful advice.Google Scholar

2 See Ekman, Paul and Friesen, Wallace V., “Nonverbal Leakage and Clues to Deception,” Psychiatry: Journal for the Study of Interpersonal Processes 32 (1969): 88–106, at 88.Google Scholar

3 See Argyle, Michael, Bodily Communication (New York, 1975), 213.Google Scholar

4 Ibid., 247.Google Scholar

5 Ibid., 230.Google Scholar

6 See Ekman, Paul, Friesen, Wallace V., and Ellsworth, Phoebe, Emotion in the Human Face: Guidelines for Research and an Integration of Findings (New York, 1972), 1;.Google Scholar Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus, Human Ethology (New York, 1989), 443–80.Google Scholar

7 See Argyle, , Bodily Communication , 107, 214. Argyle (ibid., 214) refers to Osgood's, C. E. article, “Dimensionality of the Semantic Space for Communication via Facial Expression,” Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 7 (1966): 1–30, but comments that “this method is open to criticism on grounds of artificiality, through use of posed expressions, static photographs, lack of context, and provided categories.” Google Scholar

8 Russell and Fernández-Dols argue that “there is some uncertainty over contempt and over the distinction between surprise and fear.” They further add that “interest and shame might be added to the list” and conclude that “all emotions other than the basic ones are subcategories or mixtures (patterns, blends, combinations) of the basic emotions.” (Russell, James A. and Fernández-Dols, José Miguel, “What Does a Facial Expression Mean?” in The Psychology of Facial Expression , ed. iidem [Cambridge, 1997], 12.) Writing in the same volume, Izard, (“Emotions and Facial Expression: A Perspective from Differential Emotions Theory,” 60) is of the opinion that shame, shyness, and guilt should be considered basic emotions, but notes that they are not consistently associated with particular facial patterns.Google Scholar

9 Gestures and Looks in Medieval Narrative (Cambridge, 2002), 70. See also Ekman, and Friesen, , “Nonverbal Leakage,” 96; and Ekman, , Friesen, , and Ellsworth, , Emotion in the Human Face, 231.Google Scholar

10 References to laughter have been excluded. For a study of laughter in Old Norse-Icelandic literature, see Wolf, Kirsten, “Laughter in Old Norse-Icelandic Literature,” Scripta Islandica 51 (2000): 93–117.Google Scholar

11 Some passages in FóstbrœÐra saga and Njáls saga have been compared to medieval learned literature about the body and physiology in general by, e.g., Kristjánsson, Jónas ( Um FóstbrœÐrasögu [Reykjavik, 1972], 240–47) and Lönnroth, Lars (Njáls saga: A Critical Introduction [Berkeley, 1976], 111–13).Google Scholar

12 The relatively high number of occurrences in poetry is probably not coincidental. “Not the least importance of saga verses is their capacity to remind us that there is more to the emotional life of saga characters than the insatiable hunger for honour which seems to dominate many a saga plot.” (Ólason, Vésteinn, Dialogues with the Viking Age: Narration and Representation in the Sagas of the Icelanders , trans. Wawn, Andrew [Reykjavik, 1998], 128.) Recent research questions if the þættir should be regarded as a separate genre. See Jakobsson, Ármann, “The Life and Death of the Medieval Icelandic Short Story,” Journal of English and Germanic Philology 112 (2013): 257–91; and Rowe, Elizabeth Ashman and Harris, Joseph, “Short Prose Narrative (Þáttr),” in A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture , ed. McTurk, Rory (Oxford, 2005), 462–78.Google Scholar

