The Ice-Shirt
Encyclopedia
The Ice-Shirt is a 1990
historical novel
by American
author William T. Vollmann
. It is the first book in a seven-book series called Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes
.
people in Greenland
, Vinland
, and the Arctic
. The novel blends historical fiction, modern journalism, and the elaborate mythology
of the peoples in question, which include Norse
, Mi'kmaq, and Inuit
. In addition to other Norse sagas such as the Heimskringla
, the novel draws heavily from the Flateyjarbók
, a 14th-century Iceland
ic manuscript (especially the Grœnlendinga saga
), with particular focus on the character Freydís Eiríksdóttir
.
The story proper is told in four parts (called movements) with a total of 25 chapters. The longest chapter has 26 subsections; the shortest chapters have only one. Vollmann uses nearly twenty of the subsections to talk about his own northland experiences in the late 1980s; three of these recount the northland experiences told to him by another traveler.
Note: ** Late '80s "travelogue" subsections.
1990 in literature
The year 1990 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*J. K. Rowling gets the idea for Harry Potter while on a train ride from Manchester to London. She says "I was staring out the window, and the idea for Harry just came. He appeared in my mind's eye, very fully formed...
historical novel
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author William T. Vollmann
William T. Vollmann
William Tanner Vollmann is an American novelist, journalist, short story writer, essayist and winner of the National Book Award...
. It is the first book in a seven-book series called Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes
Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes
Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes is a series of novels by William T. Vollmann about the settlement of North America and the conflicts between natives and settlers. Each volume focuses on a different historical expedition in North America...
.
Fact, Fiction, Meta-fiction
The Ice-Shirt is set in the 10th century A.D. and chronicles the arrival of the NorseNorsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
people in Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, Vinland
Vinland
Vinland was the name given to an area of North America by the Norsemen, about the year 1000 CE.There is a consensus among scholars that the Vikings reached North America approximately five centuries prior to the voyages of Christopher Columbus...
, and the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
. The novel blends historical fiction, modern journalism, and the elaborate mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
of the peoples in question, which include Norse
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
, Mi'kmaq, and Inuit
Inuit mythology
Inuit mythology has many similarities to the religions of other polar regions. Inuit traditional religious practices could be very briefly summarised as a form of shamanism based on animist principles....
. In addition to other Norse sagas such as the Heimskringla
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
, the novel draws heavily from the Flateyjarbók
Flateyjarbók
The Flatey Book, is an important medieval Icelandic manuscript. It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and by the Latin name Codex Flateyensis.- Description :...
, a 14th-century Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic manuscript (especially the Grœnlendinga saga
Grœnlendinga saga
The Grœnlendinga saga is an Icelandic saga. Along with Eiríks saga rauða it is one of the two main literary sources of information for the Norse exploration of North America. It relates the colonization of Greenland by Erik the Red and his followers...
), with particular focus on the character Freydís Eiríksdóttir
Freydís Eiríksdóttir
Freydís Eiríksdóttir was a daughter of Erik the Red who was associated with the Norse exploration of North America. The only medieval sources which mention Freydís are the two Vinland sagas, believed to be composed in the 13th century but purporting to describe events around 1000...
.
Schema
In addition to the story itself, The Ice-Shirt comprises a preface, a foreword and afterword, glossaries (of characters; places; "dynasties, races and monsters"; and of primary texts), a chronology, and a list of secondary texts. Illustrations by the author (such as his drawings of Icelandic plants, his renderings of ancient maps, and a self-portrait) and free-ranging footnotes are interspersed throughout the book.The story proper is told in four parts (called movements) with a total of 25 chapters. The longest chapter has 26 subsections; the shortest chapters have only one. Vollmann uses nearly twenty of the subsections to talk about his own northland experiences in the late 1980s; three of these recount the northland experiences told to him by another traveler.
The Changers
- Wearing the Bear-Shirt – ca. 220-–ca. 940 / the Bear-Shirt / the Shirt of Perpetuity / Old Blood / the Wolf-Shirt / King Harald Fairhair / Hiding the Bear-Shirt / the Dream of the Bears / King HalfdanHalfdanHalfdan was a late 5th and early 6th century legendary Danish king of the Scylding lineage, the son of king named Fróði in many accounts, noted mainly as the father to the two kings who succeeded him in the rule of Denmark, kings named Hroðgar and Halga in the Old English poem Beowulf and named...
