Powerful Women and Submissive Women in Njals Saga and the...

Powerful Women V. Submissive Women by Sean Conolly Ancient societies and their cultures traditionally provided women with no access to power. It was nearly universal for women to be treated as subservient to men while being expected to behave mildly and submissively. The New Testament makes no exception. The Apostle Paul explains that through Christ, women are absolved of constraints that the social hierarchy imposes on them, but he later goes on to explain that even in Christ a religious hierarchy still exists. By acknowledging that women are inferior to men in both the social and religious circles, Paul presents women as subordinates. This contrasts with Njal’s Saga. Through the saga’s characters Gunnhild, Hallgerd, and Bergthora,†¦show more content†¦This suggestion is eventually confirmed when she successfully convinces the King to accept Hrut as a bodyguard (Njal’s Saga, 8). Even though the King is the superior, Gunnhild still possesses the ability to influence him. Her influence demonstrates her ab ility to assume and exercise a degree of power. It is through her power that Gunnhild goes on to instigate a chain of events. After having Hrut as a lover for several seasons, Gunnhild reasserts her power when Hrut asks to return to Iceland. Though she lets him return, she sends a curse along with him. She says, â€Å"If I have as much power over you as I think I have, then I cast this spell: you will not have sexual pleasure with the woman you plan to marry in Iceland, though you’ll be able to have your will with other women. Neither of us comes out of this well, because you did not tell me the truth (Njal’s Saga, 13).† The curse she places on Hrut actually comes true (Njal’s Saga, 16). Hrut cannot please his wife and Gunnhild’s desire to hold a degree of dominance over Hrut is fulfilled. Because Hrut wants to please his wife but cannot, his desires are unfulfilled. This suggests that Gunnhild’s demands and desires are superior to those of men. It is the demands and desires of a woman t hat instigate events. The author immediately presents Gunnhild in the very first significant