V.3.3
CENTRALITY VS AXIALITY
A CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE
Broadside accessibility is as old as the type itself, and, in
fact, one of the very earliest of the aisled Iron Age houses
so far known, that of Jemgum (fig. 314), is entered through
two porches that face each other in opposite pairs in the
middle of the two long walls. Broadside accessibility is a
characteristic feature not only of many of the smaller
Ezinge houses (figs. 293-297), it is a standard form of the
houses, both small and long, of Fochteloo (fig. 304) and
Feddersen-Wierde (figs. 315-316). It is the standard form
of most of the Iron Age houses of Denmark,[165]
a common
occurrence among the Migration Time houses of Öland[166]
and Norway[167]
as well as among the Saga period houses of
Iceland[168]
and Greenland.[169]
EFFECT OF SEATING ARRANGEMENT
As there is some lack of clarity about the distribution of
the house type, often too loosely referred to as the Northern
"longhouse," I must digress at this point to discuss its
relationship to the aisled Germanic timber house in general,
and to the St. Gall house in particular.
In certain North Germanic territories, especially on the
island of Gotland, the house entrance is located preferentially
in one of the end walls.[170]
I have for some time suspected
that this axial location of the entrance is historically
conditioned by the customary seating arrangement in the
North, which reserves for the owner of the dwelling a
"high seat" (hásæti or œdra öndvegi) in the middle of the
long bench on one side of the house, and for the person
next in rank the "second best seat of honor" (úœdra
öndvegi) in the middle of the long bench on the opposite
side, with the fire flickering in the center floor between
them.[171]
In the North Germanic territories of Öland, Norway, and
Iceland, when the entrance is found in one of the long walls,
it is rarely located in the middle of the house but usually
down toward the ends of the hall where it would not be in
conflict with such a seating arrangement. The prevalence
of this seating order in the North is incontrovertibly established
by the Sagas through scores of descriptions of
banquets and wedding parties, some so detailed that we
can reconstruct the individual place of seating of almost
everyone attending. Since the same custom prescribes that
the women be seated on the cross bench at the upper end
of the hall, the most logical place remaining for the entrance
is in the end wall on the opposite side of the house (provided
this side of the house is not used for cattle, in which
case an axial door might be installed at either end of the
house, one for the cattle, the other as the entrance for the
farmer and his family). There is no doubt that houses laid
out in this manner have a longitudinal character.[172]
This
feature of the house, however, is greatly overemphasized,
when the structure is deprived of all its furnishings and
inner cross partitions, as it is upon excavation. Had we
actually been able to witness one of these banquets, we
would have found that even with the strictly axial arrangement
of the hall, the longitudinal sway of the space was
intercepted in three crucial areas by strong transverse
alignments. The first of these was the axis formed by the
two high seats and the fireplace. It divided the hall at its
center (or close to it) into two halves, the outer half nearest
the door being the place for guests of lesser standing, the
inner half for the guests of higher standing; and internally
in each of these groups the more important men were
seated closer to the high seats, the less important further
outward toward both ends of the hall.
Two further transverse alignments were established at
each end of the hall by the installation in the innermost bay
of the hall of a cross bench (þverpallir) on which the women
sat, and by the use of the entrance bay as a vestibule or
[ILLUSTRATION]
328. GIZUR'S STOFA AT FLUGUMYR. ORDER OF SEATING
The narrative on which this reconstruction is based deserves particular attention,
since it was committed to writing by one of its main participants, Sturla Thordasson,
who recorded it before 1262, when most of those who had attended the
wedding still lived. It is a fine example of the veracity of the Old Norse narrative
tradition, demonstrating that in a hall 78 feet long and 36 feet wide (26 by 12 ells)
the nearly 200 invited guests could be seated comfortably in the manner described
in the Saga.
The wedding of Sturla's daughter Ingibjörg (only 13 years of age) and Hall,
son of Gizur Thorvaldsson, had been arranged in formal acknowledgement of a
peace settlement among Sturla, Gizur, and Rafn, formerly enemies. But the peace
was violated two nights after the wedding by yet another enemy who, unappeased,
mounted a surprise attack on Flugumyr, in the course of which Gizur's family
was burned to death in a fire that devastated his entire farmstead. Gizur alone
survived, although nearly frozen to death, by submerging his body in a vat of milk,
and recovered quickly to take gruesome revenge. (Extracts and translations from
the Old Norse text follow.)
