The Kidney Dagger as a Symbol of Masculine Identity – The Ballock Dagger in the Scandinavian Context

During the 13th century the dagger re‐emerged as a military weapon in Europe. A variety of distinct types evolved, soon also functioning as popular civilian weapons, all over the Continent. Contrary to other European societies, Scandinavians favoured one specific type, namely the kidney dagger. These daggers are found in different archaeological contexts in the Nordic countries, and their violent use is known from both iconographic and written sources. The Scandinavian preference is noted by several authors, one of them even proposing a Scandinavian origin. Still, they do not try to explain this preference. The article presents an interpretation based on the phallic form both of the weapon and of the way of carrying it. The phallic symbolism of the ballock dagger was obvious in contemporary medieval times, but has been obscured later on, for instance by the Victorian label ‘kidney dagger’. Using daggers from Western Norway as a starting point, kidney daggers in Scandinavia are interpreted in a medieval context derived from the Norse sagas and laws. These sources draw a picture of a violent society with rigid conceptions of honour, masculine identity and sexuality. Based on this picture, our understanding of the kidney dagger and material culture of violence in medieval Scandinavian society can be brought a step further.     

Recent Norwegian archaeological publications

The part of the Helg?y Project presented here deals with the Norwegian and Sami populations in Helg?y from their supposed immigration to the Region about 13/1400 AD to approximately 1700. Some findings and the methods developed by the project to establish them will be presented, the question of how to distinguish Sami from Norwegian settlements in historical and pre‐historical times being central in the study of North Norway.     

Some reflections on the study of iron age burial customs in Norway

A reappraisal of the material from Norwegian grave finds is necessary, with the primary object of throwing light on the burial custom itself. The study should be based on a minimum of uniform criteria. This will allow direct comparison between the various parts of the country and the different periods.

Those surveys of Norwegian burial customs published to date are no longer in agreement with existing facts.

If such studies are not undertaken, the stagnation evident in the research into the Norwegian Iron Age will only increase.     

Reindeer antlers and what they can tell us about the reindeer population

The form and size of reindeer antlers are due to the animals’ age, genetic constitution, and nutritional condition.

The antlers are shed once a year at different seasons depending on the animals’ age, sex, and, for females, whether they are pregnant or not.

Finds of subfossil antler‐fragments from Heisantj?nn and Sumtangen on Hardangervidda show that the hunting has taken place early in the autumn and that is has been selective for the males.

This article is based on studies of the reindeer, Rangifier tarandus L. on Hardangervidda today, and on a subfossil bone material.     

Fragmente Ärztlicher Texte in Mittelalterlichen gesetzbüchern norwegens

The evidence offered by the Lives and the Moralia shows that Plutarch had a low opinion of women, regarding them as being deceitful, savage, sexually insatiable, frivolous and gossips. Women are thought to be weak and to need to be protected, from themselves as much as from others, by men but, at the same time, dangerous. There are, however, notable exceptions, most obviously those women whose stories are related in the Mulierum Virtutes.     

“Participation”, White Privilege and Environmental Justice: Understanding Environmentalism Among Hispanics in Toronto

Abstract: The environmental justice movement has highlighted not only the unequal distribution of environmental hazards across lines of race and class, but also the white, middle‐class nature of some environmentalisms, and broader patterns of marginalization underlying people's opportunities to participate or not. There is a significant body of work discussing Hispanic environmental justice activism in the US, but not in Canada. This paper draws on interviews with representatives of organizations working on environmental initiatives within the Hispanic population of Toronto, Canada to explore definitions of and approaches to environmentalism(s) and community engagement. Four interrelated “mechanisms of exclusion” are identified in this case study—economic marginalization; (in)accessibility of typical avenues of participation; narrow definitions of “environmentalism” among environmental organizations; and the perceived whiteness of the environmental movement. Taken together, these mechanisms were perceived as limiting factors to environmental activism in Toronto's Hispanic population. We conclude that the unique context of Toronto's Hispanic community, including contested definitions of “community” itself, presents both challenges and opportunities for a more inclusive environmentalism, and argue for the value of “recognition” and “environmental racialization” frameworks in understanding environmental injustice in Canada.     

Reconceptualizing Resistance: Residuals of the State and Democratic Radical Pluralism

Abstract: Arguing that resistance to the state is too narrow a conceptualization of a political project that challenges neoliberalism, we posit that there are latent, residual apparatuses of the state which can be activated as part of a systematic progressive politics. We examine Massachusetts’“Dover amendment”, a legal framework which governs group home siting throughout the state. Dover offers a powerful tool with which to resist a neoliberal socio‐spatial agenda, though it has been underutilized toward enabling an alternative landscape. We analyze how and why Dover has often remained latent as a tool for socio‐spatial resistance, and consider a provocative case in Framingham, Massachusetts that suggests how residual state apparatuses may be leveraged in support of an explicitly resistive, progressive agenda.