13 See, e.g., Hallberg, Peter, The Icelandic Saga , trans. Schach, Paul (Lincoln, 1962), 76. See also Ai, Low Soon, who claims that “facial expression is curiously absent in the sagas. Saga characters are dry and sparing of speech, and we imagine them as stony-faced, tight-lipped people.” (“The Mirthless Content of SkarpheÐinn's Grin,” Medium Aevum 65 [1996]: 101–8, at 101.) Most works contain only two, three, or four references, and some, especially the þættir, none at all. To the latter group belong Árnórs þáttr jarlaskálds, AuÐunar þáttr vestfirska, Bolla þáttr, Brandkrossa þáttr, Brands þáttr orva, Draumr Þorsteins SíÐu-Hallssonar, Einars þáttr Skúlasonar, Gísls þáttr Illugasonar, Grœnlendinga þáttr, Gull-Ásu-ÞórÐar þáttr, Gull-Þóris saga, Gunnars saga Keldugnúpsfífls, Gunnars þáttr ÞiÐrandabana, Halldórs þáttr Snorrasonar I and II, HarÐar saga ok Hólmverja, Hrafnkels saga FreysgoÐa, Hrafns þáttr GuÐrúnarsonar, Hrómundar þáttr halta, Hœnsa-Þóris saga, Íslendings þáttr so¸gufróÐa, Ívars þáttr Ingimundarsonar, Jokuls þáttr Búasonar, Kjalnesinga saga, Króka-Refs saga, Kumlbúa þáttr, Ljósvetninga saga, Odds þáttr Ófeigssonar, Ófeigs þáttr, Reykdœla saga ok Víga-Skútu, Sneglu-Halla þáttr, Stjornu-Odda draumr, Stúfs þáttr, SvaÐa þáttr ok Arnórs kerlingarnefs, Þórarins þáttr Nefjólfssonar, Þórarins þáttr ofsa, Þórarins þáttr stuttfelldar, Þorgríms þáttr Hallasonar, Þorleifs þáttr jarlsskálds, ÞormóÐar þáttr, Þorsteins saga hvíta, Porsteins saga SíÐu-Hallssonar, Þorsteins þáttr forvitna, Þorsteins þáttr Stangar-hoggs, Þorsteins þáttr tasalda, Þorsteins þáttr tjaldstæÐings, ÞorvarÐar þáttr krákunefs, Valla-Ljóts saga, VoÐu-Brands þáttr, Ogmundar þáttr dytts, and Olkofra þáttr. Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar, FóstbrœÐra saga, Grettis saga, and Njáls saga supply the most references.Google Scholar

14 “Emotions and the Sagas,” in From Sagas to Society: Comparative Approaches to Early Iceland , ed. Pálsson, Gísli (Middlesex, 1992), 98.Google Scholar

15 Njáls saga , 378.12–14. This and all subsequent references to editions of the sagas are by page and line number, preceded by volume numbers in the case of Íslendinga sögur og þættir (2 vols.), whereas volume numbers for texts in the Íslenzk fornrit series are given only in the appendix. On the episode in question, see Lönnroth, Lars, “Kroppen som själens spegel: Ett motiv i de isländska sagorna,” Lychnos (1963–64): 49–50. Miller, (“Emotions and the Sagas,” 98) draws attention also to another occasion in Njáls saga, where Þórhallr's face or body reveals his inner feelings. When hearing about Njáll's death, Þórhallr's body swelled up, blood gushed from both ears, and he fainted: “hann þrútnaÐi allr ok blóÐbogi stóÐ ór hvárirtveggju hlustinni, ok varÐ eigi stoÐvat, ok fell hann í óvit” (344.23–25). The episode has been discussed by Lönnroth, (Njáls saga: A Critical Introduction, 112), who points out that “the scene has no precedent in the native tradition, and its psychology is ‘clerical’ rather than typical of sagas: Þorhallr's spectacular and strange behavior is evidently meant to signal a violent inner conflict, one his will cannot control.” He argues (ibid.) that “blood coming out of the ears suggests that the author of Njála was familiar with medieval medical theory; the stream of blood may be a sign that the sudden fury has caused þórhallr's gall fluid to seek its ‘natural’ exit through his ears (according to Hauksbók, the gall fluid would then appear as ‘red blood’).” Google Scholar

16 For a discussion of the phrase tœja tanna, see Wolf, Kirsten, “A Comment on a Textual Emendation to Bjarnar saga Hítdœlakappa,” Maal og minne 102 (2010): 98–105. Kormákr's inability is an interesting contrast to Hólmgongu-Bersi's smile expressed in a verse after his killing of Þorkell tanngnjóst (“Nú hefk, en ték tanna, / Tanngnjóst vegit manna, / þau beri menn frá morÐi / mín orÐ, tigar fjorÐa” [255.7–10]).Google Scholar

17 “Ekki er þat mín ætlan, at GuÐrúnu þykki lítit lát Bolla; hygg ek, at henni gengi þat meir til leiÐiorÐs viÐ oss, at hon vildi vita sem g⊘rst, hverir menn hefÐi verit í þessi ferÐ; er þat ok ekki ofmæli, at GuÐrún er mjok fyrir oÐrum konum um allan skorungsskap. Þat er ok eptir vánum, at GuÐrúnu þykki mikit lát Bolla, því at þat er satt at segja, at eptir slíka menn er mestr skaÐi, som Bolli var, þó at vér frændr bærim eigi giptu til samþykkis” (169.6–14). For a discussion of this episode, see Miller, , “Emotions and the Sagas,” 91–92; and Ai, , “The Mirthless Content of SkarpheÐinn's Grin,” 104.Google Scholar

18 See Argyle, , Bodily Communication (n. 3 above), 23; Eibl-Eibesfeldt, , Human Ethology (n. 6 above), 452.Google Scholar