’s Yule-feast / the Bear-Hunter / Herlaug and Rollaug / Gyda’s Reward / the Flight of the Earls / the War of the Islands / the New Lands / the Death of King Harald Fairhair / Gunhild Joins the Family / Denial of the Bear-shirt / Dreams of the Ice-mountain / Greenland Dreams Recalled on a Sunny Swedish morning / the League of the Ice-dreamers / Queen Gunhild and her Murder-burners / Freydis’s Father / How Hall Fared / Wearing the Grey Shirt / the First Outlawry - Wearing the Blue Shirt -- ca. 981–-ca. 1500 / Red and Blue / between Fjord and Ocean / Snæfellsness / Drangar / Thjodhild Jorund’s-daughter / Happiness / Haukadale / the Children / the Eldest Son / the Second Outlawry / the Dream of the Black Hands / Tradir / Öxney Island** / the Bench-boards / the Dead Dream / Wearing the Blue Shirt / the Outcome / the Supporters of Thorgest / the Supporters of Eirik / the Third Outlawry / the Bird-islands of Breidafjord / Dimunar’s-bay / Blue-shirt / Greenland at the Millennium / the Other Greenlanders /
Black Hands
- the Hermaphrodite -- ??--c. 30,000 BC / the Bear-shirt / the Storm, the Spirit Woman and the Island / San Francisco Transvestites** / the Woman-shirt / the Cloud-shirt / the Hermaphrodite-shirt / the Bear-shirt / the Ice-shirt / the Bird-shirt
- Birds on a Roof -- and So we were Sitting Idly**
- Brothers and Sisters -- we Found a Few Small Willows / Where Greenland was / Freydis Eiriksdottir
- the SkrælingSkrælingSkræling is the name the Norse Greenlanders used for the indigenous peoples they encountered in North America and Greenland. In surviving sources it is first applied to the Thule people, the Eskimo group with whom the Norse coexisted in Greenland after about the 13th century...
s of Greenland -- 1577 - the Moon and the Sun -- Justina–-Abraham Zeeb’s little kifak / a Relation, Concerning the Sun and the Moon / in Praise of the Sun / the Air-bridge
- Wearing the White-shirt -- 1385–-1987 / the Troll-children** / Christian and Margethe / Amortortak and Angangujungoaq / White Shirts and Black Hands** / Amortortak and Emilie
Vinland
- Dressmaker’s Patterns -- 30,000 BC – AD 1007 / Wearing the Ice-shirt / to be Great is to be Misunderstood
Freydis Eiriksdottir
- Gudrid the Fair -- but at Midnight the North Wind Goes Forth / Thorbjorn Proves himself to be a Person of Quality / a Mournful Banquet in Greenland / Spring on Baffin Island** / Two Grateful Guests / Thorstein without Gudrid / Love and Honor / Waiting for Favorable winds / Fathers and CrowsFathers and CrowsFathers and Crows is a 1992 historical novel by American author William T. Vollmann. It is the second book in a seven-book series called Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes....
/ Gudrid and Thorstein Eiriksson - the Land of the Counterfeiters -- by its Delineation of Greenland / a Monkish Error / the Voyage of Thorstein and Gudrid / in the West Bygd** / the Talking Corpse / Gudrid and Thorfinn KarlsefniThorfinn KarlsefniThorfinn Karlsefni was an Icelandic explorer who circa 1010 AD led an attempt to settle Vínland with three ships and 160 settlers. Among the settlers was Freydís Eiríksdóttir, according to Grœnlendinga saga and Eiríks saga rauða, sister or half-sister of Leif Eriksson...
- Freydis Eiriksdottir -- shee Cast her Greedy Eyes upon us / Thjodhild’s dream / Queen, Castle, Rock / the Hall and the Little milkmaid / Demons and Stones / Amortortak** / her Soulscape** / Wearing the Dream-shirt / the Whirlpool-dream / the Evil Traveler / the Edge of the Frozen Sea / the Vestibule / Skulls and Loneliness / the Dead Land / Whiteness and Wind-voices / Love-song for Amortortak / at the Foot of the Ice-mountain / Skulls and Clouds / the Palace of Amortortak / Amortortak
- Ships and Coffins -- Even a Potato in a Dark Cellar / the Seduction of the Brothers / Gladness / the Axe / Preparations for Trade / the Seduction of Leif / the Disappointments of Thorvard / a Ship among Ships / the Norse Ship-berths**
- the Voyage to Vinland -- ca. 1007 / the Map of Sigurdur Stefansson / Waves and Loneliness / Ginnunga Gap / HellulandHellulandHelluland is the name given to one of the three lands discovered by Leif Eriksson around 1000 AD on the North Atlantic coast of North America....