Nú líðr at brúðlaups-stefnu; ríða þeir Hrafn ok Sturia [vestan] við sjau tigi manna;
þeir höfðu gótt mannval. Með þeim var Fell-Snorri prestr, Vigfúss Gunnsteinsson,
Þorleifr Fagrdæll, ok mart annarra góðra manna. Ekki er frá ferð at segja fyrr en þeir
kómu Föstu-kveldit it síðasta í sumri í Skagafjörð. Tók Hrafn gisting á Víðimýri ok
þeir tíu saman. . . . Sturla gisti á Reykjarhóli; var þar [með hónum] Helga, kona hans,
ok Ingibjörg dóttir hennar, ok [þau] fimtán saman. Þá var skipt [liði] á aðra bæi.
Now the day of the wedding drew near. Rafn and Sturla rode from the west with
seventy men. They had a well-chosen following. With them came Priest Snorri from Fell,
Vigfuss Gunnsteinsson, Thorleif from Fagridal, and many another respected man. Of
their journey there is nothing to tell before they came, on the last Friday evening of
summer, to Skagafjord. Rafn quartered with nine others in Vidimyr. . . . Sturlo passed
the night in Reykjarhol; there with him were Helga his wife, Ingibjörg his daughter, and
thirteen others. His men were quartered at other farmsteads.
*
Gizurr hafði boðit mörgum bóndum um Skagafjörð ok svá ór Eyjafirði; . . . Þorvarðr
ór Saurbæ fór norðan, ok Guðmundr frá Hrafna-gili; ok þeir feðgar ór Mikla-garði,
Þorvarðr ok Örnólfr son hans; ok enn fleiri bændr norðan. Sunnan kom Isleifr
Gizurarson, ok Ketilbjörn, ok kom hann fyrst. Sámr Magnússon ok Ámundi, ok þeir
tiu. Á öðru hundraði var boðs-manna Gizurar. . . .
Gizur had invited many farmers from around Skagafjord and likewise many from
Eyafjord; . . . out of the north came Thorvard of Saurbae, Gudmund from Rafnagil;
Thorvard of Mikligard with Örnulf his son, and numerous other northern farmers. From
the south came Gizur's sons Isleif and Ketilbjörn (the last first), Sam Magnusson,
Amundi and six others. Close to two hundred were Gizur's guests. . . .
*
Nú kómu menn til brúðlaupsins Laugar-kveldit á Flugumýri. Þar var sú mannaskipan,
at Gizurr sat á inn eystra langbekk miðjan, ok Hrafn innar[173]
frá hónum it næsta;
þá föru-nautar hans ok félagar innar frá hónum. Útar[174]
frá Gizuri it næsta sat Hallr son
hans, brúðguminn; þá Ísleifr bróðir hans; þá Þórir tottr Arnþórsson; þá Sámr; þá
Þorvarðr ór Saurbæ, ok þeir Eyfirðingar. Á hinn vestra bekk miðjan sat Sturla; innar
frá hónum Snorri prestr; útar frá hónum Vigfúss Gunnsteinsson. Forsæti vóru fyrir
endilöngum bekk hvárum-tveggja. Kirkju-stólar vóru settir eptir miðju gólfinu, ok þar
var setið at tveim-megin. Ketilbjörn, sonr Gizurar, sat á stóli innar við pall, ok þar
hjá hónum synir Brandz Kolbeins sonar, Kálfr ok Þorgeirr, ok horfþu at þeim bekk
er Gizurr sat á. Ok er mönnum var í sæti skipat, vóru log upp dregin í stofunni. Ok
því næst stóð Gizurr upp. . .
Now the guests came to the wedding on Saturday in Flugumyr. This was the order of
seating: Gizur sat in the middle of the eastern long bench, and Rafn next to him on the
inward side[175]
and thereafter Rafn's companions and kinsmen. On the outward side[176]
next to Gizur sat his son Hall the bridegroom, then Isleif, Hall's brother, then Thor
the Dwarf, Arndor's son, then Sam, then Thorvard of Saurbae, then the men of
Eyafjord. In the middle of the west bench sat Sturla, next to him on the inward side
Priest Snorri, on his outward side Vigfuss Gunnsteinsson. Fore chairs were set all down
the two long benches. And church stools were set in the center floor, and there men were
seated in two rows. Ketilbjörn, Gizur's son, sat next to the cross bench, and by him on
stools the sons of Brand Kolbein, Kalf and Thorgeir, facing the bench where Gizur sat.
And after each man had his proper seat, lights were borne into the hall. Then Gizur stood
up [and spoke]. . .
*
Eptir þat vóru borð upp tekin um alla stufuna ok ljós tendruð. Stofan var sex álna ok
tuttugu löng, en tólf álna breið. Sex-fallt var setið í stofunni. Ok er menn höfðu
matask um hríð, kom innar skenkr í stofuna, átta menn fyrir hvern bekk. Þorleifr
hreimr var fyrir þeim. Fjórir menn skenkðu konum, ok gengu allir með hornum. Var
þar drukkit fast þegar um kveldit, bæði mjöðr ok mungát.