19 Wounded men are in several instances described as being pale. See FóstbrœÐra saga (1:843.15, 26, 29; 850.5, 37) and VápnfirÐinga saga (2:2006.13).Google Scholar

20 See Ekman, , Friesen, , and Ellsworth, , Emotion in the Human Face (n. 6 above), 43 and 62, who comment on the fact that fear and surprise are very similar to each other in both facial components and semantic connotations.Google Scholar

21 Ed. Faulkes, Anthony (Oxford, 1982), 45, lines 5–6.Google Scholar

22 See Lönnroth, , “Kroppen som själens spegel,” 35–36; and Kristjánsson, Jónas, Um FóstbrœÐra saga (n. 11 above), 70 and 243–46. HávarÐar saga ÍsfirÐings also contains an example of chattering teeth, though here due to cold. It is related that Atli in Otradalr, who is not exactly portrayed as a hero either, hid in an enclosure under a haystack, and when he emerged, he was shaking so much that every tooth in his head clicked and clacked: “skelfr hann svá mjok at glamrar í honum hver to¸nn ok gno¸trar” (2:1327.39–40).Google Scholar

23 See Lönnroth, , “Kroppen som själens spegel,” 44–45.Google Scholar

24 Ibid., 46.Google Scholar

25 The references to blár (in Njáls saga and Fljótsdœla saga) and svartr (in Fljótsdœla saga) would seem to be literary conventions. Clearly the adjectives do not express a realistic facial color. For a discussion of blár and blár sem hel, see Wolf, Kirsten, “The Color Blue in Old Norse-Icelandic Literature,” Scripta Islandica 57 (2006): 71–72. Note in this connection also BárÐar saga, in which BárÐr is described as being very dark in the face (“mjo¸k d⊘kkr yfirlits”) due to anger (1:51.37–38).Google Scholar

26 Miller, (“Emotions and the Sagas” [n. 14 above], 101) argues that “clearly SkarpheÐinn is furious, consumed with indignation, but he is also ashamed and humiliated, hence, in fact, his fury.” Google Scholar

27 Further examples of people turning red with anger are Þorgeirr LjósvetningagoÐi in Finnboga saga ramma, who “roÐnaÐi mjo¸k” (1:629.9); Óláfr bjarnylr HávaroÐsson in HávarÐar saga ÍsfirÐings, who “roÐnaÐi” (2:1303.10); Kjartan Óláfsson in Laxdœla saga, who “roÐnaÐi mjo¸k” (145.18); Þorgils Ho¸lluson in Laxdœla saga, who “roÐnaÐi mjo¸k” (195.21–22); Þorleikr Ho¸skuldsson in Laxdœla saga, who “roÐnaÐi mjo¸k” (103.10); Bjarni Brodd-Helgason in VápnfirÐinga saga, who was “rauÐr sem blóД (2:2000.34); Víglundr Þorgrímsson in Víglundar saga, who “brá mjo¸k viÐ … ok setti rauÐan sem blóД (108.4–5); and Ívarr ljómi in Þorsteins þáttr uxafóts, who “roÐnaÐi fast” (2:2311.1). For a discussion of GuÐlaugr Snorrason in HeiÐarvíga saga, whose face is described as having been “rauÐr sem blóÐ at sjá” and seemed to inspire terror (247.4–5), see Hill, Thomas D., “GuÐlaugr Snorrason: The Red Faced Saint and the Refusal of Violence,” Scandinavian Studies 67 (1995): 145–52.Google Scholar

28 Cf. the comment in Njáls saga that the Viking BróÐir was so angry that he could not speak (“varÐ svá reiÐr, at hann mátti engu svara”) when Óspakr interpreted for him the meaning of the wonders that had happened to him and his men on their ship (447.22–23).Google Scholar

29 Paul Hyams draws attention to “the emergence especially under the Carolingians of a persuasive ecclesiastical plea for a kingly ideology of clemency and restraint.” (“What Did Henry III of England Think in Bed and in French about Kingship and Anger?” in Anger's Past: The Social Uses of an Emotion in the Middle Ages , ed. Rosenwein, Barbara H. [Ithaca, NY, 1998], 100.) See also Althoff, Gerd (“Ira Regis: Prolegomena to a History of Royal Anger,” ibid., 65–70); and Bührer-Thierry, (“‘Just Anger or ‘Vengeful Anger?’ The Punishment of Blinding in the Early Medieval West,” ibid., 75–91, at 75), the latter of whom draws attention to the fact that “if anger was reprehensible for all mankind, it was still more so for kings, who were supposed to know how to control the movements of their flesh and how not to allow themselves to get carried away, since the essential function of kings was to do justice.” Google Scholar