/ the Voyage of Seth Pilsk the Thin** / ~ (continued)** / ~ (concluded)** / the End of the Light / MarklandMarklandMarkland is the name given to a part of shoreline in Labrador, Canada, named by Leif Eriksson when he landed in North America. The word Markland is from the Old Norse language for "forestland" or "borderland". It is described as being north of Vinland and south of Helluland... - Wineland the Good -- when [the Sun] First Comes to Visit the East / Pinpointing their Landfall / Freydis Takes Possession / Gudrid and Karlsefni / Helgi and Finnbogi / the Swimming Games / Freydis Eiriksdottir
- Wearing the Ice-shirt -- it Began to Blow and Raine / Two Lessons on Beauty / the Search for the Skrælings / the Leaf-sun / the Dream of the Ice-cliffs / Freydis in the Forest / the Grove of Uppsala / a Depiction of Yggdrasil in a Seventeenth-century Icelandic Manuscript of the Prose EddaProse EddaThe Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda or simply Edda, is an Icelandic collection of four sections interspersed with excerpts from earlier skaldic and Eddic poetry containing tales from Nordic mythology...
/ the Trees of Vinland / the Dream of the Seven Birds - Skins for Milk -- the Man who is to be a Trader / Snorri Karlsefnisson / Two Dear Friends / Freydis’s Milk / the Seduction of Kluskap / the Skull in the Sea / the Luck of Skofte Carrion-Crow / Freydis, Gudrid and the Great Tree / Freydis and Thorvard / Freydis and Gudrid / Wearing the Gold-shirt / Thorvard and the Skrælings / New Clothes / How the Skrælings Whitened themselves / the Axe / Names and gifts / Maktawaakwa / Gudrid and Gudrid / the Quiet Days
- Amortortak and Kluskap -- .. Spontaneity is Only a Term / Amortortak** / the Way to the Sea / a Person among Persons / the Frost-seed / the four Wishes / Freydis and Kluskap / Wearing the Master-shirt / the Invitation / How the Brothers Greeted Each other / the Mountain and the Hill / the First Bout / the Armies / the Second Bout / the Third Bout / the Fourth Bout / the Fifth Bout / the Sixth Bout / the Seventh Bout / Freydis’s Dream
- Black Hands -- you will Remark, Sir, that Nothing Rots
- Giants and Trees -- I Remember of Yore / Carrying the War-club and Dreaming of Bad Days / Karlsefni’s Preparations / How Gudrid Found Yggdrasil / How Freydis Found Yggdrasil / the Philosophy of Skofte Carrion-crow / the Way beneath the Tree / the Bride of Nothingness / Freydis’s Mother / JötunheimJötunheimrJötunheimr is one of the Nine Worlds and the homeland of the Giants of Norse Mythology — Rock Giants and Frost Giants.-Legend:...
/ Slab-land** / NiflheimNiflheimNiflheim is one of the Nine Worlds and is a location in Norse mythology which overlaps with the notions of Niflhel and Hel...
/ the Changers / Wearing the Snake-shirt / Wearing the Horse-shirt / Queen HelHel (being)In Norse mythology, Hel is a being who presides over a realm of the same name, where she receives a portion of the dead. Hel is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson...
Loki’s-daughter / the New Concubine / Freydis Hel’s-daughter - the First Axe-tale -- though Necessity may Force you into Strife / Freydis and Thorvard / Freydis and Gudrid / Womb-fruit / Gudrid begins her Revenge / the Hen and the Silver Game / the Catechism / Black Hands / Carrying the War-club and Freydis / Carrying the War-club and the Axe / the Victor / the Accolades / Freydis and Gudrid / the Skin-shirts / the Outlaws / Port-au-Choix, NewfoundlandPort au Choix, Newfoundland and LabradorPort au Choix or Port aux Choix is a town in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The nearest airport is Port au Choix Airport, 2.8 km to the southeast.- History :...
** - Wearing the Wall-shirt -- Wise in Measure / the Last Lesson / Helgi and Finnbogi / Finnbogi’s Luck / Reunion
- the Second Axe-tale -- I Know for Certain So Much / the Coming of the Frost / Skofte Leaves Freydis / the Frost in Greenland**
- the End -- ca. 1010–-ca. 1430 / the Death of Bjarni Grimolfsson / the Tunersuit in their Twilight Years / 1944 / Summer in the Ruins**
- L'Anse aux MeadowsL'Anse aux MeadowsL'Anse aux Meadows is an archaeological site on the northernmost tip of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Discovered in 1960, it is the only known site of a Norse or Viking village in Canada, and in North America outside of Greenland...
, Newfoundland -- 1987** / Wearing the Ink-shirt
Note: ** Late '80s "travelogue" subsections.