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Paper short abstract:

A comparative narrative analysis of two legends relating to the poet Guðmundur Bergþórsson‘s (c. 1657-1705) attempts to halt or reverse the progression of his disability by supernatural means.

Paper long abstract:

This paper offers a close reading of two narratives which tell of folk or magical cures sought out by the disabled poet Guðmundur Bergþórsson. In the first instance, he is submerged in a hot spring to halt the progression of his disability while the second legend recounts an unsuccessful quest to a dwarf in an attempt to return to his pre-disabled state by acquisition of a healing balm. In this analysis, the methods Guðmundur Bergþórsson is purported to have used to obtain or maintain physical abilities are viewed in their respective narrative and folk belief contexts. A comparative approach is applied in order to trace the development of the legends, with versions appearing in 19th century manuscripts (Gísli Konráðsson c. 1860; Jón Árnason 1850-65), published folklore collections, tape recorded interviews and late 20th century literature inspired by oral tradition. Drawing on the work of other folklorists who have studied marginalisation processes in narratives about disability (Schoon-Eberley 1988; Lindow 2008), this study traces the manifestation of certain negative cultural ideas about disability within the two legends studied. These include the notion of disability as personal tragedy (Swain & French 2000) and of disabled people as having an enhanced connection to nature (Shakespeare 1994). Furthermore, this study applies approaches from historical critical disability studies in order to assess the extent of Guðmundur Bergþórsson‘s own agency in the narrative making process, as well as ascertain the applicability of the notion of supression of historical identity (O‘Toole 2010) in a folk narrative context.