After that tables were set up in the whole hall and the lights lit. The hall was 26 ells long
and 12 ells wide. In six rows the people were seated. And after they had eaten awhile,
drink was brought in, eight men before each bench. Thorleif the Screecher was at their
head. Four men served the women drink, and all came and went with drinking-horns.
There was much drinking that first evening both of mead and of beer.
NOTES:
These passages are translated from the Icelandic of G. Vigfusson's edition of The
Sturlunga Saga (Oxford, 1878), with occasional reference to W. Baetke's translation
of it into German (Düsseldorf and Cologne, 1967).
The routes taken by the riders to the wedding can still be traced, for the present-day
map of Iceland contains, with almost no alteration, names of all the towns and
districts mentioned by Sturla Thordasson in his narrative.
Writing in 1262, Sturla used the 36-inch ell to state the dimensions of the hall at
Flugumyr. Only six years earlier (and four years after the wedding itself) the ell, by
official decree, had been doubled to bring it into conformity with measure used
abroad and encountered frequently by Icelandic traders (see III, Glossary, s.v.).
forehall (
forstofa), often separated from the main hall by a
boarded cross partition (
þverþili). Thus, three sides of the
house were occupied by tables and benches running in
U-formation around the center space, while the bay on the
entrance side of the house acted as a buffer zone between
the center space and the outer doors. Even in its purest form
the North Germanic long house had a definite "central
touch"; and the peripheral or circumferential quality of
the surrounding spaces was further stressed by two constructional
features of paramount importance in the aesthetic
appearance of the house. First: The aisles and cross
bench were raised, in general, above the level of the center
floor.
[177]
Second: the roof over the two terminal bays of the
house was usually hipped.
[178]
I quote as a typical example of
this arrangement an account of a wedding banquet held at
Flugumyr in the winter of 1253,
[179]
which is so detailed and
accurate that the entire scene can be reconstructed on the
drafting board (figs. 328). The tale reflects customs of
seating many centuries old.
[180]
Sturla Thordasson, who
participated in this event, describes it as follows:
On Saturday now the guests arrived for the wedding. The seating
arrangement was such that Gizur sat in the middle of the eastern
long bench [in eystra langbekk miđjan]. Inside, away from Gizur
and next to him [innar frá honum it næsta] sat Rafn and then came
Rafn's companions and kinsmen. Outside, away from Gizur and
next to him [útar frá Gizur it næsta], sat his son Hall, the bridegroom,
then Isleif his brother, then Thorir Dwarf, the son of
Andor, then Sam, then Thorvard from Saurbae and the men from
Eyafjord.
In the middle of the western long bench [á hin vestra bekk miđjan]
sat Sturla, and on the inside away from him [innar frá honum]
Snorri the Priest; and on the outside away from him [útar frá honum]
Vigfuss Gunsteinsson. And lengthwise all along the two benches
there were forechairs [forsæti] and all along the center aisle [eptir
miđju golfinu] church stools [kirkjustólar] were set up on which
people sat in two rows.
Gizur's son Ketilbjorn sat on a stool inward against the cross
bench [á stóli innar vid pall] and next to him the sons of Brand
Kolbein, Kalf and Thorgeir, who faced the bench on which Gizur
sat. . . . The dining hall was 26 ells long and 12 ells broad, and
people sat there in six rows [Stofan var sex alna ok tottugu löng, en
tolf alna breiđ. Sex fallt var setiđ i stofunni].[181]
The order of seating of the women is not described in
this account, but, to judge by many other comparable
accounts, they can only have sat on the cross bench. The
house was also provided with space to store the tables and
utensils. This we learn incidentally in the account of the
surprise attack on Flugumyr, undertaken two nights after
the wedding banquet. We are told how "a laborer by the
name of Paul dies in the table-utensils chamber in the
stofa." The only place such a utensils chamber could have
been was at the entrance side of the hall.
DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES
There is, nevertheless, a distinct difference between the
seating arrangement of the house of a North Germanic
chieftain of the Saga period and that of the guest and
service buildings of the Plan of St. Gall. In the North the
benches and tables were set up in the aisles of the house;
the center floor was primarily a passageway and could
therefore be kept relatively narrow. The setting up at
Flugumyr of special forestools on the inner side of the
aisles, and of the even more special rows of church seats
on the center floor, was an unusual arrangement conditioned
by the gathering of an exceptionally large number of guests
attending the wedding. In the guest and service buildings
of the Plan of St. Gall, by contrast, the benches and tables
are set up in the center space itself. The floor plan of the
House for Distinguished Guests, the Hospice for Pilgrims
and Paupers, and the House for Horses and Oxen leaves no
doubt on this point. They have benches—or benches and
tables—all along the walls of the center space. The outer
spaces serve as bedrooms, dormitories, or stables. In the
house of the North Germanic chieftain, at the height of the
Saga period, the functions of dining and sleeping were
often relegated to separate buildings, a dining or festal hall
(veizluskáli) and a sleeping hall (hviluskáli), one lying in
prolongation of the axis of the other, the whole assuming
the aspect of a "long house." In the St. Gall house, on
the other hand, all these functions are combined in one
building. The use of the central hall as dining room
necessitates a substantial enlargement of this space, as well
as the introduction of separating wall partitions to safeguard
the integrity of the respective functions of eating and
sleeping. Both these innovations tend to strengthen the
"central" character of the house.
Yet it should not be forgotten that when Iceland was
settled by immigrants from Norway at the end of the ninth
century, the North Germanic house in use there was an all-purpose
structure combining living, cooking, and sleeping
under one roof.[182]
This is the case in most of the Germanic
houses of the Iron Age and continued to be so on farmsteads
of modest size, even in the Saga period. The long
house previously referred to was a very special type, heralded
in by the emergence of powerful chieftains in a society that
had formerly been characterized by its egalitarian structure.
CONCLUSIONS
It is possible that the controversy about the "predominantly
central character" of the guest and service buildings
of the Plan of St. Gall versus the "predominantly axial or
longitudinal character" of the Germanic long house (in
which I found myself involved even before I had an
opportunity to commit my ideas to print) has its origin in
an overevaluation of the frequency of occurrence of the
latter. The Germanic long house is only one among a great
variety of other aisled Germanic houses whose layouts
range from the short and stubby houses of Jemgum (figs.
313-314) and Ezinge (figs. 293 to 297) through all
degrees of elongation to the spectacular extreme of Känne
Burs, Sweden, which had the unbelievable length of 203
feet (62 m., cf. above, fig. 290). But these excessive forms
are neither very common nor very typical; and when they
are part of a larger settlement they are usually interspersed
with a variety of shorter houses. The excavations of
Ezinge, Fochteloo, and Feddersen-Wierde, moreover, have
shown that on the Continent it was the care of animals
rather than shelter for humans which tended to extend the
house along its longitudinal axis. The largest house of
Ezinge was a cattle barn (fig. 298). And of the longest
houses of Fochteloo (fig. 304) and Feddersen-Wierde (fig.
316), only one fifth are reserved for people; the rest
sheltered the cattle. On the Plan of St. Gall, too, the longest
house is one that serves as shelter for animals (House for
the Horses and Oxen, fig. 474; cf. below, pp. 271-79).
The excavations of Ezinge, Fochteloo, and many other
places teach us, in addition, that where animals and people
are housed in separate structures, or where the animals
associated with the people are few, the houses remain
small and squarish. It is from the tradition of this shorter
variety of houses that the guest and service buildings of the
Plan of St. Gall will have to be derived. The houses of
St. Gall, following this tradition, are entered broadside;
the length of the house exceeds its width by an appreciable,
but rarely excessive, margin; the center space of the house
amounts in width to about twice that of the aisles; and the
hipped roofs over the narrow ends in conjunction with the
broadside entrance must have given the house, despite its
basic axial orientation, a strongly centralized character.
In giving preference to the shorter variant, the author of
the Plan of St. Gall still remained entirely within the range
of possibilities offered by his own indigenous tradition.
Had it been the custom to house the monks together with
the cattle, this might have led, even on the Plan of St. Gall,
to the introduction of long houses rather than the shorter
or more centralized type. But the life of the monastery
represented on this Plan is based on the principle of
functional separation. The monks were the lords of the
estate, the leisure class, whose spiritual obligation postulated
that they be freed from at least the meanest agricultural
chores, which were left to serfs and herdsmen. Even
among those caring for the animals a high degree of
specialization had brought about a systematic separation of
the various species. There is a special house for horses and
oxen, for foaling mares, and for dairy cows, pigs, sheep
and goats. On the Plan of St. Gall the houses for the livestock
are no longer simply an axial extension of the house
of the farmer and his family; they are entities of their own,
within which a small area of space is set aside to serve as
sleeping quarters for the herdsmen.
There are other distinctive differences that herald a new
development. In some of the guest and service structures
there are, in addition to the central fireplace, one or several
other heating devices installed in the peripheral rooms.
About this we shall have to say more below.