30 Dacher Keltner argues that the social communication of embarrassment does not include a distinct nonverbal display, but notes blushing, which also occurs during shame and anger. (“Signs of Appeasement: Evidence for the Distinct Displays of Embarrassment, Amusement, and Shame,” in What the Face Reveals: Basic and Applied Studies of Spontaneous Expression Using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) , ed. Ekman, Paul and Rosenberg, Erika L. [Oxford, 1997], 134.)Google Scholar

31 When Þórhallr heard the news about Njáll's death, his whole body swelled up, blood gushed from his ears, and he fainted. Interestingly, he himself commented that he felt humiliated (“kvaÐ sér lítilmannliga verÐa”) by his emotional reaction (344.26), but those present reportedly tried to assure him that no one would count his behavior as shameful: “so¸gÐu, at engi mundi virÐa honum þetta til skammar” (345.1–2).Google Scholar

32 Scornful or mocking laughter is by far the most common kind of laughter in the Sagas of Icelanders and in Old Norse-Icelandic literature in general. (Wolf, Kirsten, “Laughter in Old Norse-Icelandic Literature,” Scripta Islandica 51 [2000]: 97–103.)Google Scholar

33 In his poem in praise of Arinbjo¸rn (ArinbjarnarkviÐa), Egill makes reference to the glare of King Eiríkr blóÐ⊘x (1:497.33–40).Google Scholar

34 See Sävborg, Daniel, Sagan om kärleken: Erotik, känslor och berättarkonst i norrön litteratur , Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis 27 (Uppsala, 2007), 67–68.Google Scholar

35 See also Gunnlaugr's verse spoken immediately after the incident, in which he comments on her gaze and the consequences her feelings for him will have: “Brámáni skein brúna / brims af ljósum himni / Hristar ho¸rvi glæstrar / haukfránn á mik lauka” (2:1188.14–21).Google Scholar

36 In three verses Kormákr makes reference to her gaze (209.1–8, 209.10–17, 210.1–8).Google Scholar

37 Þorhildr subsequently derided Þráinn in a couplet: “Era gapriplar góÐir, / gægr er þér í augum” (89.15–16).Google Scholar

38 For a discussion of Egill's eyebrows during the episode in King Athelstan's hall, see HarÐarson, Gunnar (“Um ætt og uppruna augabrúna Egils Skallagrímssonar,” Skírnir 177 [2003]: 159–62), who draws attention to an interesting parallel in Cicero's speech against L. Calpurnius Piso Caesonius.Google Scholar

39 In two verses, Egill makes reference to his eyebrows. One is spoken after King Athelstan has given Egill two chests of silver for his father as compensation for Þórólfr. In this verse, Egill comments that the king has now managed to push the eyebrows back above his eyes: “Kno¸ttu hvarms af harmi / hnúpgnípur mér drúpa, / nú fann ek þanns ennis / ósléttur þær rétti; / gramr hefr gerÐiho¸mrum / grundar upp of hrundit, / sá's til ýgr, af augum, / armsíma, mér grímu” (1:439.22–29). The other is spoken in Egill's old age, when the cook accuses Egill, who is trying to warm himself by the fire, of being in her way. In this verse, Egill complains of the affliction that he bears on the border, where his eyebrows cross: “Hvarfak blindr of branda, / biÐk eirar Syn geira, / þann berk harm á hvarma / hnitvo¸llum mér, sitja” (1:515.25–28).Google Scholar

40 Other examples of people frowning or knitting include the mound dweller Oddr, who frowned heavily (“var yggldr mjo¸k”) because his demand for tribute had not been satisfied (Þorsteins þáttr uxafóts, 2:2309.14), and the cave dweller Brusi, who knit his brows and grimaced rather horribly (“lét … síga brýnnar og grettist heldr greppliga”) when Ormr tore off the bearded part of his face (2:2199.8). Critics have also interpreted the facial expression of Hrútr Herjólfsson, who in Njáls saga is said to “brá mjo¸k í brún” upon finding out that his wife Unnr had been taken away (26.16), as signaling discontent; however, the phrase suggests that he was merely showing surprise.Google Scholar

41 Reference to biting into one's beard is found also in Njáls saga, where the dead SkarpheÐinn Njálsson is described as having bitten into his mustache: “hafÐi bitit á kambi sínum” (343.15–16). Very serious concern, that is, alarm, is expressed by the phrase “e-m bregÐr vá fyrir gro¸n” (a danger passes one's beard), as in Grettis saga, which relates that when Grettir revealed his identity to the men at the Hegranes assembly by throwing off his cowl and stripping to the waist, they looked at each other with expressions of alarm: “leit hverr til annars, ok brá mjo¸k vá fyrir gro¸n” (1:1066.6).Google Scholar

42 Epic and Romance: Essays on Medieval Literature (London, 1926), 244.Google Scholar