The motif of «imitation of ancestors» in Saxo Grammaticus's «Deeds of the Danes» as a means of reconstructing the author's idea

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

This article is intended to contribute to the research of the political pragmatics of Saxo Grammaticus’ «Deeds of the Danes» (c. 1208/1216). In modern historiography, the opinion has strengthened that the «Deeds of the Danes» expressed the interests of the customer of the historical work – archbishop Absalon of Lund (1177-1201), as well as the aristocratic family of Hvide, to which the prelate belonged. According to this point of view, the main purpose of the work was to preserve the influence of the Hvide family at court, which was to be achieved by demonstrating the dependence of royal power on the archbishop and his relatives. Therefore, the work of Saxo Grammaticus contains numerous examples of criticism of the rulers of the Valdemar dynasty (1157-1241), Valdemar I (1157-1182) and his son, Canute VI (1182-1202), cited to encourage the sovereigns to listen to the advice of magnates. The article presents arguments in favor of the opposite interpretation of the text of the «Deeds of the Danes»: the historical work was used to legitimize the royal power. Textual analysis and study of the motif of «imitation of ancestors» – a method of representing power in a narrative based on the tradition of name-giving – have shown that Saxo's contemporary, Danish king Canute VI, is compared in the work with his namesake ancestors. These comparisons serve to glorify the ruler and find correspondence in the official privilege of the Lund Cathedral (1186), thus being elements of the «court ideology». The fact that the «Deeds of the Danes» contains criticism of Canute VI is explained by the later editing of the text. Hypothetically, the reworking of the text could have been caused by the death of Absalon and Canute VI, to whom the work was intended.